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AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist:



 
 
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Old September 9th 16, 08:01 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
John B.[_6_]
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Posts: 2,202
Default AG: Sidewalks

On Thu, 8 Sep 2016 12:22:31 -0700, NFN Smith
wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:

They are for pedestrians, but in many places it's legal for cyclists to
ride them. Local laws vary.


I agree that they're for pedestrians, specifically for foot traffic.

One significant problem is that people often assume "pedestrian", as
"not car", and not understanding the relative speed differential between
somebody on foot, and a wheeled object. For safety purposes, true foot
traffic does not mix well with anything on wheels. That's not just
bicycles, but things like roller skates and skateboards.


AFAIK, every study on the issue has found sidewalks to be more dangerous
than riding on the road. This doesn't mean that sidewalks are never
safer. I'm sure it depends on the traffic situation, the skill of the
cyclist, and the skill and good sense of the cyclist in recognizing and
mitigating sidewalk hazards.


I believe that I've heard of places that are trying to be "bike
friendly", and explicitly allow sidewalk riding, and I know of places
that explicitly prohibit bicycles on sidewalks.

It's actually the same issue as bicycles in traffic. It depends on the
traffic situation, the skill of the cyclist, and the skill and cyclist
in recognizing and mitigating road hazards.

I've found that in a lot of places, road support for bikes (especially
"bike lanes") tend to be clustered around schools, where the primary
traffic is expected to be school children, riding small bikes, and not a
lot of bike handling skills. As a fitness rider, I tend to avoid those
neighborhoods as much on my bike as I do, if I'm a motorist.

Sidewalk hazards? Running into pedestrians is one, although in much of
America, nobody walks. But crossing ANY intersection, even a driveway,
can be very dangerous because the motorist using that will never expect
any fast-moving sidewalk traffic (fast = "more than 3 mph"). Then
there's the hard drop-off edge of most sidewalks, meaning if your front
wheel drops off, you're likely to go down. There are sign poles,
telephone poles and other hard obstructions. There are often limited
sight lines. There are often big bumps from sections of concrete that
have risen or sunk, and/or from tree roots, etc.


Yes. There's a lot of hazards on a sidewalk that don't account for the
relative speed of a bicycle. And the issues are just as much for a
skateboard or roller skates, as well.

Having said that, there are two short sections of sidewalk I use at
least weekly. Each is less than 50 feet long, and I've never passed a
pedestrian on either one. Each saves me about 200 yards of heavy
traffic and a difficult left turn. But I ride them slowly, on high
alert, with my head on a swivel, jet fighter style.


There are specific situations where it's appropriate, especially if it's
a place where you go frequently, and know the situation. I have a friend
that commutes, and for the particular route that he rides, there's a
place where it's appropriate for him to briefly ride a sidewalk,
especially as a way of having to cross to the other side of a major
arterial boulevard, and then back again, to ride with traffic.

My beef is with people that ride against traffic, whether on the
sidewalk or on the street. I've had it happen a couple of times as a
motorist, where I'm pulling out of a driveway or making a right turn,
I'm looking to the left, to watch for oncoming traffic, and nearly run
into somebody riding the wrong side of the street, because they're
coming at vehicle speed, and a direction I'm not expecting. The other
problem with riding against traffic is that if the bike space is
blocked, there's no avenue for escape. If you're in a place where
there's a curb, there's often no way of getting over the curb quickly
(unless there's a driveway that happens to be handy), and the only other
place to dodge is to move out into traffic.

I'm not sure if the sidewalk is safer for somebody going against
traffic, or not (and assuming that there's no pedestrian).

But the underlying problem is the same, in that the speed of a bike
(even 10 mph) is more compatible with vehicular traffic on the road
(riding with the traffic) than it is with foot traffic on a sidewalk.

Smith


I would add "elbow room" to "speed". Two pedestrians can, if
necessary, sort of side step close to each other and get through a
space narrower than the usual bicycle handle bars :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

 




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