Do bicyclists belong on the roads or on the sidewalks?

[Marowit]

So why should I have to pay and my insurance get bumped up because an idiot on a bike cause me to crash into another car? Why should that guy on the bike also be aloud to claim from me when he caused the accident?

As for pedestrians, walk on the road like an idiot at your own risk by all means, if I hit you, it's you fault.
There's such things as pedestrian crossings. Use them.

We live in a very litigious society. If a biker really cause your accident, and you took a financial lose, that is clearly the responsibility of the biker, then you could sue his/her ass. If you can't bring a case like that against them, well, then you might need to look in the mirror and really think about who caused that accident; it sounds like your insurance agent was pretty sure if the biker was allowed to take a claim out against you.

 

[FamoFunk]

So why should I have to pay and my insurance get bumped up because an idiot on a bike cause me to crash into another car? Why should that guy on the bike also be aloud to claim from me when he caused the accident?

As for pedestrians, walk on the road like an idiot at your own risk by all means, if I hit you, it's you fault.
There's such things as pedestrian crossings. Use them.

We live in a very litigious society. If a biker really cause your accident, and you took a financial lose, that is clearly the responsibility of the biker, then you could sue his/her ass. If you can't bring a case like that against them, well, then you might need to look in the mirror and really think about who caused that accident; it sounds like your insurance agent was pretty sure if the biker was allowed to take a claim out against you.

Let's be clear here. I've never, ever had a crash lol.

How can the Cyclist take responsability, he doesn't have or need insurance.
All too many times I've seen someone on a bike go through a red light, and if a car going through a green light hits him, it's automatically the guy in the cars (who's in the right) fault.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Sidewalks usually aren't large enough foryou to ride a bike along and for people to get past. Legally you have to ride on the side of the road, which really makes sense. Imagine walking around a corner and seeing a kid pelting towards you on a bike? There's not much you can do. There's plenty of room for cyclists to ride around at the sides of the road.

 

[Marowit]

All too many times I've seen someone on a bike go through a red light, and if a car going through a green light hits him, it's automatically the guy in the cars (who's in the right) fault.

No, it's not. The driver won't be charged with anything. It's happened here in my city, and the driver wasn't found criminally negligent or anything. If something like this happened and the driver wanted to recoup their losses they could sue the biker, and would probably have a pretty strong case.

If the driver is turning right, at a green light, and cuts off a biker, who's on the right side of the car, then the car is liable for instance. Bikers have to follow the laws of the road just the same as cars, and we can be ticketed for not doing so (eg signaling, having lights on after sundown, etc...). And in most cases we have a lot more at stake. Take for example the situation above with the car turning right - you get a dented door, we get thrown over your hood and out into the street (I had a friend who broke his back when this happened to him).

 

[Xastabus]

In my opinion if a sidewalk is available then bicycles absolutely do not belong in the street with motorized vehicles. Where sidewalks are not available, then bicycles can use the road or be walked on the shoulder.

I looked up the bicycle laws for my state and the only thing I could find possibly relating to bicycle operation on sidewalks is this.

IC 9-21-8-37 Pedestrians and children; due care; caution
Sec. 37. Notwithstanding other provisions of this article or local ordinance, a person who drives a vehicle shall do the
following:
(1) Exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or a person propelling a human powered vehicle, giving an
audible signal when necessary
(2) Exercise proper caution upon observing a child or an obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person.

http://www.bicycleindiana.org/images/Indiana_Bicycle_Laws.pdf

That seems reasonable enough to me. Unfortunately there are a lot of areas I drive through that do not have sidewalks.

What gets me is that Indianapolis has started putting bicycle lanes in the streets downtown where there are very wide sidewalks. This has caused the loss of a motorized vehicle lane and confusing lane shifts through multiple intersections on some of the most heavily traveled inner city roads. The bicycle lane actually crosses turn only lanes and temporarily travels in the middle of motorized traffic. This is a considerable hazard to both bicycle riders and motorists.

Since the bicycle lanes were installed I have had at least 20 near accidents with other motorists who were not paying attention to the lane shifts, the first 4 of which were the fault of public transportation operators. I have only my defensive driving skills to thank for not having a collision yet.
I have seen cars parked in the bicycle lane and police using the bicycle lane to pass other traffic.
It has gotten to the point where everyone apparently ignores the lane shifts and drives where the lanes used to be simply because that is the only safe way to navigate the street.

 

[BourneGamer]

Roads. Technically pedestrian traffic is intended to move against the flow of road traffic, in the interest of safety as you would be looking at the cars that are supposed to be heading towards you. Bikes, while pedal powered, are considered vehicles, just the same as cars, for the purpose of determining which lane they should use.

 

[Xastabus]

40km/h is slow depending on the bike you use. I get you though, I sometimes jump off the side to let a car turn right, but in general I accelerate faster than the cars do. On my road bike I cruise at 40 and have hit 80 going down steep hills, though that is not advisable. I a just finished a helmet mount for my tiny video camera, I am going to cruise around town a bit and post the videos on youtube.

By my calculation, 40km/h = 24.85 MPH. The best I ever achieved as a skinny-yet-fit teenager with a good 12 speed bike was 20MPH (32km/h) on flat land. I would say that's a good benchmark for the maximum speed the average (non-athletic) person is capable of achieving.

Based on that, I don't think it is reasonable to force bicycles to mingle with significantly faster and more dangerous motorized traffic.

 

[FalloutJack]

It's a vicious cycle, if you'll excuse the pun. Ride on the sidewalk and risk pedestrians. Ride on the road and risk cars. I would say the road, though, since bikes are allowed there. Just be sure to let fast and more-impatient people get by.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Road, people on the pavement move around all over the place, much harder to predict their movements and there's all kinds of other obstacles beside people. Even if there's not many people about all the kerbs etc make using a bike on them a bit inconvenient.

 

[Hashime]

40km/h is slow depending on the bike you use. I get you though, I sometimes jump off the side to let a car turn right, but in general I accelerate faster than the cars do. On my road bike I cruise at 40 and have hit 80 going down steep hills, though that is not advisable. I a just finished a helmet mount for my tiny video camera, I am going to cruise around town a bit and post the videos on youtube.

By my calculation, 40km/h = 24.85 MPH. The best I ever achieved as a skinny-yet-fit teenager with a good 12 speed bike was 20MPH (32km/h) on flat land. I would say that's a good benchmark for the maximum speed the average (non-athletic) person is capable of achieving.

Based on that, I don't think it is reasonable to force bicycles to mingle with significantly faster and more dangerous motorized traffic.

I would not really call it a good bike then. I can even my sister's crappy canadian tire bike up to that speed without significant effort. Out of curiosity, what were you measuring with?

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Why not make a 3rd path?

 

[Vrach]

40km/h is slow depending on the bike you use. I get you though, I sometimes jump off the side to let a car turn right, but in general I accelerate faster than the cars do. On my road bike I cruise at 40 and have hit 80 going down steep hills, though that is not advisable. I a just finished a helmet mount for my tiny video camera, I am going to cruise around town a bit and post the videos on youtube.

Aye, as I said, my bike isn't really made for high speeds... and as for steep hills, don't have them anyway on my routes, not long enough ones to reach 80 anyway (there's one place but I constantly slow down there as I use the [very wide and totally awesome] pavement), 45 at best tbh. As you said, it's not even advisable anyway and tbf, I don't bother with a helmet so going at those speeds would just be stupid

 

[Hashime]

Here are a few shots I took today:

 

[punkrocker27]

A bike is NOT an automobile and has no right to be treated as one. I don't care if you're goddamn Lance Armstrong himself, no human is capable of keeping up with the set speed limits on major roads. Therefore, if there isn't a bike lane, please do yourself a huge favor and stay on the freakin' sidewalk. Thank you.

 

[Kryzantine]

I live in NYC, where riding a bike... actually isn't all that bad, provided you can fit between cars. The people who ride bikes through the middle of Manhattan have perfected that art. It's almost scary how fast they get through traffic by fitting in between moving vehicles (along with the notion they pretty much don't give a shit even though they could potentially get slammed to their deaths every time they do it). The expressways have bike paths. It would be disastrous otherwise.

Though the boroughs are interesting. I always rode on the sidewalks when I was younger, but I made sure not to hit pedestrians. I rode slow. The situation here is that we pretty much don't need bikes for everyday use. Walking is the main mode of transport. I walk at least a mile a day in between the subway and my home, the subway and my school, and doing work in the local areas surrounding both places.

 

[Squeaky]

I do a bit of both depends if its a motorway or built up residental area with sharp corners(blind spots) and what time as i cycle home at 22:00 from work.

 

[Verlander]

Well, unless it's changed, it's officially illegal to ride a bike on the pavement in the UK (the least enforced law in Britain, bar none) except for in specialist lanes. Bikes should be on the road. Drivers in the UK seem to better than those in most other countries, from experience, so this should not be a problem. That's my opinion however

 

[umpufnufguf]

do they you not have bicycle lanes? we have them in england, they're only on like half the roads, but still....