Toronto has started to install these signs:
After riding today, I think that Windsor could use some of these signs, but not just downtown. I saw 3 cyclists riding on the sidewalks today, and only one on the road. 2 of the cyclists on the sidewalks I did see, were riding in areas that had bike lanes.
What will it take to get cyclists onto the road, where we belong?
With the idiots in this city and their cellphones glued to their ears il stay on the sidewalks as much as i can and go on the road to avoid the pedestrian, maybe you have a death wish but i dont feel like getting ploughed by an old grandma again or a teen bopper flapping her gums on a phone.
And peds have eyes too their not toddlers if you see a cyclist common sense would be to make some room for the person on the bike if you can. Its not a one way street peds are at fault too.
You say “maybe you have a death wish”, but statistics show that cyclists are more likely to be involved in a collision if they are on a sidewalk. This is because drivers are used to looking for traffic on the roads, and only pedestrians on sidewalks. So they pull out of driveways, alleys, etc, or even into a parking lot without looking for cyclists.
As for pedestrians being at fault, they belong on the sidewalk, and they have the right-of-way.
Karol, your attitude really doesn’t help safe cycling but hinders it. Pedestrians have the right of way on a sidewalk. By riding there illegally you are engaging in an action as thoughtless and selfish as those behind the wheel of a car whom you condemn. My grandmother who never had a cell phone to flap her gums on used to say something wise: two wrongs don’t make a right.
I’ve gotten into the habit of saying, very politely, “Riding on the sidewalk is illegal” to anyone I see doing it. I think maybe some of these people just don’t know it’s against the law.
I’m conflicted about the issue of sidewalk cycling in Windsor. In other communities I’ve lived in, I’ve rarely felt the desire or need to get up onto the sidewalk, but I have to say that I resort to taking the sidewalk here on a number of occasions. I fully support the idea of getting bikes onto the road (a) because they belong there, and (b) to develop a biking culture, but
Looking at the reasons why I do this, I’d say it s mostly safety and convenience, or some mix thereof:
1) I got my bike lights stolen the other day and I won’t bike on the road at night without them.
2) Certain streets (like University West) are bikelane equipped, but they’re also six lanes and fairly heavily trafficked, and if you’re only going a couple of blocks, it seems not worth it to switch to the other side of the street
3) Roads like Tecumseh are far too dangerous to bike on, in my opinion. I take sidestreets around it as much as possible, but once there, I take the sidewalk at slow speeds, watching all four directions at each intersection. I realize that it’s against the law to bike on the sidewalk, but I’d rather be alive than right.
Part of my hesitation comes from encounters with drivers in this town. I almost got sideswiped by a van on Campbell a little while ago, and I confronted the driver when he pulled into a plaza shortly afterwards. I told him that he had nearly killed me, and his basic position was that I shouldn’t have been on the road to begin with, and that I deserved whatever I got.
I want to see bikes on the road, but again, I’d rather be alive than right.
The place I seem to think we are most vulnerable is at intersections. So often while out riding today, bike lanes don’t extend to the intersection so the road narrows and forces us to cram into traffic. I still believe the road is the best place once you get into that frame of mind. I agree that there are some roads I won’t ride on though like parts of Riverside, but I won’t ride on the sidewalk either. I take a different route.
If you’re on the road at a intersection though in the proper lane, I feel like you’re more visible than on a sidewalk at a intersection.
In the end though I still leave it up to each cyclist since I know some people don’t feel safe. We could argue forever on that point and I know some people who do it are in the wrong, but there’s some people who I feel have a right to be there.
You certainly have a point about Tecumseh. I will ride some short bits of it, but in general try to avoid it, because I don’t feel it is a safe road to ride on.
There certainly is a perception that riding on the sidewalk is safer than riding on the road. The question then is how to change that perception, or how to make it safer to ride on the road.
While I sat at Milk this morning for a snack before my ride, I actually saw more cyclists on the road for a change. James went by as usual on the road. I saw one woman on a kind of purple and white bike actually use proper hand signals when she even moved into the turning lane at University and Ouellette. Good for her! : )
I’m trying to think if I rode on any sidewalks while riding right around the city today but I don’t think I did. I found the city has pretty good coverage around it’s limits, but next I want to explore the interior with Bike Friendly Windsor. Maybe we can go for a ride once a week or every 2 weeks to check out certain bike lanes and report on them.
First of all , Iam nowhere near a pedestrian when passing them if you read my comments correctly. What i said was when i see a pedestrian approaching i get off the sidewalk or try to find a safe way around them weather it be go on the grass or the road. And a pedestrian with headphones in their ears is just as unaware of their surroundings as a person on a phone maybe even more.
In fact, I did your comments correctly. Safe riding.
Thanks for reflecting/seconding the sentiments of my own Blog posting. ..
So if some people are infected with a false sense of safety and self-rightousness, and thumb their nose at the law no less, just what will it take for “Cyclists” to get OFF of our city sidewalks once and for all?
Here’s a few other suggestions…
http://thumbshift.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/sissie/
Ride Safe
Jo
Worse than bikes on a sidewalk are the god awful bikes with a motor on a sidewalk. The ones that sound like a fricken lawnmower. I almost got hit by one walking out of a shawarma place downtown last week.
It was posted on Windsor Bicycling Committee member and City Councillor Alan Halberstadt’s blog today also:
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10097&Itemid=87
It’s a tough debate. My cousin was killed by a motorist when he was hit cycling on the road. The motorist was driving under the influence unfortunately. I try and ride as much as I can on street and bike paths but sometimes, it just is a little nerve wrecking coming home at 3AM from work after what happened to my cousin. My wife rides on the sidewalk because the only time she rides is when she takes our 3 year old son out. With what happened to my cousin, we don’t feel very comfortable having her ride the on streets and not even every street has bike lanes. I’m a professional driver and believe me, the things I see on a daily basis from drivers in this city are mind blowing.