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Cyclist on sidewalk runs over a little girl video)

Old 05-22-15, 11:29 AM
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mozad655
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Cyclist on sidewalk runs over a little girl (with video)

I think this is preciesly why you should always avoid sidewalks unless absolutely nessescary and even then only at extremely slow speed. This is basic code for cyclists and its illegal in my euro-country to ride on the sidewalk. But I've read several times of cyclists on this forum that do just that. It really isn't safe and this is why.

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Old 05-22-15, 12:01 PM
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I agree that sidewalks are for pedestrians, but do ride on them from time to time depending on the situation. When I do so, it's at low speed so I can react or stop on a dime when necessary.

What doesn't amaze me anymore (sadly) is that this jerk simply left the scene without any sense of responsibility. Hit and run are the province of lowlifes anywhere and any time, regardless of whether they're on two wheels or four, or even on a skateboard.
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Old 05-22-15, 12:19 PM
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Riding too fast on the sidewalk. When on sidewalk ride at walking speed or get off the sidewalk.
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Old 05-22-15, 01:24 PM
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Sad indeed. People that push their agendas on here that cycling on sidewalks is the correct thing to do, are usually the ones that think bicycles don't belong on the road. Why would someone go that fast on a sidewalk? Idiot.
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Old 05-22-15, 01:42 PM
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Strictly speaking, the issue is the cyclist was riding beyond his vision. Too fast to be able to stop if something darted out from behind the wall as that toddler did. He should have been going MUCH slower given the conditions regardless of whether that was a sidewalk or not. Not entirely unlike riding alongside a line of parked cars; either keep far enough into the road that you can avoid an opening door or someone darting out from between two vans or go slow enough to stop in time.

There's a sidewalk section near me that's nearly 1/2mi between two driveways. One one side is an arterial road that's often crowded and with no shoulders, on the other is open turf for about 50yd to the treeline. You can see the entire length of that sidewalk section, all the way from one end to the other. It's usually empty; I infrequently encounter anyone else on that stretch whether I"m cycling or running. How fast is too fast there?

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Old 05-22-15, 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by kevmk81
. People that push their agendas on here that cycling on sidewalks is the correct thing to do, are usually the ones that think bicycles don't belong on the road.
Not at all, just like anything else there's a time and place for every option. Most problems arise from those who don't ride in a way conducive to their environment, or dogmatically do or not do something. I mostly ride VC, but I also use the sidewalk when its the best option, if safe and responsible to do so.

Its not an "agenda", its a potentially viable option.

Last edited by kickstart; 05-22-15 at 01:50 PM.
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Old 05-22-15, 01:54 PM
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I might add.. if that was my daughter.... I would wait for that bicycle rider every day at that spot and when he comes again I would throw down and beat him like a stepchild.
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Old 05-22-15, 02:06 PM
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Originally Posted by trailangel
I might add.. if that was my daughter.... I would wait for that bicycle rider every day at that spot and when he comes again I would throw down and beat him like a stepchild.
With a bat.
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Old 05-22-15, 02:30 PM
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I'd have beat his A**!!! And he cursed THEM OUT??? Oh HELL NO!!! And riding on a sidewalk is illegal for this reason,... I don't give a damn what people say. Now, I ride on sidewalks where I'm beside a heavily trafficked high speed road, as people here don't walk there. I still go SLOW!!! If I'm forced onto a populated sidewalk, I walk. So I get to my destination later by a few minutes,...BIG DEAL!!! This is EXACTLY WHY it's ILLEGAL!!!
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Old 05-22-15, 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by tds101
I'd have beat his A**!!! And he cursed THEM OUT??? Oh HELL NO!!! And riding on a sidewalk is illegal for this reason,... I don't give a damn what people say. Now, I ride on sidewalks where I'm beside a heavily trafficked high speed road, as people here don't walk there. I still go SLOW!!! If I'm forced onto a populated sidewalk, I walk. So I get to my destination later by a few minutes,...BIG DEAL!!! This is EXACTLY WHY it's ILLEGAL!!!
Where did you see that the cyclist cursed the family out?

Regarding the facial wounds - I had some nice facial road rash not too long ago and it healed up amazingly quick. As in about a week. Just slap some DuoDerm on those wounds and they'll be gone with minimal scarring. From the video it looks like the family is taking the "air it out" approach ... which only serves to maximize scarring.
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Old 05-22-15, 03:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Deontologist
Where did you see that the cyclist cursed the family out?

Regarding the facial wounds - I had some nice facial road rash not too long ago and it healed up amazingly quick. As in about a week. Just slap some DuoDerm on those wounds and they'll be gone with minimal scarring. From the video it looks like the family is taking the "air it out" approach ... which only serves to maximize scarring.
Obviously you didn't watch the WHOLE video. The mother said that the cyclist hurled abuse at her and her daughter. What a low life
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Old 05-22-15, 04:24 PM
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A bit of over-reaction here? There were 743 people killed riding their bicycles in the U.S. last year. If I remember correctly all but 2 were killed by cars. I don't believe any were killed by pedestrians or other bicycle riders.

4,735 pedestrians were killed by vehicles last year, 4,734 by cars, 1 by bicycle.

I can ride on the sidewalk where I am much less likely to be killed or the road where I'm more likely to be killed? Is my riding on the sidewalk a danger to pedestrians? Not even in the same ballpark as the danger of cars to me on the road.

I have no problem riding on a sidewalk if I judge it to be safer than a road. Did you see the cars in the background of the video? I'd have likely been on the sidewalk as well.

The problem here appears to not be a blanket problem of riding on the sidewalk but of riding too fast for the conditions and of a road improperly designed to not include safe bicycle facilities.
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Old 05-22-15, 05:05 PM
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I ride on one sidewalk near home -- the roads nearby suck. My sidewalk route is about a block, and it isn't too busy with pedestrians. I got off and walk my bike if it feels too busy.

I ride about 5mph on the sidewalk, just a little faster than the pedestrians.

I hate when people go 10, 12, 15mph on sidewalks - as they are the walking area. You should go at walking speed.
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Old 05-22-15, 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted by CrankyOne
A bit of over-reaction here? There were 743 people killed riding their bicycles in the U.S. last year. If I remember correctly all but 2 were killed by cars. I don't believe any were killed by pedestrians or other bicycle riders.

4,735 pedestrians were killed by vehicles last year, 4,734 by cars, 1 by bicycle.

I can ride on the sidewalk where I am much less likely to be killed or the road where I'm more likely to be killed? Is my riding on the sidewalk a danger to pedestrians? Not even in the same ballpark as the danger of cars to me on the road.

I have no problem riding on a sidewalk if I judge it to be safer than a road. Did you see the cars in the background of the video? I'd have likely been on the sidewalk as well.

The problem here appears to not be a blanket problem of riding on the sidewalk but of riding too fast for the conditions and of a road improperly designed to not include safe bicycle facilities.
All I saw was a few cars driving slowly along a residential street, no particular danger to cyclists. What I did see was a stupid cyclist riding far too fast along a sidewalk where there was already one pedestrian(the child's mother). This numbskull showed total disregard for safety. He should have been riding at a walking pace if he wanted to ride there.There is no overreaction, there is only revulsion for an idiot who shouldn't have been there in the first place. As a sometime pedestrian I have a real problem with idiots on bicycles who ride along at speeds that put me in danger. Whenever I see them I brace myself to knock them onto the ground. A cyclist on the sidewalk anywhere there are pedestrians around is a public danger

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Old 05-22-15, 10:11 PM
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Not excusing the bicyclist's riding behavior, but when I did a quick search of the internet about cyclists hitting children, this video did come up, but what I did observe was an overwhelming number of articles about children being hit by automobiles. It seems that cyclists riding on sidewalks are not nearly as a danger to children as motorists driving their automobiles.
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Old 05-23-15, 12:32 AM
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Originally Posted by dynodonn
Not excusing the bicyclist's riding behavior, but when I did a quick search of the internet about cyclists hitting children, this video did come up, but what I did observe was an overwhelming number of articles about children being hit by automobiles. It seems that cyclists riding on sidewalks are not nearly as a danger to children as motorists driving their automobiles.
There was the case in Tennessee, where an elderly lady died. A month after she had been hit by a cyclist on a sidewalk. The 'lane' can't exactly be shared on a sidewalk.
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Old 05-23-15, 01:16 AM
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Originally Posted by CrankyOne
A bit of over-reaction here? There were 743 people killed riding their bicycles in the U.S. last year. If I remember correctly all but 2 were killed by cars. I don't believe any were killed by pedestrians or other bicycle riders.

4,735 pedestrians were killed by vehicles last year, 4,734 by cars, 1 by bicycle.

I can ride on the sidewalk where I am much less likely to be killed or the road where I'm more likely to be killed? Is my riding on the sidewalk a danger to pedestrians? Not even in the same ballpark as the danger of cars to me on the road.

I have no problem riding on a sidewalk if I judge it to be safer than a road. Did you see the cars in the background of the video? I'd have likely been on the sidewalk as well.

The problem here appears to not be a blanket problem of riding on the sidewalk but of riding too fast for the conditions and of a road improperly designed to not include safe bicycle facilities.
This is exactly the problem. If you live in a place where the roads are too dangerous and you can't can't keep it at near walking speed, then you shoudn't ride a bicycle at all. Nobody is talking about what vehicle on the road is most dangerous. This is about the dangers of riding on the sidewalk for us cyclists. Period. Road being dangerous is no justefication for riding on the sidewalk at normal bicycle speed. Sidewalk is only an emergency lane for cyclists and even then you should only ride near walking speed.
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Old 05-23-15, 01:19 AM
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Originally Posted by dynodonn
Not excusing the bicyclist's riding behavior, but when I did a quick search of the internet about cyclists hitting children, this video did come up, but what I did observe was an overwhelming number of articles about children being hit by automobiles. It seems that cyclists riding on sidewalks are not nearly as a danger to children as motorists driving their automobiles.
But this is not about what is more dangerous. Children know they can't run on the road. But they should be able to run and play on the sidewalk. You probably hear more bad stories about drivers because they ussually lead to greater injury or death. But that doesn't mean such accidents don't happend as often with cyclists. Either way. As I said, this is not about what is more dangerous. One problem being big does not mean we should ignore a smaller problem.
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Old 05-23-15, 01:37 AM
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I ride on the footpath all the time, but I all ways slow down when its a town to about 5 or 7 KPH, and I live in Australia so there is plenty of footpath that is just footpath no gates etc I am always very slow when in town tho and near gates but I think that there does need to be something done like a cycle speed limit in certain areas it might sound crazy but it might work.
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Old 05-23-15, 06:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Chris516
There was the case in Tennessee, where an elderly lady died. A month after she had been hit by a cyclist on a sidewalk. The 'lane' can't exactly be shared on a sidewalk.
Do you have a reference for this. I can't find it anywhere.
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Old 05-23-15, 06:44 AM
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Doing a few very quick searches on FARS and googling a bit there are three incidents that I can find in the past 10 years of pedestrians being killed by bicycle riders (possibly a fourth in TN based on above comment). One was last year in Central Park NY, another was 2012 in CA, and another was 2007 in AZ.

The NY incident was a bicycle rider who was in a bike lane and swerved out of it to avoid pedestrians standing there. He was likely going too fast for the conditions.

The CA incident was a woman in a crosswalk hit by a bicycle rider in the road.

The AZ incident is the only one I can find of a pedestrian on a sidewalk killed by a bicycle rider. No farther data available. I'd guess the bicycle rider was going too fast but no idea really.

TN?

Each of these same years nearly 5,000 pedestrians are killed by cars. On average 700 of these pedestrians are on the sidewalk when they are killed (EG, car jumps curb, etc.). These 700 incidents are overwhelmingly in NY, IL, and FL.

Bicycle riders do not appear to be much of a danger to pedestrians.

A safe separate bikeway (cycletrack, side-path) is the best solution but if one has not been provided then a sidewalk is often a next best alternative.

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Old 05-23-15, 07:12 AM
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Originally Posted by alcjphil
All I saw was a few cars driving slowly along a residential street, no particular danger to cyclists. What I did see was a stupid cyclist riding far too fast along a sidewalk where there was already one pedestrian(the child's mother). This numbskull showed total disregard for safety. He should have been riding at a walking pace if he wanted to ride there.There is no overreaction, there is only revulsion for an idiot who shouldn't have been there in the first place. As a sometime pedestrian I have a real problem with idiots on bicycles who ride along at speeds that put me in danger. Whenever I see them I brace myself to knock them onto the ground. A cyclist on the sidewalk anywhere there are pedestrians around is a public danger
I agree with you that the cyclist was going too fast, total disregard, and is an idiot (and a number of other things). Revulsion for the cyclist? Not really. How old is he? Is he a mentally disabled kid in school who did something stupid and was himself horrified at the consequences and possibly scared to death of the guy who'd jumped over the wall to save the girl and may have yelled a few threats towards the cyclist? I don't think we know any of that. I'll save the revulsion until we know more.

Cars are no particular danger to cyclists? You want to explain that to the 743 cyclists killed in the U.S. last year? And their wives, kids, parents, and friends? And the 200 so far this year and the 550 likely to be killed yet this year? And the greater numbers of bicycle riders who aren't killed but have permanent life-altering injuries from encounters with cars.

Now, if you want to have revulsion for someone, begin with traffic engineers and politicians who don't build safe bikeways.
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Old 05-23-15, 07:34 AM
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Originally Posted by Chris516
There was the case in Tennessee, where an elderly lady died. A month after she had been hit by a cyclist on a sidewalk. The 'lane' can't exactly be shared on a sidewalk.
Chris, this is a case of man bites dog.....since far more elderly people are severely injured or killed, when walking, by motorists driving automobiles than cyclists riding on sidewalks.
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Old 05-23-15, 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by mozad655
But this is not about what is more dangerous. Children know they can't run on the road. But they should be able to run and play on the sidewalk. You probably hear more bad stories about drivers because they ussually lead to greater injury or death. But that doesn't mean such accidents don't happend as often with cyclists. Either way. As I said, this is not about what is more dangerous. One problem being big does not mean we should ignore a smaller problem.
Children do not know that they cannot run in the road unless they are taught, and even then, that is no guarantee that they will not still run in the road, since I've personally seen this happen numerous times over the years, plus the child could have been easily hit by another child riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. What I saw in the video was a careless cyclist, and two equally complacent parents letting their young toddler run around outside with minimal control.
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Old 05-23-15, 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by CrankyOne

A safe separate bikeway (cycletrack, side-path) is the best solution but if one has not been provided then a sidewalk is often a next best alternative.
It is called a side WALK for a reason...You are to be WALKING on it, not RIDING on it, Copernicus...
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