I’m no authority on this, but I wonder if women/girls are applying the “walk against traffic” advisement when they bike. I just saw a teen riding against the grain today and remembered to make mention. I guess we should keep an eye out to see who is riding against traffic on the sidewalks.

FYI, sidewalks here (Plano TX) tend to have a buffer zone, so riding against traffic is not the same as doing it on the curb/shoulder. I bike against traffic in certain stretches to/from the gym. Doesn’t seem to cause any sort of traffic-related calamities.

You bet!

All that said, after having biked around for coming up on 2 months now, I do agree in the abstract that cycling on the street–assuming the cyclist is obeying traffic laws–is not only safer but a bit faster than riding on sidewalks would be. Just as you say, Andrew, the trick for cyclists is not to force matters–the car, sooner or later, will win those arguments. The cyclist’s patience with traffic and at lights will prevent far more problems than it causes.

Here’s a bit more of what I believe re: sidewalks:

The stats say sidewalks are dangerous. I think that’s true for people who:

1. go fast
2. don’t act like walkers
3. ride against traffic
4. fail to pay attention
5. ride bikes that can’t handle rough pavement

Proposition 1: If a biker acts like a walker, then the sidewalk shouldn’t be any more dangerous for the biker than for the walker. (Acknowledging that sidewalks may certainly be dangerous for walkers. Anyone have stats?)

The key to most biking problems for me can be reduced to SPEED. Proposition 2 (confined to adult riders): Those who go fast have the most biking problems–everything from sweating to dying.

I only walk my bike across dangerous intersections. There is a popular bike path intersection nearby that pretty much requires one to pedal across, or be stranded in the middle of the road. My view on sidewalk biking is to use common sense and be courteous (up to and including pulling over and stopping in the grass to let oncoming traffic pass by on narrow walkways). Every carelessly flung cigarette butt you’ve ever seen suggests that courtesy might be at a premium. Police yourself, I say.

[A] bike does not equal a car–that is until they come up with a 4,000-pound bicycle.

No joke! I almost got broadsided in my quiet subdivision by a guy who couldn’t be bothered with stopping at a stop sign (I had the right of way, allegedly). Fortunately, I was able to swing out of the way and avoid calamity, but ca-mon!

I grok that bike = car in the eyes of the law, but that’s small comfort when you’re dead.