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#31
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Wrong Side Of The Sidewalk??
Hi Lynn,
It's not polite to stop at a four-way stop when you have the right of way and wave everyone else on. It's not polite to let five people into your lane when five people are waiting behind. It's not polite to send the message that cyclists don't belong by riding where the pedestrians belong. First you said it was safety then you said it was politeness. Maybe you think it's the latter, but I'll believe your first message and construe it as timidity, unwillingness to do the right thing so as to avoid a fuss. But even though the vast majority of bicycling miles don't happen on sidewalks, sidewalk riders still cause 7% of all car-bike collisions. Per mile, a sidewalk is one of the most dangerous places to ride. Think dozens of intersections where you should be yielding. All this to avoid one of the least common kinds of accidents--getting hit from behind. Take a BikeEd class and boost your confidence. The fear is understandable AND defeatable. In article , Raptor wrote: Dennis P. Harris wrote: On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 00:10:41 -0600 in rec.bicycles.soc, Raptor wrote: I ride the sidewalk frequently, but only when the road is unsafe. When on the sidewalk, I'm a fast pedestrian, keeping my max speed in the 10mph range. That's the only safe way to ride the sidewalk, so it's reserved for avoiding dangerous roadways. stop being timid! just take the damn lane! It's not timidity(?), it's courtesy. Okay, maybe a little discretion. |
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#32
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Wrong Side Of The Sidewalk??
BDP wrote:
Hi Lynn, It's not polite to stop at a four-way stop when you have the right of way and wave everyone else on. It's not polite to let five people into your lane when five people are waiting behind. It's not polite to send the message that cyclists don't belong by riding where the pedestrians belong. First you said it was safety then you said it was politeness. Maybe you think it's the latter, but I'll believe your first message and construe it as timidity, unwillingness to do the right thing so as to avoid a fuss. But even though the vast majority of bicycling miles don't happen on sidewalks, sidewalk riders still cause 7% of all car-bike collisions. Per mile, a sidewalk is one of the most dangerous places to ride. Think dozens of intersections where you should be yielding. All this to avoid one of the least common kinds of accidents--getting hit from behind. Take a BikeEd class and boost your confidence. The fear is understandable AND defeatable. I never stopped riding, and at 41 I have yet to have a serious dust-up with a car. In fact, I've HIT two cars with my bike, and have been hit by one. I've had my fair share of close calls. Roughly 50% of them are avoided by the driver waking up in time, 50% by me reading the driver's mind and avoiding the situation. I log about 750 miles per year on average. That's 30 years of riding with no injuries from car-bike collisions. Just some equipment damage. (I think it was an illegal alien driver who blind-sided me while I glared at the Stupid Driver in front of him. I needed a new crank arm.) If the street looks safe to me, I ride it. In fact, I ride roads that the vast majority of bike riders (including the suburban neighborhood gang) wouldn't think of riding. I also ride streets that I rarely see other cyclists on, because they perceive danger that I don't. Some of the roads I ride on can, IMO, be safely ridden only if you are fast. I'm fast. Not particularly fast by racer standards, but with poor form I tool along at 17mph. One dubious advantage of riding a fast, busy street at rush hour is the need to maintain a high speed to increase one's visibility, AND to be polite to the cagers by not slowing them down too much. See "fahrtlek training." It's good to be polite to cagers. As you note, sidewalks ARE dangerous. That's why I stick to pedestrian speeds when I'm on the sidewalk (and be particularly vigilant at driveways). It's also why I only use the sidewalk when the street isn't safe, or when I'm in absolutely no hurry and don't want to use energy to avoid cagers. In my considerable riding experience, there are no absolute safety rules. The sidewalk IS the best option under very specific circumstances. -- -- Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall Conservative dictionary: Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes. |
#33
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Wrong Side Of The Road
Im not sure what the law is where you live, but here in Colorado (and
every other state in the union) is that a bicycle is a vehicle, and must follow the same laws that a car/truck must (i.e. go in the same direction as traffic) .. A person walking/running is a pedestrian, and must follow a different set of laws (i.e walking/running against traffic) "WiNK" wrote in : "winnard" wrote in message news:z5lBe.115962$yV4.52002@okepread03... If you bicycle on the wrong side of the road you deserve to become weenie meat. winnard What exactly is "the wrong side of the road?" Do you remember (and maybe I'm remembering incorrectly) being taught as kids (way back--not in the 80s, you punks) to bicycle so that cars are facing you? I could swear this was the original plan..... Now the rule is that cyclists follow the same rules as cars. BTW, I saw two kids doing exactly that just two days ago...... riding into oncoming traffic, which is especially dangerous when they are crossing one of those right hand turn "merge type lanes." I wanted to tag one, but talked myself out of it. Peach |
#34
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Wrong Side Of The Sidewalk??
Raptor wrote:
Just zis Guy, you know? wrote: On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 02:05:14 -0700, LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m wrote: going like a bat out of hell the wrong way on the sidewalk. So which way is "the wrong way" on the *sidewalk*?? Being on the sidewalk at all is the "wrong way" :-D Guy I ride the sidewalk frequently, but only when the road is unsafe. When on the sidewalk, I'm a fast pedestrian, keeping my max speed in the 10mph range. That's the only safe way to ride the sidewalk, so it's reserved for avoiding dangerous roadways. -- -- Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall Conservative dictionary: Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes. I was walking my pit bull the other day, minding my own business, when a mildly retarded "sidewalk bicyclist" came up from behind us, doing, maybe 10-15 miles per hour. My dog has nothing against humans, but really hates all manner of automated conveyances. He lunged at the bike tire, I pulled, and he scratched the bike riders leg in the process of being yanked to the side. The bike rider fell over screaming as he was from France. Short version: Police summoned, medical staff summoned, bicyclist treated, then ticketed (and then, almost arrested) for riding on the sidewalk--dog walks free. What a happy ending. Bike riders who ride on the sidewalk deserve to get bitten, or worse. |
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