06-23-2015, 05:53 AM
The devil is always in the details. From TFA:
"some [US] municipalities don’t allow them in areas of high pedestrian use, like parts of downtowns" presumably because of concern for the safety of pedestrians.
"but must yield the right-of-way to them and give audible warning of approach" a requirement that many cyclists ignore to the peril of pedestrians.
"Yes, some pedestrians have died as a result of collisions with cyclists on sidewalks... Studies show that a mix of pedestrians and cyclists presents less risk to life and limb than a mix of cyclists and motorized vehicles." Perhaps. But that's hardly justification for cyclists to use sidewalks irresponsibly, thus threatening pedestrians.
"My rules for sidewalk riding includes no racing, yielding to pedestrians, warning of my approach, checking every crossing, street and driveway and being willing to walk if there’s congestion." Good rules. Too bad few others obey them.
"I saw one in Georgetown, Ont., recently riding against the traffic, zipping on and off the sidewalk and trying to text at the same time. Here’s an area where enforcement should get more priority rather than sticking it to adults who dare to ride sidewalks carefully and avoid conflicts with pedestrians."
Absolutely. But how often are cyclists getting "stuck" by law enforcement, legitimately or otherwise. And yes, I support the same sanctions against distracted or reckless pedestrians.
By all means let's have an adult conversation about sharing sidewalks responsibly. But unlike the letter writer, don't just assume that sidewalks are there for the taking and that everyone will behave responsibly.
P.S. re "stop the harassment of safety-conscious adult cyclists by over-zealous police and bylaw officers", how often does this happen in this region? As a pedestrian I've seen (and experienced) lots of harassment by safety-unconcious cyclists here, in the US and even in the EU, yet I've never seen any "harassment" by the people in blue against them. Is this simply a strawman?
Fire away
"some [US] municipalities don’t allow them in areas of high pedestrian use, like parts of downtowns" presumably because of concern for the safety of pedestrians.
"but must yield the right-of-way to them and give audible warning of approach" a requirement that many cyclists ignore to the peril of pedestrians.
"Yes, some pedestrians have died as a result of collisions with cyclists on sidewalks... Studies show that a mix of pedestrians and cyclists presents less risk to life and limb than a mix of cyclists and motorized vehicles." Perhaps. But that's hardly justification for cyclists to use sidewalks irresponsibly, thus threatening pedestrians.
"My rules for sidewalk riding includes no racing, yielding to pedestrians, warning of my approach, checking every crossing, street and driveway and being willing to walk if there’s congestion." Good rules. Too bad few others obey them.
"I saw one in Georgetown, Ont., recently riding against the traffic, zipping on and off the sidewalk and trying to text at the same time. Here’s an area where enforcement should get more priority rather than sticking it to adults who dare to ride sidewalks carefully and avoid conflicts with pedestrians."
Absolutely. But how often are cyclists getting "stuck" by law enforcement, legitimately or otherwise. And yes, I support the same sanctions against distracted or reckless pedestrians.
By all means let's have an adult conversation about sharing sidewalks responsibly. But unlike the letter writer, don't just assume that sidewalks are there for the taking and that everyone will behave responsibly.
P.S. re "stop the harassment of safety-conscious adult cyclists by over-zealous police and bylaw officers", how often does this happen in this region? As a pedestrian I've seen (and experienced) lots of harassment by safety-unconcious cyclists here, in the US and even in the EU, yet I've never seen any "harassment" by the people in blue against them. Is this simply a strawman?
Fire away