Monday, November 12, 2012

The Writing's On the Lamp Post

My thoughts exactly.

I did appreciate a man grunting at me to signify he was passing me on the sidewalk as I strolled along Farmington Avenue. His weaving, flailing, and almost bailing off the bike while making a fairly simple maneuver informed me, after the fact, that the lecture I delivered to him about riding in the street likely clung to a non-firing synapse.

Here's the thing: the cycling activists generally know better than to ride on the sidewalk, so sending the message to us is the wrong audience. And doing street preaching at the offending cyclists as they pass generally gets us nowhere because half are in a haze of permanent impairment, and the other half are not going to believe that it is safer for everyone if they would just take the lane.

Security guards and cops who ride on sidewalks while patrolling, not while actually in pursuit of a suspect, set a bad example.

How to get the message out?


5 comments:

Tony C said...

$100 fine for riding on the sidewalk in downtown district of Urbana, IL seemed to work. They also put up lots of signage ahead of enforcement.

But that demographic is way different...

Tony C said...

$100 fine for riding on the sidewalk in downtown district of Urbana, IL seemed to work. They also put up lots of signage ahead of enforcement.

But that demographic is way different...

Jim Condren said...

Zero tolerance approach. Put a boot on the bike wheel and send offender to reeducation camp.

Schleppi "Take the Street" Longstocking said...

The part of the road where this sticker was is not where the bike lanes are...but this morning I saw some dude, with a decent bike, panniers, expensive get-up riding on the sidewalk of New Park Avenue where there were well-defined bike lanes. And he was salmoning. This shit makes me crazy.

Brendan said...

I ride on the sidewalk on new park between prospect and new Britain generally. That road is scary and has no pedestrians on the sidewalk.