Rajflyboy

mcours2006

Sure...seems like quite a few of sidewalk riding threads going on right now.

As long as you're not buzzing by pedestrians at a high speed. But there may be bylaws against sidewalk riding in your area. I would assume the shop owner would know this...but then again he's just worried about his bikes getting totaled in a crash and not necessarily about your safety.

jon c. 

Depends on the town and the sidewalk.

52telecaster

On really busy roads with no pedestrians i call sidewalks "curb protected bike lanes".

VegasTriker

This has been discussed extensively in the Advocacy and Safety section. Look there to see what most people who respond - stay off the sidewalks.

One factor is that drivers who cross a sidewalk do not expect anything moving faster than a pedestrian to be crossing in front of them. I nearly hit a cyclist adjacent to the UNLV campus who was riding on the wrong side of the street, moving fast, and on the sidewalk. It is only by the grace of God that I didn't run him over because even though I had looked for peds, he came whipping across the street just as I was about to start out.

Marcus_Ti

More like...drivers don't expect anything to be moving in the sidewalk ever. Peds or cyclists. It is basically a given at every crosswalk I come to that a car is going to stop at a red light right in the middle of it fully blocking it. I also expect right/left turns on red without checking for peds. It happens so frequently that is what normal is.


Only when the light turns red and their vehicle is fully impeding the crosswalk do the look and act surprised someone wants to use the legal facilities.

debade

From my reviews of safe bicycle riding, the sidewalk is less safe than the street. Marcus_Ti points out the key reason. It turns out that the highest accident in our town is a sidewalk. The town, which is slow to encourage bicycling on a wide basis, did create a bike lane on a sidewalk next to one of our small town, busy street. The result was the highest accident rate in the city. It crosses busy shopping driveways. Motorists do not look along the sidewalk and consequently accidents occur.

CliffordK

It depends on many factors.

I'm a through cyclist. My typical daily ride is about 30 miles (including a few stops). Sidewalks just have far too many crossings to deal with.

On the other hand, there is at least one place where I'll make a left turn onto a 4+1 lane road, and turn into a business about 1 block later on the left side. And, it just makes sense to hit the sidewalk for that block.

In another situations, I find it is easier/safer to cross a moderately main road, about 1 block east of the business driveway, so I head down the left sidewalk for about a block, then cut across when traffic allows.

Oh, and a third place, an off-street MUP dumps me out on the left side of a busy 2-lane road. The first light has no trip-switch for bicycles, so I find myself moving down about 1 block to the second light that I can trip the switch, and get over onto the right side and bike lane.

Paul Barnard

On rare occasion I end up stopped in the crosswalk and I hate being "that guy."

Paul Barnard

There are places I will do that as well. I move along those stretches slowly and with due regard for the unique hazards associated with sidewalk cycling.

Rajflyboy

ironwood

There are times when the sidewalk is safer, use your own judgement. In any case, give the pedestrians the right of way, and warn them politely if you are passing them.

wolfchild

I ride on pedestrian sidewalks almost every day. I do it mostly to by-pass sections of certain roads which I feel are unsafe to ride on.... We also have a few MUPS which run along the major roads and they're are no different than a sidewalk, just much wider and smoother...I agree that riding on a sidewalk can be dangerous but most of the danger comes from you not being aware and not paying attention. All you need to do is to use caution, common sense and be extra cautious when crossing intersections and driveways. If you get hit by a car or if you hit somebody while riding on a sidewalk it's 100% your fault for not being aware and not paying attention to what's going on around you and not slowing down. If a cyclist decides to ride on a sidewalk they need to take 100% responsibility for their decision and stop blaming somebody else if something goes wrong.

Marcus_Ti

Ditto here. That "claiming the intersection" reflex...leads to annoyance.

Rajflyboy

BazookaFro

To me it seems entirely dependant on where you are riding. I used to live in between the city and suburbia. When anywhere near the city I agree it was not safe to ride on the sidewalk, Partially because some are super narrow, partially because even the wider sidewalks are usually covered in foot traffic. The only exception was when I was transitioning to the mups. But in the suburbs, I am not putting myself alongside traffic going 50 at a minimum. I take the bike lanes when I can, but it is a total crapshoot wether or not a given neighborhood will have any to speak of. I make an effort to stick to mups and side streets when possible, but any major roads I usually end up on the sidewalk until I get to the next mup entrance/sidestreet.

bicyclridr4life

There are a few streets here where it is not safe to ride in the street.
4 lanes plus a center turn lane. Two Feet from the curb to the traffic. Posted speed limit is 35 mph, the prevailing traffic is going 40 to 45 mph.
Traffic lights are "timed" so you can go the 6 mile length of the street without hitting a red light. (I swear this city uses the stoplights to bunch traffic together ... 5 to 8 minute green lights. It is really bad at the 5 point intersections if you hit the light there red. Only one direction of traffic gets a green light at a time. I suspect the city "traffic engineer" and/or at least one council member owns a gas station.)
Cyclists are encouraged by law enforcement to ride the sidewalks.
There is also a city ordinance that gets the cyclist a ticket if there is more than six cars backed up behind him/her.
No, it does not matter if the first "driver" behind the cyclist is afraid to pass said cyclist with no less than 40 feet between their vehicle and the cyclist. The cyclist still gets a ticket for blocking/delaying traffic.

In short, if there is a sidewalk/bike path (one in the same in most of this city) on my route, I use it.

Gresp15C

In my locale, riding on the sidewalk is not illegal. I think it's situational. Do whatever's safer, more considerate, etc.

For the rental bikes, it may depend on who is riding the bikes, and the shop owner may have a sense of this. I'd expect a streetwise cyclist to make their own call -- perhaps after they're out of sight of the shop.

KraneXL

Riding on sidewalks are for kids.

ironwood

There are people who think riding bicycles is for kids. Maybe we're all just kids.

wolfchild

So says a guy who lives in a bike-friendly area and has a nice cycling infrastructure and nice weather all year round.

CrowSeph

Trust me , do not ride on sidewalk. I got hit by a car when i was right to get off the sidewalk. And the results where 100€+ on damage on the car and 70€+ damage on my bike......

52telecaster

you would be a dead adult if you routinely took the lane where i choose the sidewalk.

daoswald

1300 East street southbound between Sandy, UT and Draper. Bike lane abruptly ends at Sandy City limit. Speed limit is 45mph, two lanes each direction, heavy traffic. The road narrows so that the right lane's stripe is a four inches from the gutter. The lanes are not wide enough to share.

If one car were to do the right thing by getting over to pass the car behind wouldn't see me in time, and chances are the traffic in the left lane is tight enough an emergency swerve wouldn't be possible. At 50mph actual speed, and me around 20, I would be struck at a 30mph speed differential in less time than the driver has to think and react.

The sidewalk would be great here were it not for the trees planted here and there narrowing it down to a width I fear my handlebars wouldn't clear unless I'm extremely careful.

I just have to take alternate routes. How dumb it is to have a good bike lane end, dischargi g riders onto a death-trap road.

That's the only place I wish to ride on sidewalks near where I live. Where I used to live in Los Angeles I wished for a proper sidewalk going over Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood into the Valley. Another death-trap area I attempted once and resolved never again

CliffordK

It is rare that I block a crosswalk with a car. But, I do like to pull ahead of a line of cars (while staying to the right). So, I'm frequently stopped at least partly in a sidewalk, at least when there is nobody walking/riding on the sidewalk. I can normally maneuver some if I find myself in the way.

The most annoying one for cars is a median strip bike path where cars pull off the freeway, drive to the middle of the median strip, and park in the middle of the bike path crossing, waiting to do a left turn. And, since they may no longer have a green light, one can't predict when they might move.