Discussions

We were coming out of Walmart parking lot behind Safeway about 8 p.m. onto 18th street this evening. A girl came downhill from the north on the walkway at top speed across uncontrolled intersection on a bicycle.  
We came very close to hitting her as we were watching for a break in the northbound traffic so we could turn onto 18th.  
It was very scary for us as we came so very close to hitting her and she never even glanced sideways. We don't think she ever saw us.  
Hopefully this is not a regular ride or sometime she may not be so lucky.

Funny you mention this today. I too was scared by a guy on his bicycle on the sidewalk. I was backing out of my driveway, onto a busy street. I looked the opposite way and saw no bikers or pedestrians and started to concentrate on the other side to see when a break in traffic would let me out. He whizzed behind me and I felt so bad!! Had there been an opening at that moment I would have backed right into him and I assume I'd be 100% at fault. I own up to my mistake but please cycles, be careful!!  
 
My apologies btw to the guy on the bike with huge tires!! I truly didn't see you come out of anywhere!

I see many cyclists of all ages biking on the sidewalk and not looking as they cross a street or a parking lot. I don't know if they think they have the right of way every where they bike.  
Oh cyclists you may feel safer on the sidewalk but once you cross a start YOU DO NOt have the right of way so slow down or stop before crossing for any incoming vehicles

Almost hit a guy at 18th & Princess the other day. He was biking east on the south sidewalk and I was turning left onto southbound 18th. Just saw him at the last possible second. He didnt look, slow down, or anything , just rode right out in front of me. Some people dont seem to value their lives much!

Maybe I'm behind the times, but I thought it wasn't legal to ride bikes on sidewalks because of the danger of mowing down pedestrians.  
Just wondering if that's changed??  
I realize it wouldn't make you feel any better if you hit someone.

Riding on sidewalks is not legal. I don't think mowing down pedestrians is the fear, the bigger danger is what is mentioned in this thread, cars do not expect bicycles to be cruising down the sidewalk at high speed.

CatMan said "Maybe I'm behind the times, but I thought it wasn't legal to ride bikes on sidewalks because of the danger of mowing down pedestrians.   Just wondering if that's changed??   I realize it wouldn't make you feel any better if you hit someone. "

unless the rider is a child.  
 
However I don't think this bylaw has ever been enforced.  
 
Bikers, especially if they are going at a great speed, are at risk on the sidewalks. Drivers stop for traffic and people walking and never expect a bike to whizz in front of them when they keep driving.

I was walking down the sidewalk of 13th with a double stroller, and a man on a bike came towards us.. I can only move over so and so much with that big of a stroller... Needless to say I was on the edge of the sidewalk, he stayed in the middle , and by Gods grace he didn't hit us.... *shake my head*

CatMan said "Maybe I'm behind the times, but I thought it wasn't legal to ride bikes on sidewalks because of the danger of mowing down pedestrians.   Just wondering if that's changed??   I realize it wouldn't make you feel any better if you hit someone. "

Surely your not advocating this young girl flying down 18th St at breakneck speeds mixed in with traffic. Sure bikes may not be allowed on sidewalks but you cant have kids playing on there bikes in traffic. It's common sense.  
 
And to think people wonder why kids don't go out to play as much.

I've already been biking a few times this year and I highly dislike the stupid law that bikes shouldn't be allowed on sidewalks. I ride around with my smaller siblings and have had motorists give us the finger. yell at us, and disrespect us when we are on the road. So for all of you to be mad and cyclists riding on the sidewalk then allow us to use the road! Share the damn thing! Nothing seems to make people happy nowadays.

MBKeith said "    CatMan said "Maybe I'm behind the times, but I thought it wasn't legal to ride bikes on sidewalks because of the danger of mowing down pedestrians.   Just wondering if that's changed??   I realize it wouldn't make you feel any better if you hit someone. " Surely your not advocating this young girl flying down 18th St at breakneck speeds mixed in with traffic. Sure bikes may not be allowed on sidewalks but you cant have kids playing on there bikes in traffic. It's common sense.     And to think people wonder why kids don't go out to play as much. "

That path along 18th st by the Corral Centre is a bicycle path, not a sidewalk.  
 
That intersection is bad, though. I don't think there are yield signs for bicycles on the path or cars merging onto 18th. Signage could definitely be improved.

I saw an ADULT woman yesterday at Neelin High school crossing 10th Street without looking for traffic. People can't figure out why they got hit, probably blame drivers.  
I see a lot of cyclists and pedestrians not looking or looking only 1 direction to cross streets. Ridiculous in my opinion, doesn't do any good to blame whoever after an accident you (cyclists/pedestrians) will be the one in most pain underneath a vehicle so LOOK LOOK LOOK before. It takes only 3 seconds to look before crossing.  
I think a lot of cyclists hear from other people how dangerous it is to bike on the street well my opinion is most cyclists do follow or do not know the rule at all to ride a bike on the streets. They go all over making themselves in danger.  
Follow the rules and look around your surrounding is a big step to bike safer.

I used to be yelled at for 2 summers riding my bike on the street until I got pulled over by a police on summer and he mentioned couple things that made a difference for me so since then I do not have many drivers yelling at me only the ones that really HATE cyclists no matter what you do.

With spring and summer coming up, younger children will be out more, and are sometimes difficult to see. I remember when I was younger, and the Brandon police did a school blitz to train proper bicycle riding. Not sure if they still do that or not. Even so, there are times when kids are out on their own, and parents aren't always there, so this is a difficult subject to look at. As for the rest if us, I know road traffic and bicycle etiquette is becoming more of a matter of preference it seems . I have already been hit on my bike this year in a "bump up" in an intersection. No damage, no injuries, but it could have been worse. The good thing that came out of it was that we both learned a little bit more about traffic observance.  
Despite what the law says about riding a bike on the street, I will never do that on a busy road. I have no trust whatsoever that a driver is paying full attention to the road ahead. I would rather get bumped by a vehicle backing out of a spot, than get hit by a distracted driver travelling at what is probably a higher than legal state of speed, and end up in the street with other vehicles coming at me. I understand that people walking on sidewalks consider us a nuisance, but the bicycle riders who ruin it are the ones that don't use courtesy. If I see someone walking ahead of me, I slow down and let them know I am coming up beside them, and if people are walking towards me, I slow down and try to ride on the grass.

Yes if everyone rode like that it would be great. Myself I have no concerns riding on city streets, its the folks who ride on the highway that I can't understand. There you are really putting your life in the hands of whatever idiot might be approaching from behind!

The reason cyclists ride on the sidewalk is because they don't feel safe on the streets with the way people drive in this city. I'll admit, there seems to be more and more cyclists on the streets and drivers are seeming to get the hang of how to drive around a cyclist, but it takes just one careless driver to make a cyclist want to park the bike permanently in shed or, you know, ride on the sidewalk.  
 
I bike every day, and I've had a few occasions where a driver freaked out when they saw me. It usually goes like this: I stop and give them distance because I see them coming (pulling out a driveway or running a stop sign, for example), but they don't see me because they aren't looking. Then they panic when they do and floor it, and, well, lots of bad things could come of that, but nothing has. Anyway, what I mean to say is that on a bike you can see so much more than you do in a car. A cyclist may seem to not see you, but they probqbly do. Not to defend the behaviour of some of the careless cyclists, but let's just hope they know what they're doing.  
 
I've also encountered some extremely reckless drivers on the road while I'm on a bike. Most of these are just impatient, but it doesn't get them very far. They break the speed limit to pass me and then I end up right behind them at a light or stop sign. Drivers, just slow down. It's not worth the hurry. A few times this has happened: an impatient driver has passed me and nearly hit people at pedestrian crossings. Just slow down is all I can say. I've had people pass me and then I'd have to get ahead of them again because they're sitting at a stop sign texting. I tell you, I have a new story almost every day. I'm sure lots of people do too.  
 
Some police encourage cyclists to ride on the sidewalks because it keeps them out of the way of traffic. The bylaw says something about the size of the wheel so toddlers can bike on the sidewalk and be safe from cars.

I bike on the street, unless I'm getting off my bike to cross at a pedestrian crosswalk. I didn't mention that.