Top 5 Rules for Riding on the Sidewalk | Commute By Bike

The subject of riding bikes on the sidewalks continues to be a hotly debated topic. Despite your stance on the subject, the fact remains that it’s going to happen, so I want to share the top five rules that must be followed when choosing the sidewalk over the road.

Fear is, by far, the biggest motivator for choosing the sidewalk over roads.

Some commuters refuse to ride in the road no matter where they are. While I’ve addressed this subject, many people aren’t comfortable exercising their right to the road and want the perceived safety of riding on the sidewalk.

There are also other riders (me included) that ride the road 99% of the time, but will hop on the sidewalk in certain instances like a long climb on a two lane road or going around blind turns where the danger of getting hit by a car goes way up.

But before you choose to ride on the sidewalk, there are a couple things to consider…

• It’s illegal - The law in most areas of the country require bicycles to follow the same rules of the road as other motor vehicles. In essence, riding your bike down the sidewalk is the same as if you hopped the curb and started rolling it in your car.
• It’s dangerous – Riding the sidewalk has it’s own set of dangers that many people never think about. Getting right hooked, cars pulling out of driveways, hitting pedestrians, etc are all things that have to be carefully watched for.

[ Read the 5 Rules on commutebybike.com ]