in any situation police will do what they do. i do think that someone in a motorized vehicle in a driveway has to yield to anything on the sidewalk or street.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m gonna get places a lot faster if I start riding my motorcycle on the sidewalk, especially since I’ll be able to get the rights normally given to a pedestrian.
(Come to think of it, I once saw someone do that. A guy on moped needed to make a left turn, so he rode up on the sidewalk, then down a crosswalk whereby everyone had to yield for (and just about kill) him.
FYI, Sir T-cups, in the interest of keeping your informed and safe, I encourage you to check out your state’s bicycle advocacy organization which provides cyclists and motorists with a very informative website. You’ll notice at the top of the page a photo of a cyclist, on a street not unlike the one you were on, obeying the relevant statutes set forth by the Alabama vehicular code, to which Alabama Bike Coalition has also helpfully provided links.
Further, you can find another useful link to bicycle commuter’s guide that has reprinted some very reasonable tips for safe cycling:
See Rule #1? Read it again until you fully understand it. If you don’t get it, read the entire article again. Ask more experienced cyclists to help you understand safe cycling. There are quite a few on this board more than willing to help you. Know your state’s vehicular code. Be predictable (that’s also covered in the article) so that other drivers are always aware of, and able to react in a manner safe for all to, your presence.
Knowing what you know now, ask yourself if you were: a) acting in accordance with the vehicular laws of your state, b) acting in a predictable manner that other drivers informed of the laws would expect, and c) if there is anything you could have done differently to avoid the accident. Hopefully, you come up with a more reasonable answer than this:
[QUOTE=mhendo]
Have you read Muffin’s citation of the relevant Alabama code? Does it change your mind at all about this incident?
[/QUOTE]
.
[QUOTE=Sir T-cups]
Not even a little.
[/QUOTE]
Careful, Brown Eyed Girl, Forester’s rules are actually considered by some to be illegal in certain states . 
Mmmmm, potato skins!!! That’s all I got out of it.
I just know it’s a titty bar, from the name!
So what color is the sky on your planet? On this planet when an officer writes a citation it includes the code section that was violated. Now because of
A) the cite was written
And
B) to the best of my knowledge there is no vehicle code section entitled police will do what they do
I am going to say you are wrong.
However if you can cite the relevant code section for will do what they do I’m willing to change my mind.
Covered.
[QUOTE=myself]
Know your state’s vehicular code.
[/QUOTE]
No, but he later gave a slightly better (but not much) link. I’m still laughing about that. Idiot wants us to care. No, it ain’t going to happen. Idiot just going to idiot…
I looked it up. It isn’t. This should overshadow all the discussion about bikes and right of way: how on earth is a place called the Pink Pony just a run of the mill sports pub sort of place? The mind wobbles.
There are many people in this thread that are claiming it’s safer to ride on the road rather than use the sidewalk. Could someone please explain this to me? I ride 30 miles every day. I am well aware and have been for years that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk in my state. However, my concern when riding is for my personal safety, not what’s legal.
On the main road through town I always ride on the sidewalk. About 4 years ago I decided to ignore the law because I was tired of almost getting run over. For what it’s worth, I’ve never been given a ticket or warned. My own experience tells me it’s much safer. The road is four narrow lanes with no median and no shoulder.
Close calls while riding on the road: Way to many to even begin to estimate.
Close calls while riding on the sidewalk: Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Of course wherever there is an entrance to a business or a side road I will always stop and make absolutely certain it is safe to cross. Also the sidewalk is mostly unused. In the rare case there is a pedestrian on the sidewalk I will stop and let them pass since they do have the right of way.
So could someone please explain to me the logic in saying the street is safer to ride on? My experience says otherwise.
I’m with you Frosty Camel, 100%. Been riding my bike safely on the sidewalk, without incident for 20+ yrs.
The real problem is people like the OP, who wants to ride his bike on the sidewalk, like he’s riding on a road.
Riding on the sidewalk, in a world clearly carcentric, where you can see there is no one using them for two blocks, just makes sense to me. In my city the downtown streets were put in over 100 yrs ago. Most are so thin, buses have to take the left lane to make a right hand turn.
It’s not that hard to ride safely on the sidewalk. But you can’t just play like you’re on the road, going fast. You have to go slower, and stop more often. You have to be aware at every hedge or blind spot that there may be a drive there, with a vehicle pulling out the driver correctly looking toward traffic, not you. The onus is on you to notice him, he already looked and didn’t see you, cause you weren’t there yet.
The very silliest thing about the OP for me, as you will appreciate, I’m sure, is that there is nothing easier when you’re riding on the sidewalk, to see if the driver of any pulling out vehicle can see you or not. Can you see his eyes? But the Op was going too fast to stop in time, (Wrong!), and didn’t care that the driver clearly couldn’t see him (Stupid!), because he felt he had the right of way, by being on the sidewalk! (Wrong!)
If you want to safely ride on sidewalks to you have to use the less foot traveled routes, always cede the sidewalk to pedestrians, (going onto the grass, or getting off your bike, shifting onto the roadway for half a block, etc.). You have to obey all the stops signs and red lights. And you have to go slow enough to stop suddenly should someone come running out of their house or drive and into the sidewalk. Also it’s kind of nice to ding your horn when you’re coming up behind people, not so they will step aside, (I’m going up on the grass anyway!), just so as not to startle them.
I am often riding in my hubby’s car watching 1st year uni students try to navigate buses and trucks on ill designed, unfamiliar street, while, for three blocks in either direction, both sides of the street the sidewalks are totally empty.
Right.
Despite the fact that i’ve been piling on the OP in this thread, i haven’t been doing merely because he rode on the sidewalk. Even when doing it is illegal, i don’t really have too much trouble with cyclists riding on the sidewalk if they feel safer there. I understand that some roads are really shitty for cyclists, and i also understand that some cyclists aren’t very confident riders and prefer to be away from the cars. Similarly, i don’t care very much when pedestrians jaywalk.
But, if you’re going to ride on the sidewalk, it’s up to you to be extra careful, and to be aware of all of the ways that it’s different from riding on the road. It means that you don’t barrel along on narrow sidewalks; it means that you don’t ride within inches of pedestrians; it means that you get off and walk your bike if necessary; and it means that you also understand that plenty of people, including drivers exiting properties, won’t expect you to be there. Similarly, jaywalking pedestrians have a responsibility to make sure they don’t impede traffic, and that they watch where the fuck they’re going.
And, if you get into an accident when you’re riding on the sidewalk in violation of the law, you need to man up and admit that at least part of the blame rests with you.
Edit:
Also, as someone who has been a pedestrian in quite a lot of large and mid-sized and small American cities, i have had FAR more close calls with cyclists than i have with cars. If i have a prejudice against cyclists who ride on the sidewalk, it’s because too many of them act like assholes while doing it.
Holy crap on a cracker!
Three posts in a row, with people expressing you can safely ride on a sidewalk if you take special care and accommodate drives and pedestrians. I rarely express this opinion anymore as the board is so rabidly against it.
Never thought I’d see the day. Colour me impressed.
For me, it’s partly about resignation.
I’d prefer that people ride on the road. I’d also like it if drivers were considerate enough of cyclists that all cyclists actually felt safe riding on the road. But i realize that, no matter how many laws are made, and no matter how much people rail against it, some cyclists will always ride on the sidewalk. If that’s going to happen, then they should, at the very least, try not to ride like fucking douchebags while doing it.
This is how I feel too. It’s illegal to ride on the sidewalk here, but many people do it. I ride on the road, like I’m supposed to, but I ride a road bike and ride fast. If someone is riding a little cruiser bike with three gears at 5 kms/hr through some neighborhood and taking care around driveways and pedestrians, fine. But in situations where the sidewalks are crowded (i.e. downtown Calgary) or there is poor visibility around driveways, get off and walk your bike or ride on the road like you’re supposed to. If you ride fast, get on the road. Basically, if you are riding faster than someone running/jogging on the sidewalk, get off the sidewalk.
Oh, and wear a helmut. 
Jeeze, where were all you reasonable people the last time this was discussed? Suddenly I feel bad for having judged the community as being totally one sided on the issue. I misjudged you all, apologies!
It is the sidewalk. If you want to be there with your bicycle, get off and walk it. Now a multi-use trail is a different animal, but also designed to better accommodate different types of traffic at different relative velocities.
This study [PDF] indicates that cycling on the sidewalk results in greater numbers of injuries than road cycling.
So, according to this study, the lack of cycling skill found more prevalent in sidewalk cyclists means if you aren’t skilled enough to cycle in the road where you belong, you are probably safer on the sidewalk, although you’re probably more likely to experience a fall or injury on the sidewalk than a road cyclist will on the road.
Maybe the lesson here is to learn how to ride a bike like an adult.