Hey, fellow bicyclists, get off the sidewalks!
May 24th, 2005 by Tim GrahlI am so sick of seeing bicyclists riding down sidewalks. Get back on the road where you belong, would you?
- It’s illegal.
- It’s not safe–you could hit a pedestrian or someone’s pet dog or not be seen by a car pulling in or out of a driveway and get hit.
- You belong on the road, you’re a vehicle. Remember, it’s called a sidewalk.
- When car drivers see you’re on the sidewalk, they might start thinking that’s where bicycles belong, so then they don’t look on the road where I’m riding, and I might get hit.
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I pretty much agree with you here, except for point #4. You see, most auto drivers already assume you belong on the sidewalk, not because they see others riding on the sidewalks,( that’s giving them WAY too much credit!) but because the LAST time they were on a bike, it was riding down a sidewalk! They also falsely assume, for the same reasons, that this is why bicycles are “toys”. You graduate from tricycles, to bicycles, and then to automobiles. To them, it’s a natural progression. Any bicycle riding is construed as “backward” and childish.
I live in Eugene, Or. I am an avid cyclist. I have read and used the laws for Oregon Cyclists. I may be going out on a limb, but there are SO many stupid bike riders here, it is maddening to most drivers (of which there will always be) so there needs to be a universal education program for everyone who rides, because there are MANY ignorant cyclists who dont know, or even realize, that there are rules to the road. (or that bikes are vehices) this means the bums and freshman at UofO too.