I can’t speak for everyone, but there is a spot in my city where I will briefly get up on the sidewalk with my bike, and for me the reason is always the same, the street isn’t safe. The downtown where I work has no bike lanes, no shoulder, and people blatantly running red lights, blowing stop signs across 4-6 lanes of traffic while speeding. There is no greater joy than getting doored because the other alternative is swerving further into the road and getting run over at 40+ mph. For those two blocks it’s safer for me to slowly push the bike along with my feet until I get to the next block and ride in the street again. Too many cyclists that get on the sidewalks don’t show deference to people walking, the same way they wished cars would show some deference to them.
It really depends. IMO you should ride wherever is safest for everyone. I would say more people use scooters on the sidewalk than bikes. And the 15-20mph is dangerous claims don’t hold up when you can literally go 1mph or walk it if the sidewalks have pedestrians. Going 20mph on a sidewalk with people around is dangerous. Going 20mph on a sidewalk that is empty when the road has shit or no bike lanes is most likely much safer for everyone.
Vespa is about 3-5 times the weight of an e scooter and I assume yours runs in gasoline, so not really a fair comparison but if going under 20mph on the sidewalk is what you consider the safest course of action in a specific circumstance then I’m not sure anybody would fault you for it. Or just get yourself an e-scooter if you use your Vespa for very short trips. The convenience of being able to ride in safer locations where you’re not having to be hyper vigilant of not only your own actions but also those of cars that might very quickly end your life because someone was texting is pretty nice.
I ride a motorcycle too (not even on the sidewalk) and can tell you for a fact that e scooters are night and day safer transportation under normal use cases.
Generally no. In my state that’s illegal, though everyone looks the other way if it’s just kuds on regular bikes. I doubt that’ll continue to be true if kids start blowing past a 30mph though
Are bicycles normally allowed on sidewalks? I’ve always lived where they have to ride in bike lanes or on bike paths.
In most regions, bicycles are not legal on sidewalks.
But guess where people ride them!
(It’s on the sidewalk)
I can’t speak for everyone, but there is a spot in my city where I will briefly get up on the sidewalk with my bike, and for me the reason is always the same, the street isn’t safe. The downtown where I work has no bike lanes, no shoulder, and people blatantly running red lights, blowing stop signs across 4-6 lanes of traffic while speeding. There is no greater joy than getting doored because the other alternative is swerving further into the road and getting run over at 40+ mph. For those two blocks it’s safer for me to slowly push the bike along with my feet until I get to the next block and ride in the street again. Too many cyclists that get on the sidewalks don’t show deference to people walking, the same way they wished cars would show some deference to them.
If you’re on the sidewalk, pushing with your feet because the street isn’t safe, that’s fair.
I see too many bicyclists going full tilt down the sidewalk just because.
It really depends. IMO you should ride wherever is safest for everyone. I would say more people use scooters on the sidewalk than bikes. And the 15-20mph is dangerous claims don’t hold up when you can literally go 1mph or walk it if the sidewalks have pedestrians. Going 20mph on a sidewalk with people around is dangerous. Going 20mph on a sidewalk that is empty when the road has shit or no bike lanes is most likely much safer for everyone.
So then it should be fine for my Vespa to ride on the sidewalk when no one is around .
Vespa is about 3-5 times the weight of an e scooter and I assume yours runs in gasoline, so not really a fair comparison but if going under 20mph on the sidewalk is what you consider the safest course of action in a specific circumstance then I’m not sure anybody would fault you for it. Or just get yourself an e-scooter if you use your Vespa for very short trips. The convenience of being able to ride in safer locations where you’re not having to be hyper vigilant of not only your own actions but also those of cars that might very quickly end your life because someone was texting is pretty nice.
I ride a motorcycle too (not even on the sidewalk) and can tell you for a fact that e scooters are night and day safer transportation under normal use cases.
And I bet your a lane splitter too.
Thanks for telling me everything I needed to know.
Generally no. In my state that’s illegal, though everyone looks the other way if it’s just kuds on regular bikes. I doubt that’ll continue to be true if kids start blowing past a 30mph though