Slog - Comments on Bike Etiquette http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette I have been clipped twice in the past week while walking around town by people riding their bicycles on sidewalks. That's bullshit. I'm an avid bike rider; the only way I navigate this city is by bike or foot. When I ride, I always ride in the street. I can understand the need for cyclists to ride on sidewalks, especially in the rain (there is no way I'd commute in traffic in a downpour as I see a few brave souls doing), and so I don't have a problem sharing the sidewalks. However, the vast majority of people who ride... Copyright 2007 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:10:32 -0800 Sun, 08 Jan 2006 15:35:09 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Belltowner All people on bicycles in the downtown area are marked for death. Whether it is their fault or not, I am amazed a cyclist a day doesn't die in the street, with the way some of them ride. (ofcourse, also with the way some drivers drive.)

]]> Belltowner http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005852 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005852 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:28:27 -0800 Comment by seattle98104 actually, if you go to the DOT website, the bike routes they recommend you take and actually say you are supposed to take often specifically say "ride on the sidewalk" at such and such point.

the reason riding your bike on the side walk is not illegal in Seattle, is because Seattle lacks the infrasctructure for bike travel and at the sime time tries to act "bike friendly" when it most definately the fuck is not.

so the comprimise has been to tell bikers to share the sidewalks with pedestrians so more hummers are saved from getting dents.

]]> seattle98104 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005861 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005861 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:40:51 -0800 Comment by Gurldoggie I'm also a dedicated bike rider, and former bike messenger, and I agree with you 100%. In the same way that car drivers need to show courtesy toward smaller and slower bikes, bike riders need to be cognizant of pedestrians. Bike riders who think they're too cool to be kind are just assholes.

]]> Gurldoggie http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005862 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005862 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:41:47 -0800 Comment by Peter I mainly have had near misses around the financial district downtown from Messengers who are on the clock. (Other times (rarely) it's when walking around Greenlake.) I don't really consider them at fault the messengers because I understand they are in a hurry and fear I might be the same if I were in their shoes. But I've never resorted to calling them J** L***

]]> Peter http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005867 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005867 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:05:37 -0800 Comment by Steve you could always go on the offense and go around shoving sticks in people's spokes and proclaiming "it's not a side-RIDE"

j/k

]]> Steve http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005868 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005868 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:06:05 -0800 Comment by golob I commute every day by bike to and from work, and I totally agree with you. I always yelp a "on your left" or such or ride in the street. For that, I've been hit four times by rear-view mirrors on Fairview by the hutch. As bad as some cyclists are, drivers are 10 times worse.

]]> golob http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005872 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005872 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:10:54 -0800 Comment by josh ghostpedestrian.org ?

]]> josh http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005873 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005873 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:12:40 -0800 Comment by Rogue 'To which I absurdly screamed, "Jay Leno!"'

HA! That made me laugh tea out of my nose. (And also, I agree with you.)

]]> Rogue http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005874 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005874 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:13:22 -0800 Comment by langston Cienna-

Consider this your invitation to come riding. We will get you drunk. You will have fun. Most of us neither shave our legs, wear the spandex or are riding off DUIs.
www.point83.com
Thursdays, Westlake Mall, 7pm.

]]> langston http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005884 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005884 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:28:23 -0800 Comment by Pliny Once when I lived in Switzerland I rode a bike on the sidewalk for no more than ten feet, and a policeman stopped me. He said, "Was war das fur ein fahrt?" which still, 12 years later, strikes me as hilarious in the way that many totally ordinary German sentences are hilarious.

Back to the present: I'm familiar with the nuisance you describe, and have sometimes fantasized about carrying around a hammer in my pocket (I have big pockets) for the purpose of hurling it at sidewalk bikers. I would be like Thor, but lesser.

The Jay Leno thing is very funny.

]]> Pliny http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005893 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005893 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 15:48:45 -0800 Comment by Greg Barnes Hey, it's not only a good idea, it's the law. See The Seattle Department of Transportation, specifically Section 11.44.120 at the bottom: "Every person operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or public path shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian thereon, and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing any pedestrian."

]]> Greg Barnes http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005896 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005896 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:12:21 -0800 Comment by poltroon Yes, I hate being passed on the sidewalk without warning. I feel like a cone in an obstacle course, except that I'm like a cone with AI which detects turds and whatnot and moves about accordingly.

Another thing that has scared me a few times is how some bicyclists (and peds) ignore traffic lights. I've noticed some who seem to jump the gun, like they go when the light turns yellow on the cross street, and here I come on my motorcycle, entering the intersection on yellow only to find a bicyclist in my path.

]]> poltroon http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005923 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005923 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:12:58 -0800 Comment by Gomez I'm fine with bike riding on the sidewalk, but as Cienna stated, use your voice when passing and dammit, go at a slow speed!

Just today, on my way to work some guy whizzes right by my left arm on the sidewalk. Dude, I'm not part of an obstacle course, I'm a HUMAN being. Lean another foot to the left and ride past me without coming thisclose to clipping me.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005927 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005927 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:35:48 -0800 Comment by Scott I hate sidewalk bicyclists. I've been nearly hit by them numerous times coming out of a store or just walking along. If you're too scared to ride a bike in the street, don't ride a bike. I lived in San Francisco for several years and rode a bike. If I can survive there without serious injury, you can ride a bike on Seattle streets.

]]> Scott http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005958 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c005958 Sat, 07 Jan 2006 00:04:48 -0800 Comment by Gomez I don't think it's fear, I think it's a matter of caution, especially in tighter-packed neighborhoods with narrow streets, on street parking and generally no room for cars and bikes to share the road, especially if there's nowhere to fall or stop, should you get hit or something happen.

And Scott, just because you personally managed for years in the streets of San Francisco doesn't mean it's easy and/or safe for everybody everywhere, unless you have proven methods you're willing to share.

I think Scott's issue is with bicyclists being careless and rude, rather than with their being on the sidewalk itself.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c006221 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/01/bike_etiquette#c006221 Sun, 08 Jan 2006 15:35:09 -0800