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Old December 31st 17, 04:40 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
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Posts: 1,638
Default AG: How to ride on a sidewalk


I found this essay on my desktop. I've no idea who wrote it or where
I found it, so I can't give proper credit.

I can expand it a bit; see below the quote:

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GO SLOW – This is the chief of all rules for riding on the
sidewalk. All the other rules fall under this one. You should never
ride faster than a relaxed jog. The sidewalk is built for pedestrians,
so you should not be going faster than them. Pedaling fast down the
sidewalk is a perfect way to get hurt, hurt someone else, or get
pulled over by a cop.

Yield to pedestrians – If you come up behind people walking, be
very polite and wait for a good time to ask them to let you pass.
Never come up behind them yelling, ringing a bell or anything else
that could startle or scare them. You are trespassing on their terrain
so be courteous.

Check every cross street and driveway – This is the dangerous
part! Drivers are used to pulling all the way up to the road before
coming to a stop and turning onto the street you’re following. Make
sure when coming up to a driveway or cross street that you slow down
and check to make sure a car isn’t coming. They aren’t looking for
fast moving vehicles to be coming off the sidewalk, so you have to be
watching for them!

Only cross the street at crosswalks – A good way to get hit by a
car is to come darting off the sidewalk into the street randomly.
Again, remember that drivers aren’t looking for people to jump off the
sidewalks into traffic randomly. If you need to cross the street, wait
until you get to a cross walk and do it there.

Be willing to walk your bike – If you regularly ride on the
sidewalk, there are going to be lots of times where the best decision
is to get off your bike and walk for a bit. This is usually due to
congestion. When there are just too many people around that you risk
hitting one of them, it’s time to walk. Constantly keep it in your
mind that you can get off your bike and walk if things seem “iffy”.

If there’s ever a time that you decide it’s better to ride on the
sidewalk than the street, follow these rules to stay safe and avoid a
ticket.

Photo Credit: moriza

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One has to chuckle a bit at the repeated idea that a bicycle could get
pulled over for stupid operation. I heard a rider get his welfare
checked one night, but I have never heard a ticket issued, or even a
"he's clear that he shouldn't do that.".

*

The author forgot a very important rule: when you come to a
crosswalk, get off and walk. When a car comes to an intersection, the
driver stops behind the crosswalk, then he creeps across the
crosswalk, and *then* he looks for crossing traffic.

It is essential that you be moving the way drivers expect objects on a
walkway to move. I deleted near nailed a crosswalk zoomer with my
bike one day. I doubt that anybody ever told him how close he'd come
to booking a helicopter ride for two.

*

Second paragraph. A lot depends on the walkway. When I come up
behind someone on the Heritage Trail, I say "I'm in the other lane;
you're just fine." On the Beyer Farm Trail, more often than not, I
get off and walk around the tour group. On the Chinworth Trail --
I've met pedestrians, but don't recall ever overtaking any, so I don't
know what I say. It's usually joggers there, so I'd probably just
slow down and stay behind him.

It should have mentioned: if somebody makes a special effort to get
out of your way, you should say "thank you".

*

Fourth paragraph: pppbbbbttt! There are lots of places where it's
safer to cross in the middle of the block, where they can come at you
from only two directions. Of course, it may not be possible to cross
a busy street at all unless you go to a crosswalk and wait for a light
to stop traffic for you.

Umm . . . if you are crossing a street and you are not in the roadway,
you are walking, right? pitiful worried look right? /look

There's one intersection where I get off and walk even though I'm in a
wheeled-vehicle path. Mostly because I have to take quick action and
don't want to risk falling, but to a very large extent, so that people
on SR 15 can see for themselves that I've stepped between the parked
cars for a better view and don't mean to madly dash into their path.

Sigh. Riding would be a lot simpler if there weren't so many
know-less-than-nothing riders that one must constantly emit "I'm not
going to do anything utterly insane" signals.


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/


**

Postscript:

Just before opening my newsreader, I had tracked down a broken link on
Rough Sewing. (I found it on the Wayback Machine, please send them
five dollars -- or send me a snail address so I can.)

Which gave me the idea of DuckDucking key phrases from the quote to
find the place where I snitched it. What I learned was that I'm a
long way from being the first person to snitch these rules. One of
the places I found it was in a city ordinance in Pennsylvania!

I also found that some of the quoters didn't understand the words they
were quoting.



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