this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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Bicycles
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The bicyclists ride on the road with cars, not bike paths and trails. If they did that, they wouldn’t die, but they don’t want to.
We’d do that it’s there were bike paths. If cars didn’t run over cyclists cyclists also wouldn’t die
Can’t we agree that cycling on roads is poor judgement?
I totally get it. We should all have the right to cycle on the side of the road without getting hit by cars. I feel like we are all entitled to that.
Reality tho is that cycling on a road with no shoulder with cars whipping past at fatal speeds is a bad idea. Any time you do it you’re putting yourself at great risk. When you consider how many drunk and bad drivers out there you are taking a massive risk.
It seems that cyclists either don’t comprehend the level of danger it is, or they just think that it won’t happen to them. Either way I look at that as poor judgement.
I understand that a lot of areas don’t have infrastructure to support cyclists but you also need to understand that if you’re going to be super stubborn and do it anyway, then you’re putting your life on the line. Is it really worth it?
I used to be the type of person who would be quite anal about "no cycling on sidewalks!".
But after being a cyclist for the past year, I fully support cyclists using the sidewalk when the roads aren't safe enough.
Those sidewalks often don't have pedestrians on them anyway, since they are in very car-centric (or truck-centric!) areas.
Cyclists die much more often per km cycled on the sidewalk compared to the road.
Yes, it's more dangerous to ride on sidewalks ordinarily.
But much safer to be on a sidewalk than, for example, an underpass with no shoulder and trailers flying by.
It's the lesser of two evils.
It's also a point you should probably underline every time you publicly advocate for riding on the sidewalk. People do it because it feels safer, even when it is actually more dangerous. It needs to be done situationally, not by default.
For sure, which is why I made it a point to say "I fully support cyclists using the sidewalk when the roads aren’t safe enough."
I'd never consider using a sidewalk if it's a stroad, since there are too many exit and entry points for cars to kill you at. In that case, roads are still the lesser of the two evils.
That's an excellent and illustrative example. I think most people who are not confident cyclists and have not checked the scientific research would have taken your original comment as encouragement to use the sidewalk on stroads.