LogFAQs > #967300722

keyblader1985 posted...

This pisses me off for two reasons. My town was designed as if bicycles do not exist. And there are several people who do this instead of just riding on the sidewalk.

Even without bike lanes, it's generally safer to occupy the road than to ride on the sidewalk, and if the road is narrower and it's never going to be possible to pass safely, assuming a proper blocking position to prevent people from trying to pass altogether is likely going to be safer than trying to give them space to pass unsafely. As much as it pisses people off to have to go slower than they want to, that's the option that yields the most consistent, predictable traffic for everyone involved. You get everyone moving in one direction, the fewest people entering the stream of traffic unexpectedly, clearly defined lanes and lane change protocols for anyone looking to pass... The only thing that potentially makes it more dangerous is pissed off drivers deciding to drive dangerously, and the blame for that decision lies on them and not the cyclist. Meanwhile, on sidewalks, they're often not even wide enough for a bike to safely pass a single pedestrian, they often have two-way traffic and/or groups taking up the whole path, there are no lanes, there are countless blind spots and people unexpectedly coming out of them, people stop unexpectedly on a regular basis, nobody has mirrors or any other awareness of what's behind them unless they hear it coming... biking safely on the sidewalk requires either a near-empty sidewalk or for the cyclist to barely go faster than they would on foot, which doesn't make much sense. That's why it's actually outright illegal to bike on sidewalks in many cities.

Of course, having actual cycling infrastructure that makes a genuine effort to offer it as a viable alternative to driving works best for everyone in pretty much every way (including making driving better for drivers in ways that go far beyond just not having to share the road), but a lot of North American voters refuse to accept that fact and have been thoroughly brainwashed by the oil industry's pro-car propaganda, so here we are.