Thank you, Roger and James for bringing up some important points for the meeting tonight, 530 pm at Westwood middle school. You both are very right that this is an important transition for bicycle commuting. If we are to obtain close to equal footing with auto traffic for bike commuting,

despite our perception of greater safety on the sidewalks, we must start to advocate riding in the streets especially since the stats that Roger so kindly presented street cycling is safer.  I must confess that most of my accidents and near accidents have happened on sidewalk/street intersections, and transitioning from street to sidewalk.  Option four does seem to be the most easily done option.Hope to see you there. Jim Funk, bicycle commuter.

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Pierce <roger@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: GCCMail <GCCMail@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Dec 15, 2010 11:11 am
Subject: GCCMail: Sidewalks vs Roadways

When you are riding your bike on a roadway, you are riding parallel to other traffic, conforming to rules of the road that provide for the smooth movement of traffic and the management of conflicts.  You are moving in a position that other roadway users expect to find a vehicle.

 

When you are riding on a sidewalk, you frequently are also riding in a roadway.  This occurs every time you cross an  intersecting street or driveway, where you will be travelling perpendicular (!) to the traffic on that roadway.  If you are riding at pedestrian speeds, you have plenty of time to spot approaching vehicles and yield if necessary.  But at cycling speeds that you would use if you actually want to get somewhere, you often will “appear” in these intersections as if by magic (that is what the driver that hits you will tell the officer).

 

Numerous studies (for example, see http://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/sidepath/sidecrash.htm and http://www.bicyclinglife.com/Library/Moritz2.htm ) have shown that crash rates for cyclists on sidewalks are considerably higher than for cyclists on roadways.

 

Roger Pierce

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