Road or Sidewalk?

In article ,
K-Man wrote:
My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available?

Side walks and separated paths are much more dangerous than riding on
the road. While cars crossing them usually look for traffic on the
road, they're often completely oblivious to whatever isn't on the main
road.

--
a href="http://www.poohsticks.org/drew/"Home Page/a
Life is a terminal sexually transmitted disease.

K-Man wrote:

My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available? I prefer riding on the road, and the sidewalks, while not
crammed with pedestrians, are never free of them either. What are
ya'lls thoughts? TIA!

Read:

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

Matt O.

"maxo" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:26:19 +0000, loki wrote:

Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the other
lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the roadway.
Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force autos to fully
take
the other lane to pass.

The motorcyclist way of treating the lane as being three--the middle being
"verboten" because of the oil drippage--works great around here in
Nashville, where folks often refuse to acknowledge a bike as a vehicle
[vs. a toy] I occupy the right side of the lane in the city here and have
have much better interaction with traffic because of it.

In the discussion with the motorcyclists the circumstance was highway
driving. I'm not sure they felt the same way about city driving.

--
Fiona: 'What kind of knight are you?!?!'
Shrek: 'One of a kind.'

"loki" wrote in message
ogers.com
"maxo" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:26:19 +0000, loki wrote:

Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the
other lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the
roadway. Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force
autos to fully take the other lane to pass.

The motorcyclist way of treating the lane as being three--the middle
being "verboten" because of the oil drippage--works great around
here in Nashville, where folks often refuse to acknowledge a bike as
a vehicle [vs. a toy] I occupy the right side of the lane in the
city here and have have much better interaction with traffic because
of it.

In the discussion with the motorcyclists the circumstance was highway
driving. I'm not sure they felt the same way about city driving.

Regardless, motorcyclists should be riding in the driver's wheeltrack, which
in the US is the left side of the lane, because that's the most visible
position to the driver in front's rear-view mirror and wing mirror. The
centre of the lane is safe enough on the highway, it's at intersections you
get the big oil buildups in the centre of the lane. The gutterside of the
lane is a no-no whichever way you look at it, it collects all the crap and
is the least visible position.

--

A: Top-posters.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 12:07:53 -0400, Badger_South wrote:

so I end up seeing a 'prime time'
opening and jetting through it.

I've been know to do that at long lights when it's safe. In Chicago it's
the standard, yet illegal practice, so motorists as a whole don't really
give a fork. Around here in Nashville I've been yelled at too many times,
and since I can't really argue seeing as I'm in the wrong, I usually say:
"look, I broke the law, but endangered nobody--If you could get away with
it wouldn't you too?" I abstain for the most part, but at a "dangerous
intersection" where all the cars for the turn lane have gone but there's
still five seconds left on the turn arrow, I usually go, just to get out
of the way, since I feel it's safer. My cop buddies who ride do the same
thing--it's a kind of situation. Officially I never do it...

Puts on asbestos underoos...

My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available?

it's generally illegal for cyclists to ride on the sidewalk, although
there are usually exceptions for children.

--
mac the naïf

K-Man wrote:
I had my first encounter with a jerk with an automobile the other day. I
was riding on the main 4-lane road going through town, as far to the
right as I could without going into the gutter, when from behind me I
hear the belligerent shout of "Get off the road!" I look back to see a
college punk in a black SUV. The traffic was light, and he had plenty of
room to pass me. I just ignored him and biked on.

Good move. I sometimes add a slow shake of my head, as in "What a dolt."

My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available?

Absolutely not. First, you've got a legal right to the road. Second,
in many places (perhaps most?) cycling on the sidewalk is illegal.
Third, in almost every case, cycling on the sidewalk is more dangerous.

Regarding the last bit, there have been several studies of bike crashes
on different "riding facilities." AFAIK, every such study has found
sidewalks to be significantly more dangerous than roads. I can dig up
citations, if you like, but IIRC the numbers run from approximately 2.5
times as dangerous, to about a dozen times as dangerous.

And, as others have mentioned, you're not required to ride at the edge
of the gutter. It's good to be courteous, but it's often safer to be
further left.

The incident with the SUV guy is negligible. Don't let him rattle you.


--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:43:40 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

Badger_South wrote:

Ya know, I intend to follow all the rules and regs and be a responsible
rider, but mebbe b/c I'm new to road riding - I find myself violating the
rules fairly frequently, all the while going 'wtf are you doing!'.

I think it's a fear factor thing.

We have a couple scary intersections with like five lanes leading into it,
all going different directions. I try to wait for the light, but worry
about having to de-toeclip, and stuff, so I end up seeing a 'prime time'
opening and jetting through it.

I hope it's a passing thing. Gotta practice that track standing more...

Maybe it's the slight anoxia - leading to questionable judgement.

Am I the only one who does this, almost involuntarily - spur of the moment?
Yikes!

Well, you're probably not the only one. After all, we've all seen
people riding at night, without lights, facing traffic, with a passenger
on the handlebars, carrying a grocery bag in one arm...

Those are intentional and careless acts. What I'm describing are unplanned
things that don't go the way one initially intends.

OTOH, I certainly don't do what you describe. I don't think it's smart,
for several reasons.

No argue there.

You can practice the track stand if you want, but it sounds like you're
better off practicing getting into and out of toe clips. And BTW, an
intersection with five entering lanes shouldn't be scary at all. Just
merge into the rightmost lane that goes where you're going.

IIRC, roughly half of serious bike accidents are the fault of the
cyclist, usually violating a very clear law. My bet is that every one
of those cyclists thought, ahead of time, that he was smart - or smart
enough - to do things his illegal way.

The traffic laws work remarkably well. I'd advise obeying them.

I'm trying, believe me. It's just that sometimes, being a noob at street
riding, it can be a little overwhelming.

Trouble with getting in and out of clips is that I keep looking down and
lose my bearing and swerve a bit.

I'm workin' on it.

-B

Badger_South wrote:

Ya know, I intend to follow all the rules and regs and be a responsible
rider, but mebbe b/c I'm new to road riding - I find myself violating the
rules fairly frequently, all the while going 'wtf are you doing!'.

I think it's a fear factor thing.

We have a couple scary intersections with like five lanes leading into it,
all going different directions. I try to wait for the light, but worry
about having to de-toeclip, and stuff, so I end up seeing a 'prime time'
opening and jetting through it.

I hope it's a passing thing. Gotta practice that track standing more...

Maybe it's the slight anoxia - leading to questionable judgement.

Am I the only one who does this, almost involuntarily - spur of the moment?
Yikes!

Well, you're probably not the only one. After all, we've all seen
people riding at night, without lights, facing traffic, with a passenger
on the handlebars, carrying a grocery bag in one arm...

OTOH, I certainly don't do what you describe. I don't think it's smart,
for several reasons.

You can practice the track stand if you want, but it sounds like you're
better off practicing getting into and out of toe clips. And BTW, an
intersection with five entering lanes shouldn't be scary at all. Just
merge into the rightmost lane that goes where you're going.

IIRC, roughly half of serious bike accidents are the fault of the
cyclist, usually violating a very clear law. My bet is that every one
of those cyclists thought, ahead of time, that he was smart - or smart
enough - to do things his illegal way.

The traffic laws work remarkably well. I'd advise obeying them.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Alex Colvin wrote:
My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available?

it's generally illegal for cyclists to ride on the sidewalk, although
there are usually exceptions for children.

sadly that's not true (in the USA). it is generally legal to ride on the
sidewalk except in business areas.
--
david reuteler