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AG: Sidewalks
On 9/4/2016 8:02 PM, John B. wrote:
On Sun, 04 Sep 2016 09:29:03 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: We go on and on about the dangers of sidewalks because the uninstructed newbie thinks that sidewalks are extra, extra safe, and makes every ride into "pop unexpectedly into path of car, repeat", varied occasionally by running down a pedestrian. A while back I ran into a situation where riding on the sidewalk really was safer than riding in the roadway. While approaching Buffalo on my way to Marsh Supermarket, I remembered that I was curious about an establishment a block or two south, so when I got to the intersection, I turned left. At this point, Buffalo Street is also SR 15, which is the primary north-south route west of Fort Wayne and east of Plymouth. Four lanes are just barely adequate for the traffic where 15 runs along Detroit Street, but where Buffalo crosses Prairie, it's all funneled into an ordinary city street -- and there's no place for local traffic to go to avoid the congestion. Throttling one lane down to the speed of a bicycle -- even one not ridden by an arthritic old lady who is looking for an address -- would create an embolism that would have far-reaching consequences, so I steered up the first wheelchair ramp that I saw. There's no risk of inconveniencing pedestrians here, because there aren't any. There's no need to get off to cross streets because, for the same reason that the road can't be widened, there are no cross streets. There are lots and lots of driveways, so I proceeded at walking pace to give myself plenty of time to look for vehicles that might want to enter or leave a parking lot. And I stopped at the first bench I saw to change into walking shoes. ================================================== ==================== A few weeks later the establishment I'd been curious about advertised a charity "garage sale" of worn uniforms. (Alas, all the pants were blue jeans. I kinder wish I'd bought one of the carbon-fiber lab coats.) This time I walked all the way. It helped that, having come from the courthouse-square farmers' market instead of having just circumnavigated the lake, I was already wearing walking shoes. And from that direction it's possible to get into the car-wash parking lot from the back, which shortened the distance I needed to walk. Alas, prolonged study of my map confirmed that the only way out was back the way I came. I've always thought that sidewalks were for pedestrians and if one wanted to use them while cycling than one should, perhaps, get off and walk, or if there was little pedestrian traffic perhaps ride at walking speeds. They are for pedestrians, but in many places it's legal for cyclists to ride them. Local laws vary. 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. 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. 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. -- - Frank Krygowski |
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