{"id":208805702,"date":"2011-08-14T17:35:02","date_gmt":"2011-08-14T17:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=208805702"},"modified":"2011-08-14T17:35:02","modified_gmt":"2011-08-14T17:35:02","slug":"in-praise-of-sidewalk-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=208805702","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Sidewalk Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: While I am not a huge fan of sidewalk cycling I do understand why many prefer it over riding in the street and as the article points out the criteria for when it is allowed and when it is not is … well all messed up. But for safety my own research points to the fact that riding against traffic either on the sidewalk or on the street is very risky and a lot of people do it. I will further assert including wrong way riding in the stats for comparative risks throws the whole comparison off IMHO.<\/p>\n

It is also noteworthy that you cannot safely do near traffic speeds on the sidewalk like you can in the street. Viable transportation needs to have an element of being swift. So while accommodating slow beginners is a good thing but there is a fear that allowing sidewalk riding will make street riding seem unsafe, thus penalizing those of us who go faster and further by bike. This topic should be approached with caution as both can be safe if precautions are taken and both can be unsafe if no thought to the potential hazards (common crash types) is ever done.]<\/em><\/p>\n

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By googlemapsbikethere.org<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Horrendously Dangerous Cycletrack and Sidewalk!<\/em><\/p>\n

Every few weeks a cycling \u2018advocate\u2019 will tear into people for daring to ride their bikes on the sidewalk \u2014 usually after someone riding a bike on the sidewalk was killed. We get some of the same from many cycling \u2018advocates\u2019 when cyclists riding in the road are killed, but the pomposity really flows when the killed cyclist was cycling on the sidewalk. This \u2018criticizing the dead\u2019 behavior is boorish, but it doesn\u2019t seem to stop people. C\u2019est la vie.<\/p>\n

The concern these \u2018sidewalk cycling bloggers\u2019 are trolling is one of \u2018safety\u2019 \u2014 in theory, presumably they care, or claim to care, about the safety of the person doing the sidewalk cycling \u2014 not the drivers and walkers.<\/p>\n

These bloggers point to various dubious studies by vehicular cycling advocates, and they fail to provide context for the studies. For instance, I could probably find data that shows walking on one-way streets is much safer than walking on two-way streets. But what use is the study if we don\u2019t talk about the fact that people don\u2019t walk on one-way streets because they\u2019re so anti-human? Not much.<\/p>\n

Ditto with these \u2018sidewalks are dangerous\u2019 studies \u2014 they simply don\u2019t hold water if we claim to care about implementing policies which allow people to ride their bikes. We need studies that look at the totality of safety effects of riding on sidewalks vs. riding on the street \u2014 to the extent that such studies can even be statistically significant.<\/p>\n

For instance, this safety page<\/a> (which is, overall, very good \u2014 even if it\u2019s old school, and has some nonsense in there about headphones and other alleged dangers) says don\u2019t ride on the sidewalk, except in certain cases where it is OK to ride on the sidewalk \u2013 so, which one is it? Always, never, or sometimes? And who gets to decide the criteria?<\/p>\n

This video makes a strong case for sidewalk cycling (the narrator clowns League cyclists while he\u2019s at it \u2014 funny):<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Someone at Treehugger called \u2018bs\u2019 on the anti-biking brigade<\/a> a couple of years ago:<\/p>\n

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As a new or continuing city cyclist, you are bound to hear the admonishment: \u201cDon\u2019t ride on the sidewalk. It\u2019s dangerous.\u201d I swallowed that Kool-Aid for quite a while. After all, I want cycling to be a respected part of the transport infrastructure, I want cyclists to be generally law abiding and not continually agitate either pedestrians or car drivers<\/a> (or each other!). But that word \u201cdangerous,\u201d bandied about as it is so frequently in cycling, should serve as the first clue that the warning to not sidewalk ride is a complicated, multi-faceted subject.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One oft-cited study seems to make some sense<\/a> \u2014 it says, at a minimum, the haters need to stop hating:<\/p>\n

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Whatever the reasons, sidewalk cyclists should not simply be taught that sidewalk cycling is dangerous and should, therefore, be discontinued. Attempts to teach cyclists effective cycling skills should be considered.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This study from Toronto<\/a> says sidewalk collisions are lower<\/em> than riding in the street:<\/p>\n

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The rate of collision on off-road paths and sidewalks was lower than for roads.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And, if riding on sidewalks and sidepaths is so dangerous, why are they primary features of the roadway infrastructure of The Netherlands, the safest place on earth<\/em> to ride a bike?<\/p>\n

Because sidewalk and sidepath cycling is safe. <\/em><\/p>\n

If you were ever told otherwise, you were fed a line \u2014 by the same people who probably admonished you to wear a helmet.<\/p>\n

And when measured in the most critical terms \u2014 your ability to bike another day \u2014 you are almost certainly safer on the sidewalk than in the road \u2014 <\/em>because most collisions occur in the road \u2014 i.e. doorings, hit from behind, etc.<\/p>\n

So when certain \u2018advocates\u2019 tell cyclists not to ride on the sidewalk \u2014 they are effectively telling these cyclists to stop riding \u2014 which makes riding overall that much more dangerous for everyone else \u2014 because of the safety in numbers effect<\/a>, in reverse.<\/p>\n

So, if you are confused as to what you should tell a new sidewalk rider who has been accosted by the anti-cycling zealots, go with this:<\/p>\n

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Dude(tte) \u2014 I am so happy to hear you\u2019re riding your bike \u2014 that\u2019s so cool. Keep it up. Don\u2019t let the haters get you down \u2014 haters gonna hate. Just keep doing what you\u2019re doing, and if you feel more comfortable on the sidewalk, then you keep riding on the sidewalk. It\u2019s probably safer there anyways.<\/p>\n

I would advise that you not injure, maim, or kill any pedestrians \u2014 that just goes without saying \u2014 the same argument for cars \u2014 they shouldn\u2019t injure, maim, or kill any cyclists or pedestrians \u2014 so watch out for pedestrians, and just generally be considerate of them, especially if they\u2019re old \u2014 flying by a walker on the sidewalk can make them jump (make the jump\/twitch!<\/em> move here), and that\u2019s kinda scary and just not cool. But other than that, have at it.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll learn that the slower you ride on the sidewalk, the generally-more comfortable ride you\u2019ll have, just because you can relax more, not worry about hitting walkers so much, etc. Try to watch out for blind entrances\/exits from shops\/apartments \u2014 if you start taking the same route every day you\u2019ll learn which doors are busy. It might be technically illegal to ride your bike on some sidewalks, so some cops might harass you if you\u2019re blazing down the sidewalk and menacing people, but if you\u2019re kinda chillin and just moseying then they probably won\u2019t bug you.<\/p>\n

All the same rules apply as if you were riding in the road \u2014 so read this page<\/a> if you haven\u2019t yet \u2014 watch out for the right hook, definitely watch out for the left hook, watch out for all the cars that are going to blow through every Stop sign on every street along your route \u2014 you know, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n

Ride on!<\/p>\n

Oh, don\u2019t forget to top up your tires once a week (get a good pump \u2014 it\u2019s worth it) \u2014 you won\u2019t notice the difference until you top up and then you\u2019ll be like, \u201cDang! I wish I topped up earlier!\u201d And, it\u2019ll help keep you from getting pinch flats, which are super<\/em>-common for noob riders like you. \":)\" <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A couple of other points \u2014 telling people to ride in the street is akin to telling them to subject themselves to harassment, random violence and threats of violence (i.e. terrorism) \u2014 from outlaw drivers \u2014 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a very nice thing to do.<\/p>\n

Also, telling cyclists to do anything<\/em> other than not kill pedestrians absolves drivers of\u2026injuring, maiming, and killing people. Just because it is legal<\/em> to kill bikers and walkers doesn\u2019t mean that it should<\/em> be legal. The laws should be changed, and we should push for them to be changed. We should pass a radical<\/em> new law that says \u2018Nobody is allowed to kill walkers and bikers.\u2019 \u2014 something like that.<\/p>\n

Happy sidewalk cycling!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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\nhttps:\/\/googlemapsbikethere.org\/2011\/08\/12\/in-praise-of-sidewalk-cycling\/<\/a>oldId.20110814173502213<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: While I am not a huge fan of sidewalk cycling I do understand why many prefer it over riding in the street and as the article points out the criteria for when it is allowed and when it is not is … well all messed up. But for safety my own research points … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “In Praise of Sidewalk Cycling”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208805702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-elsewhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208805702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=208805702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208805702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=208805702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=208805702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=208805702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}