I’ve never understood why bikers (non-motorized) ride on urban roads instead of sidewalks. Of course its illegal to use the sidewalks but the likelihood of getting a ticket for doing so (anecdotally never head of it) are far less than being seriously hurt riding on the streets (happens all the time with many, many unnecessary deaths). So what’s the appeal of it that’s worth risking your life (and causing enormous strains on traffic that often result in multi-million dollar bike lanes at property tax owner’s expense)?
Because sidewalks are where the pedestrians are.
Since the OP is asking for opinions, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Well, breaking the law is a bad idea in general. Endangering pedestrians is also of questionable morality.
The design of cities, from time immemorial, was not built around automobiles. They are the nasty anomalous intrusion. Bicycles are vaguely comparable to horses, for which our cities were designed. Cars are more like runaway horses: dangerous!
So, the most logical revision to our cities would be to ban autos!
Anyway, sorry, straying into opinion. The cold true fact is that city planners and civic engineers are stuck trying to build the best compromise they can. The “state of the art” in city design is to have bicycles share the road with autos, and not to share the sidewalk with pedestrians. I’m sure they’ve done a lot of research, testing, simulation, and (likely) actual experimenting to arrive at this consensus.
It’s far more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk. You’re often screened from view by parked cars or landscaping. Cars turning into a driveway or rounding a corner
Have a far more difficult time seeing a bike on the sidewalk. Even more so backing out of a driveway(residential) or exiting a parking lot(business).
I understand from an urban planning perspective its much more efficient for bikers and autos to share than bikers and pedestrians.
My question is more from an individual risk perspective in which from the biker’s perspective riding on sidewalks seems like the best alternative.
Edit: and for the sake of morality, let’s make the assumption the biker values their own life over that of others.
Why do you think it’s safer for the bicyclist to ride on the sidewalk?
You’re forgetting that urban sidewalks interact with vehicular traffic quite a lot.
I’ve been ticketed for bicycling in the crosswalk (once, as a college student), so it does happen.
Sidewalks are also often highly uneven (uplifted sections from roots), full of pedestrians or kids playing/skateboarding/bicycling, and as stated previously, cars do not expect to see fast-moving bicycles crossing intersections at crosswalks or coming down the sidewalk when the car is crossing it into a driveway or parking lot.
Admittedly, some cars do not expect to see bicycles anywhere (I’ve also been doored once, and once passed by a car who immediately turned to the right in front of me and knocked me and my bicycle over, nearly running me over in the process) but at the very least, on the road bicycles have less interaction/interference with pedestrians and playing children, and hopefully a tad more visibility to cars.
It’s not universally illegal to ride on sidewalks, around here it’s only illegal in the business districts in the core cities. I always ride on the sidewalk still. It’s bumpy but it’s better than riding with cars in the street.
It’s apparently legal to ride bikes on sidewalks here and it’s really scary. It becomes very VERY hard to know when you can pull into/out of a driveway, make a turn, etc. Bikes are moving so much faster than pedestrians they are extremely hard to keep track of, and the guys who ride with traffic on the street until they get to a stop, then cross with the pedestrians are even worse.
But it’s less safe for the pedestrians to have bicyclists on the sidewalk.
You also run the risk of a confrontation with a pedestrian who sees no reason to get out of the way. Inviting “sidewalk rage” is not wise.
Curb cuts aren’t always where you want them to be. Jumping up and down curbs isn’t particularly fun (or safe).
Pedestrians are also dangerous to bicyclists.
I’ve been sideswiped enough times by bicyclists (both coming and going) that I no longer care to “get out of the way”. I try to stay on “my side” of the walkway; if you don’t have enough control over your bike to stay on “your side”, then there are going to be problems.
A bicycle is a form of transportation. It is not a recreational toy unless the cyclist is wearing spandex.
If you drive your car 35mph on the road, and I bike 20 mph on the road, and a pedestrian walks 3 mph on the sidewalk: where do I belong?
The answer is the bike lane.
If there is none, then I will be on the road taking the entire lane if there is no shoulder. I don’t care if I make you late for work. Feel free to honk and yell at me, I’m used to it. Your right to get to work on time is not greater than my right to get to work on time just because you are in a 2 ton piece of metal.
austerity: sad, but true. This isn’t a country where rights and laws are well enough respected. Thank you for not biking on the sidewalk! I promise to give you room and not honk at you. (Nor car-door you: I always look.)
I walk all the time around here, and I see cyclists on the sidewalk about five times more often than I see them on the road. I’ve come to the conclusion that cyclists are never going to get off the sidewalks, so I was considering asking all y’all’s advice on how best to keep myself safe from all the cyclists cycling around me. A reflective vest? A rear-view mirror so I can see them sneaking up on me? (You wouldn’t believe how quickly and quietly a bike can come up behind a walking person, even with no headphones on.) Flags sticking out to both sides so they give me wide enough berth to not startle the shit out of me?
I think I know what area of the city you’re talking about. My answer: arm bar clothesline. I never see cyclists on the sidewalk on this side of the city (unless they’re kids), but if I did, I’d be tempted to push them off. And this is coming from an avid city cyclist.
According to this study, statistics show riding on the roadway is safer than riding on sidewalks. This is most likely because car drivers are more likely to notice cyclists on roadways than those on sidewalks. Keep in mind that cyclists on sidewalks still need to cross roads at intersections; car drivers are on the lookout for traffic on the road, but they aren’t expecting anyone/anything to come out of a sidewalk and into the intersection at faster than walking pace.
This is also the reason I ride on the roadway. I feel much more vulnerable riding on a sidewalk. (The only safe way to ride on a sidewalk is to stop at every driveway, parking lot entrance or intersection, and get off and walk across each. If I did that, my 12-minute commute will become a 30-minute commute.)
The problem with riding on the sidewalk is with riding fast on the sidewalk. Where I live, everyone rides on the sidewalk (and crosses on crosswalks), but most people do it at a very moderate pace; personally, I’ve been overtaken at times by joggers. The faster, more overachieving bikers tend to stick to the road.