Maybe the commuters in the group can answer a question for me.  What is the general rule around town about riding on sidewalks?  Should?  Shouldn’t?  No one cares?  I see Bike Route signs posted along various roads; does that mean they expect you to ride on the sidewalk along that street?  Is the sidewalk the bike route?

I some areas, the sidewalk is part of the rail trail, linking one section with another.  In downtown Xenia, one lane of the sidewalk has the painted trail lane.  It’s OK to ride on the sidewalk in those areas.

~ Randy

Sidewalks are for pedestrian and yet most cities make it hard for the inexperienced riders to ride in the streets. In Kettering most of the road ways are great for just riding around and if you commute you just can’t take the main streets without some unsafe riding. Some of my co workers that work with me in downtown Dayton will not commute to work because of what they experienced on the roads. One simply takes to the sidewalks on 48 and the other will not ride the streets because of what happened to his brother. It would be nice if some of the local cities would make their roads a tad bit wider or have some days that they close one lane to cars and let us cyclist ride to work or something.

Here is part of a letter byby Fred Oswald, PE, LCI #947 to a City Council Concerning Dangerous Bicycle Laws
§ 1173.11(a) says (in part): “No person under the age of fourteen (14) years shall operate a bicycle on the roadways within the city, provided sidewalks are available.“  In addition, 1173.11(c) says “No person under the age of fourteen (14) years shall ride a bicycle or motorized bicycle, upon any public or private property used by the public for the purpose of vehicular travel or parking.“

This ordinance is invalid pursuant to ORC § 4511.711.  Furthermore, irrespective of its validity it is a bad idea.  Bicycle safety studies, such as “Risk Factors for Bicycle-Motor Vehicle Collisions at Intersections” by Wachtel and Lewiston, Journal of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1994, show that the collision rate for sidewalk and sidepath bicycle operators is about twice the rate on the adjacent road.  Other studies involving roads with higher intersection density and faster cyclists report a crash rate up to nine times as high.

Because of this danger, the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (1999) specifically warns:  “Sidewalks are typically designed for pedestrian speeds and maneuverability and are not safe for higher speed bicycle use.  ...  At intersections, motorists are often not looking for bicyclists (who are traveling at higher speeds than pedestrians) entering the crosswalk area, particularly when motorists are making a turn.  Sight distance is often impaired…“

A sidewalk ordinance declares that every sidewalk in the city is a bicycle facility.  However, sidewalks are designed for pedestrians, not vehicular traffic such as bicycles.  Many sidewalks have safety defects that can cause bicycle crashes, thus exposing the city to liability.  Why is the residential street on which a 13 year old lives, unsafe for cycling, especially if her parents have taught proper methods?  In a Palo Alto, California summer program, groups of eight year olds were taught to ride safely on residential streets, ten year olds on up to 4-lane streets with moderate traffic, and 12 year olds on any non-freeway streets.  Indeed, well-informed parents can teach these skills earlier than a school group.

We must instead teach both adult and child cyclists to ride properly on the street, following the normal rules of the road.  This is the only method that allows the bicycle to be used as a safe and practical transportation vehicle.  Younger child cyclists should be kept off the street just as they should not be allowed to cross the streets until they understand how to do this safely.  But this must be determined by the parents.  Moreover, the parents must learn to operate bicycles correctly so they can instruct their children.

The full story: http://www.crankmail.com/Fred/sidewalk-laws-letter.html

I agree OS.  Sidewalks totally suck.  I will sometimes get on one for convenience on the spur of the moment, but immediately get off as soon as possible when I realize how terrible an idea it was.  They are sometime too poor to even ride a bicycle on because they have obstacles in the way, abrupt curbs that will bend your rims, etc.

It amazes me that lawmakers cannot make an agreement on the uniformity of what the law says.

Until then, I will for the most part ride in the street and teach my kids the same.

Thursday or Friday of last week a woman that rides to work a few times per week in Washington Township/Centerville had an incident with a commercial van.  She tends to ride on the sidewalks because the car drivers are so unforgiving.  As she approached an intersection on the sidewalk (she had the green light) the van (with the red light) rolled through without stopping to make a turn and they bumped into each other.  It wasn’t enough to knock her down, damage her bike or cause injury, but the really annoying part was that the van just drove off.  I agree that bicycle riders need to learn how to ride in traffic to be as safe as possible, but I think the bigger challenge is to educate the drivers; they are the actual problem usually.

I too feel that that education key, but who is going to educate them?
Bike Clubs?  Only educate their members
Police? Only put on programs for kids that have bikes
Schools? No more driving programs
local Papers? Never have
Local Radio? Not this area
Local News? No not at all
Only other cyclist educating other cyclist but nothing about the education for car drivers.

Just ask a non cyclist about cycling.

Trek1500 - 22 June 2008 12:57 PM

...I think the bigger challenge is to educate the drivers; they are the actual problem usually.

As I was being passed by a huge four-wheel diesel pickup today in downtown Xenia (I was taking the full lane as I often and have the right to do and is the safest way of riding roads) a thought came to mind:

If bicyclists have had problems with cars/trucks not giving them much respect int he past, what will it be like when the gas guzzlers start to really get ticked off at bicycles for not having to stop at the gas station?

~ Randy