Wrong Side Of The Road

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.

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.

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

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.