It’s a wide path. There are actually 2 “lanes”. It’s plenty wide enough for peds and bikes. But some bikers still ride on the windy road where I can’t see them around turns. And there’s really nowhere to “go” on this path; it’s just a ride through the park.
Cyclist+pedestrian=potentially nasty collision, but everyone walks away.
2 ton car+cyclist=maimed or dead cyclist.
Stay on the path. That’s why it’s there.
Thanks for the cites to my question. Although they’re old, and they themselves admit it’s a small data set, the results are overwhelming.
Having acknowledged that, I’m still going to bike on the sidewalk along Lake Avenue where the speed limit is 45, the sidewalk is separated by a fence, and there aren’t any intersections for a mile at a time.
So…if the roadway is so much safer, why do we tell kids to bike on sidewalks?
Because kids don’t know how and are too young to handle being in traffic.
I ride in the road along side a bike path because I want to go far and fast, not dawdle along with the rollerbladers, dog walkers, and kids in strollers. I will use the bike path for a casual ride, or to cross a major highway, but otherwise I’m better off in the road.
Get off my goddam sidewalk! If you’re a sweet little old lady with a walker or a cane, I’ll go to impulse power, slow down to a crawl, creep around you and smile as nice as I can, or less scary than usual.
But if you’re diddy-bopping down the street with your ear buds in your I-phone while you text about walking down the street with your ear buds in your i-phone and can’t hear the polite tinkle-tinkle of my handlebar bell… Your ass is mine. I’ll run you over, go around the block and see if you’re still there so I can do it again.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Cyclist+killed+Griffintown/8191314/story.html
Congratulations on finding ONE incident. How long would you like to play this game?
Cyclists in Denver sound like cyclists in Calgary, except the cyclists here almost never alert pedestrians that they’re coming up behind them.
I think everyone here could post a story about cyclists killing pedestrians in their city - I know I can. I also know for damned sure that I don’t want to get hit by a cyclist while I’m walking on the sidewalk - I’m pretty sure I’ll be seriously hurt by someone who wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
The part that irritates me the most about all the cyclists on the sidewalks where I live is that I walk in almost exclusively low-speed, low traffic suburban areas - the roads are about as safe as they can be for cyclists, yet they’re still on the sidewalk, endangering me.
Here in Manhattan the food delivery guys are the worst offenders when it comes to breaking the law on bikes. Its become so much of an issue in some neighborhoods that the city just passed a law requiring, amonst other things, safety and reflective gear, some sort of license plate for the bike, they must wear something on their upper body showing the restaurant they work for, they must obey ALL traffic laws, and they must bike in the street.
I assume the license plate and named uniform are so that they can hold the restaurant responsible for the accidents that they are causing - and believe me, they happen a lot.
They’ve also been pushing new bike lanes all over the city lately most of which are completely distrupting the traffic on those roads but honestly, I’ll take a little delay when I’m driving over getting hit when I’m walking my dog.
I bet a hill’s involved. I’ve witnessed a cyclist blow through a stop sign at the bottom of a hill on a wooded multi-use trail and nearly end up as someone’s hood ornament. The cross street there doesn’t get much traffic so virtually all westbound cyclists blow the stop but once in a while a vehicle will be there when one reaches the bottom. Maybe that cyclist successfully avoiding a faceplant learned a lesson that night.
Cyclist here, and I agree 100% that bikes need to be on the road, not the sidewalk (unless you’re a kid and riding at slow speeds). Pedestrians are way too unpredictable for me to ever feel comfortable on a sidewalk (which is why pedestrians on the designated bike path drives me nuts!), however vehicle traffic is generally predictable. As in my car, I am cautiosly aware of what’s going on around me and make sure I am moving in a predictible fashion as well.
Cat Whisperer and I live in the same city, but I’ve actually noticed an increase in bike commuters obeying the rules of the road in recent years. It might be a matter of our location in the city, but I travel between downtown and the NW and observe cyclists stoping at stop signs and lights, and dismounting and walking across the controlled sidewalks. The downtown multi-use pathways are limited to either 10 or 20 km’s an hour and that is enforced, as is the requirement for lights and bells to warn pedestrians.
I’m the same. I ride at vehicle speed, not leisure speed. Much safer for everyone, myself included, if I’m on the road.
I came about 2 feet from splattering a little girl who was trailing her family all on bikes…she was about 50 yards behind them. The driveway I was exiting had a 6 foot cinder block wall, that even I in my honda ridgeline had to nose out a bit to see oncoming traffic. Mom came back and started yelling at me for “not watching where I was going” If I had arrived 10 seconds earlier mom or dad would be having that close call not the kid.
Yeah, that makes a difference too. I’m on a hybrid, cruising at around 14/15 mph.
If you’re on a road bike, and you can keep your pace over 20, you’re going to be a lot less annoying on the road, and a lot more annoyed and annoying on a sidewalk/trail.
… and who doesn’t give a shit about injuring pedestrians. I hate sidewalk bicyclists.
Isn’t the 6 foot cinderblock wall the problem, not the cyclists and/or pedestrians that it helps to conceal?
OP: Since you’re relatively new here, you may not know that this has been extensively discussed before (not that it isn’t worth bringing it up again)—in such threads as A truck just ran over me and my bike (which inspired this Pitting) and Is riding a bicycle on a sidewalk a bad idea? (Answer: Yes).
I support this pitting. As a pedestrian, I’ve been banged into by moron cyclists on the sidewalks.
Now if only we could keep pedestrians off the actual bike paths…
Perhaps they meant that bikers should WALK their bikes (on the sidewalk, of course) when they are downtown?
Still seems odd. Perhaps the main downtown street has lots of diagonal parking, with car parkers coming in and out of them frequently? I could see that as significantly increasing the chance of (slow-speed) car/bike collisions – but even then, it’s not THAT hard for parkers to look for bikers before they back out.
So, it’s odd. It would be interesting to see the wording of the law, or at least of the signs.
On my bike I have been struck by a car, pelted with beer bottles/garbage (twice), chased by violent teens (twice), and squeezed into a ditch by traffic.
F**k the rules, I don’t want to die.