Illegal to ride on sidewalk?

geardad

We sometimes take to the sidewalk when the traffic is especially dicey, such as heavily travelled roads where interstate on and off-ramps are, and especially where the bike lane in these areas isn't there.

We prefer to be on the road, but we prefer MORE not to be killed by "creative" or hostile sloppy drivers.

Now, we've been squawked at by motorists who recite: "sidewalks are for pedestrians." We get that.

A guy at a local bike club said that is is NOT law that bikes can not be on the sidewalk, especially when safety's an issue. His contention was that lots of folks like to spout off about that, especially motorists who probably ought to be paying attention to what THEY'RE doing.

I'd like to get the exact information about this for my area, if this isn't uniform code across the land.

Anyone know about this?

geardad

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Scotty_Dog

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geardad

Whoops! I'm in the seattle area...washington state.


gd

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garage sale GT

Since this is a topic of general interest I want to state that the Illinois vehicle code says that operating a bike on a sidewalk in an area which is zoned for business is illegal.

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Ike90

I also live in Washington State, and your local bike club guy is correct; there is no state law against bicycles using sidewalks and crosswalks. Bicycles, however, must yield to pedestrians on sidewalks and crosswalks, and motor vehicles must treat bicyclists in crosswalks as pedestrians.

Along the same lines, there is also no law stating that bicyclists must walk their bikes through crosswalks. The state advises that cyclists walk their bikes through crosswalks, but riding through them isn't illegal.

Here's the state-sponsored Web site.

WA Bicycle laws

Check out the link named "More State Bicycle Laws" for details.

PS: There may be some cities that have laws that supercede the state laws, but I don't think Seattle does.

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kdelong

The state law in Ohio used to be that bicycles were banned from sidewalks up until the late 1970's. After this, the law was quietly changed to be at the discretion of the local authority. Most of the cities in Ohio allow sidewalk riding in area where there is not heavy pedestrian traffic such as what is seen in down town areas. Sidewalks in residential areas are often used for bike trails. As usual, the pedestrian has the right of way.

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