It is stupid to suggest that cyclists should bike on the road instead of the sidewalk

submitted by trident765 from self.nonmorons

These days for most of my day to day travel such as going to the grocery store, I ride my my bike. This takes almost the same amount of time as driving, does not consume gasoline or require maintenance, and it is good exercise.

And when I ride my bike, I almost always bike on the sidewalk rather than the road. Today, this person who was also riding his bike (but on the road) yelled at me, angrily saying "The sidewalk is for pedestrians!". I find what he said to be stupid and idolatrous. I looked up the the laws where I live and there is no law against bicycling on the sidewalk - the DMV website rebukes sidewalk cyclists and speaks poorly of them, but says they have no authority to ban them since sidewalks are not within their realm.

Why would anyone have anything against people riding their bike on the sidewalk? They probably have an image in their head of a family going out for a peaceful walk and then a horde of obnoxious cyclists zoom past by them and ruin their walk. This is how it happens in their heads, but this is not how it happens in reality. How it happens in reality is: There is no family who goes out for a walk because everyone drives these days. The roads are congested and the sidewalks are completely empty. Why should cyclists be encouraged to congest roads further when the sidewalks are completely empty? Why should a slow and fragile human powered vehicle ride alongside deadly heavyweight 50mph vehicles? It is completely stupid for bicycles to bike alongside automobiles. Even bike lanes on the road are stupid. If there is a bike lane, it should be a division of the sidewalk, not the road. The road should be for dangerous vehicles, and the sidewalk should be for non-dangerous vehicles.

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[–]Node 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

So, on streets and roads, bikes are treated like cars. On sidewalks, they're treated like pedestrians. When they're on a sidewalk, cyclists must “yield the right of way to any pedestrian;” and “give audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian.” Acting like pedestrians, speed-wise, isn't a bad idea.

The most consistent feature of bicycle users is their indifference to laws, and the safety of all other people. They should be banned from both streets and sidewalks, since there is simply no way they can be made to pay for the damage they do to society.

[–]Cornfed 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

Ideally cyclists would use the road when I am walking and the footpath/sidewalk when I am driving. In general, cyclists are a pain in the butt to all concerned. The main reason people don't like them using the sidewalk is that they tend to crash into pedestrians when approaching from behind when the pedestrian moves to the side for some reason.

[–]trident765[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Speaking as a driver and a pedestrian, I would much rather risk walking into a bicycle every so often than deal with cyclists on the road. The consequences of a bike crashing into a pedestrian will probably be forgotten after a day. But if a car crashes into a bicycle, this will be the cause of grief for weeks. Yielding to cyclists who ring their bell might be annoying, but I think figuring out how to pass the cyclist in front of you who is biking at 20 mph below the speed limit is more annoying.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

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    [–]trident765[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Idolatrous statement.

    [–]HuguesDePayn 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

    Simple solution is to ring the bell most bikes come with when approaching pedestrians. Then the randomly swerving pedestrian can be aware of the oncoming danger and avoid swerving randomly until the cyclist passes safely.

    In general, our transport corridors are not setup for use by bikes, cars and pedestrians together. I again point to the Amsterdam model which shows it can be done with less frustration for all parties involved. Except of course the petro-dollar economy that relies on automobile traffic and does not want a safe and reliable bike/public transport setup.

    [–]Cornfed 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Yes well that imposes something on pedestrians that they are not necessarily used to these days, and so it sucks.

    [–]Brewdabier 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

    It depends on state laws, some states does have laws saying the sidewalk is for pedestrians. Some state laws say a bycycle must obay the same laws as a vehicle as it is a vehicle that said I know from experance munich has more bike lanes than all of southern california but riding a bike in California is like chambering a revolver and playing suicide. I will always ride on the sidewalk if theres no bike lane .

    [–]HuguesDePayn 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Australia changed their laws recently after multiple deaths of cyclists on the road. They now allow them to use the footpath when they don't feel safe.

    [–]HuguesDePayn 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

    The Amsterdam model is the best system for this, that I know of. The bike lanes are seperated from the roads and sidewalks. When my wife and I visited, we rode everywhere.