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Top 5 Rules for Riding on the Sidewalk
by Tim Grahl
The subject of riding bikes on the sidewalks continues to be a hotly debated topic. Despite your stance on the subject, the fact remains that it’s going to happen, so I want to share the top five rules that must be followed when choosing the sidewalk over the road.
Fear is, by far, the biggest motivator for choosing the sidewalk over roads.
Some commuters refuse to ride in the road no matter where they are. While I’ve addressed this subject, many people aren’t comfortable exercising their right to the road and want the perceived safety of riding on the sidewalk.
There are also other riders (me included) that ride the road 99% of the time, but will hop on the sidewalk in certain instances like a long climb on a two lane road or going around blind turns where the danger of getting hit by a car goes way up.
But before you choose to ride on the sidewalk, there are a couple things to consider…
- It’s illegal - The law in most areas of the country require bicycles to follow the same rules of the road as other motor vehicles. In essence, riding your bike down the sidewalk is the same as if you hopped the curb and started rolling it in your car.
- It’s dangerous – Riding the sidewalk has it’s own set of dangers that many people never think about. Getting right hooked, cars pulling out of driveways, hitting pedestrians, etc are all things that have to be carefully watched for.
I’m in no way encouraging you to break the law or put yourself in danger, but if you do decide to ride your bike on the sidewalk, following these five rules and will greatly reduce your chance of getting a ticket or getting hurt.
- GO SLOW – This is the chief of all rules for riding on the sidewalk. All the other rules fall under this one. You should never ride faster than a relaxed jog. The sidewalk is built for pedestrians, so you should not be going faster than them. Pedaling fast down the sidewalk is a perfect way to get hurt, hurt someone else or get pulled over by a cop.
- Yield to pedestrians – If you come up behind people walking, be very polite and wait for a good time to ask them to let you pass. Never come up behind them yelling, ringing a bell or anything else that could startle or scare them. You are trespassing on their terrain so be courteous.
- Check every cross street and driveway – This is the dangerous part! Drivers are used to pulling all the way up to the road before coming to a stop and turning onto the street you’re following. Make sure when coming up to a driveway or cross street that you slow down and check to make sure a car isn’t coming. They aren’t looking for fast moving vehicles to be coming off the sidewalk, so you have to be watching for them!
- Only cross the street at crosswalks – A good way to get hit by a car is to come darting off the sidewalk into the street randomly. Again, remember that drivers aren’t looking for people to jump off the sidewalks into traffic randomly. If you need to cross the street, wait until you get to a cross walk and do it there.
- Be willing to walk your bike – If you regularly ride on the sidewalk, there are going to be lots of times where the best decision is to get off your bike and walk for a bit. This is usually due to congestion. When there is just to many people around that you risk hitting one of them, it’s time to walk. Constantly keep it in your mind that you can get off your bike and walk if things seem “iffy”.
If there’s ever a time that you decide it’s better to ride on the sidewalk than the street, follow these rules to stay safe and avoid a ticket.
Photo Credit: moriza
I ride 95% on the street
I just started commuting and I definitely ride the sidewalks. I use the cross walks just as a pedestrian. I am extremely careful with parking lot turn-ins. Sometimes if things look hectic I will even swing into the parking lot to avoid a direct crossing. I go pretty fast, but we don’t really have “pedestrians” along main roads out in the suburbs where I live.
I feel that bicycle commuting is an important part of my preemptive strike to adapt to a changing American lifestyle in a global economy. I’m not going to get run over for being an early adopter though!
For me, there are very very few instances where the sidewalk is a better choice, but knowing that we’re all different and that I’m unlikely to persuade anyone that riding in real traffic is more safe (which it almost always is), your suggestions are good ones.
Though I’d add one more comment. The only time I’ve ever been hit by a car riding a bike… was on the sidewalk.
I’m sure each city is different, and within each city each route has individual circumstances. The majority of cycling fatalities in our city are when drunk drivers hit cyclists on the shoulder of loop 360 (i.e. the Lance Armstrong route) and when motorists run lights or otherwise squish people in the roads. There are sometimes dedicated bicycle lanes but cars are allowed to park in them so you would have to routinely swerve out in traffic to miss the parked cars. I personally have a sidewalk with little/no inlets for the majority of my route. Where there are inlets I stop and really look around. In general they’d have to jump the curb to get me. Just in my neighborhood (i.e. where houses are) I do drive in the street because I don’t want somebody to get me backing out of their driveway.
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Thanks for a sensible list of rules for sidewalk riding.
While I understand the arguments for the Dangers of Riding on a Sidewalk, I still think riding in traffic is tempting fate in most cases. How can you ignore all the fatal auto accidents? What I mean is – there are thousands of people killed every year – with no biker in sight – and these fatalities were people protected by a massive coat of armor called a car or truck or bus. A biker’s helmet is a puff of smoke in comparison. To me, most cyclists in traffic are either living in a dream world where nothing bad ever happens, or he has a death-wish.
It is definitely illegal to EVER ride on the sidewalk as an adult. It’s one thing if you are a child of 10 or under, but the sidewalk presents all kinds of hidden dangers to the riders as well as pedestrians. I’m an avid biker myself, or at least I was one until seriously injured (spiral tibia fracture) by a bicyclist illegal riding facing or into oncoming traffic. I came around the corner riding in the proper direction and was thrown into traffic by the illegally riding bike. I live in NYC where riding on the sidewalk is insane. I’ve been hit five times! With large numbers of pedestrians and MILLIONS spent on bike lanes there is NO excuse ever for riding on the sidewalk. Buildings come all the way to the corner, so there are no sight lines to see the biker coming right at you as you come around the building, I’ve seen them run into baby carriages! CROSSWALKS are for pedestrians, bikes should only be WALKED in them. With the traffic noise being what it is, you can never hear the bike sneaking up behind you, you walk a little to the left as another pedestrian comes towards you unaware of the bike approaching and BOOM! ALL traffic laws apply to bikes. The more bikes on the road the more important to follow the laws. Neither pedestrians or vehicles are expecting to find wheeled vehicles where they don’t belong, on sidewalks, riding into traffic or wrong way on one way streets (a hazard to themselves AND fellow bikers) or running red lights and stop signs as if they don’t exist! Bikers in this city ride like they are in the Wild Wild West. Get rear view mirrors, always ride in the direction of traffic flow, and STAY OFF SIDEWALKS.
Mari,
it is NOT illegal to ride on sidewalks. The laws are different in every municipality and county.
While I agree that it is dangerous to ride a bike on a crowded sidewalk in NYC or Chicago… that doesn’t apply to every single situation that occurs in the rest of the country where sidewalks may, in fact, be the only viable place to ride a bike.
For example… did you know that in some municipalities, it is illegal for bicycles to ride on the street on certain roads?
I appreciate your rant, but try not to generalize for everyone in every situation.
Let’s put it this way, I’ve lived in 12 states, coast to coast, cities large and small and it has been illegal everywhere I have lived. In NYC it is specifically stated:
§ 4-07 (c)(3) – Restrictions on crossing sidewalks No driving bikes on sidewalks unless sign allows or wheels are less than 26 inches in diameter and rider is twelve years or younger. See also Administrative Code §19-176.
Tickets are $50 and if stopped without ID, bike will be confiscated and you can spend the night in jail.
It’s one thing to ride on the sidewalk in suburban or rural areas that have little or no pedestrian traffic, but it is definitely illegal in almost every larger city, especially in the business districts where pedestrian traffic is fairly heavy. I’m infuriated by bikes in NYC competing with me to use the curb cuts created for handicapped access to ram their bikes up on the sidewalk. With 20-100 pedestrians on each block, lack of sight lines, it’s a recipe for disaster. Then the bikers put themselves in danger flying off the sidewalk against a red light turning into oncoming traffic. I almost hit one last week–would have been entirely his fault too. If bikes don’t follow traffic rules, and they ARE classified as vehicles by the DOT, then they are setting themselves up for disastrous results. Just think what the roads would be like if cars or motorcycles ran red lights, and went the wrong way in traffic, or used sidewalks whenever they felt like it. The more bikes on the road (which I heartily applaud) the more necessary for ALL to follow the same rules of the road.
I agree and enjoyed reading, I will make sure and bookmark this page and be back to follow you more.
Good, I like it~
I had no idea that biking on sidewalks were illegal. However, I live in suburban Oklahoma, so it’s not very pedestrian-friendly. There are some sidewalks on the side of most major roads here, and I’ve always ridden on them. I highly doubt that I’ll EVER get a ticket for doing this here
I do not agree with people riding bicycles on the sidewalk no matter what age they are. I avoid public paths also. My wife was injured by a clown speeding down hill on the sidewalk near the university she went to. I live in San Bernardino Ca now and the sidewalks are full of kids and adults walking and bicycling. If it is against the law the police ignore it. I have seen several pedestrians hit by bicycles and also seen bicyclists hit by cars crossing the sidewalk to get on the road. The police will use the law for the purpose of helping the insurance companies keep there operating expenses down. I watched a female ride here bicycle crossing the road in the sidewalk get hit by a female motorist who also did not look where she was going. The officer who came to the accident decided the bicyclist was riding on the wrong side of the road and ticketed her for breaking the law. Even though the walk sign was green to go and the red did not matter for the right turning motorist according to the cop. Your safety tips are nice for the people who insist on breaking the law but do nothing to keep them from injuring the public who walk. I believe in positive reinforcement. I ride my bicycle many places but when I walk with the wife at night I carry dog spray and a club and it is not for muggers.
I did get a laugh about the spray and the club. When I was still recuperating from the broken leg I used to throw my crutch out in front of the bikers on my street. The sidewalk is very narrow, single pedestrian lane going around the trees, and with a major subway stop on the block is always heavy with pedestrian traffic, yet these a–holes on bikes think they can ride full speed down the block! I get really testy when the bike lane is right there–and I’ll point to it saying get in YOUR own lane! In NYC we have an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 bikers–with that kind of volume traffic laws must be followed or there will be injuries–to pedestrians to other bikers and to the law breakers themselves. It’s hard to be looking out for something that absolutely shouldn’t be there, like a bike charging off the sidewalk into cross traffic that has the green light, or crossing in front of traffic into a far left lane to turn left INTO oncoming traffic–with some of the bikers that have been hit by cars many were doing something stupid–like running through a red light at a major intersection, or a stop sign without looking–or coming up on the inside of a bus turning right– everyone has to follow a certain set of rules or there will be chaos and death. There have been a number of pedestrian FATALITIES from bikers hitting people on the sidewalk and crosswalks here. The statistics dropped when tickets started being issued, but nine times out of ten the cops just ignore them–they ride right in front of them and they just can’t be bothered.
I agree, Mari. Bike riders can be so reckless, and it’s politically incorrect to criticize them.