Riding your class 3 on the sidewalk? In the bike lane?

Riding most sidewalks is more dangerous than the street. Cars backing out, kids playing, cars at intersections, and even garbage totes. I only ride one section of sidewalk on my regular route. It has a sound suppression fence between the sidewalk and property. No driveways, only access is at the corners.
 
I will ride on the sidewalk if I determine the street I'm on is otherwise unsafe and a sidewalk is available and accessible. I have a class 2 ebike. I never use the throttle though, only PAS. I keep my speed pretty low when I do ride on the sidewalk. I of course prefer riding on the road, but it's not always safe.
 
harryS said:
It's illegal in Illinois to ride an ebike on the sidewalk, but I do it because the alternative is to go on a 4 lane street where traffic rolls at 45 mph. It's only for 1/4 mile and it gets me to the bike path.
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Nope, don't think so.



Sec. 11-1512. Bicycles on sidewalks.
(a) A person propelling a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall yield the right of way to any pedestrian and shall give audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian. (b) A person shall not ride a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, where such use of bicycles is prohibited by official traffic-control devices. (c) A person propelling a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall have all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.


And excerpted from the new eBike law article; Importantly, the law is explicit that the same statewide rules that apply to traditional bicycles, also apply to e-bikes. “A person may operate a low-speed electric bicycle upon any highway, street, or roadway authorized for use by bicycles, including, but not limited to, bicycle lanes.” What you can do on a traditional bike, you can do on an e-bike.

Municipalities can put in their own ordinances for bicycles. It's illegal in Chicago for any bicycles on the sidewalk, unless marked as a bike path, for instance.

Edit; Illinois Rules of the Road does state riding sidewalks is illegal;

  • Low-speed electric and gas bicycles may only be driven on streets and may not exceed 20 mph. They may not be driven on sidewalks.

  • But then it says;

    • Low-speed and electric bicycles must follow all laws applicable to bicyclists.
 
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I just don't ride on sidewalks, except in very rare and very short instances where there is no alternative. I regularly ride 5 miles on a 4 lane 55 mph highway because it's the only way to get to town from where I live. There's no sidewalk but I wouldn't use it if there was. We all do our own threat assessment, and I'm not saying my way is the right way. I'm just stating my viewpoint, as others have stated theirs.
 
If the choice is between riding on a sidewalk and riding on a shoulder less four-lane road with heavy 40+mph traffic I'll happily if discreetly ride on the sidewalk. If the traffic is going 30mph or less I will take my chances in the street.
 
I only have a dedicated share the road bike lane for only about 2 miles on my 13 mile round trip work commute. The rest are roads with no bike lane markings or I ride the side streets to avoid main traffic routes. Too much traffic with speeds 40-55 mph on the same unmarked bike "share the road" vehicle routes home during rush hour times. I slow down and ride the sidewalks instead at pedal bike speeds of 10-15 mph.

I have a Class II ebike.
 
We’re blessed by small city living. Every block, 300’x300’, has 6’ sidewalks. It is only illegal in the downtown business district. Once again it just takes common sense. In difficult, read more dangerous, areas it’s very common to see older riders using the sidewalks and crossings. Common sense dictates all riders have a proper bell to warn walkers and other users well in advance. That often means no more then 1 or 2 others in a one mile ride. Yeah small town! (28,000)
 
I commute from Arlington to the District of Columbia on a Class 2 ebike and there are no safe on-street road crossings of the Potomac for ebikes or pedal bicycles, all the bridges are fast 45mph arterial roads (not legally of course, that’s just the speed the traffic goes). I am obliged to ride on the bridge sidewalks and I break DC municipal regulations both ways in order to cross the river safely. With Uber/Jump advocating for change there’s a good chance the District will revise its regulations in the next year or two to permit Class 1 & 2 ebikes to ride on sidewalks outside the central business district, although the prohibition from trails and sidewalks on National Park Service land will likely remain in place. On the way home after I cross the river I get off the trails as soon as practical to ride on the street to avoid having to pass pedal bikes going up hill.
 
My +70lbs Radrover is a bear to pedal without PAS; but, I can as long as I can stay on level ground (up to 8-12 mph). I figured I would always remove the battery if there is a local electric bike restriction in a particular area. Not an ebike with the "e".
 
Last year, down one of the busy roads in my area, which is 45mph, less than 1/3 mi from my house, there were 4 cyclists riding together. We have those 'sharrow' arrows, basically to share the lane with cars. Some drunk guy plowed into them. Two were hit and the other two were not. One woman was not expected to live but miraculously she did, albeit with severe brain damage, and she's been in a rehab hospital for the last year. Can't speak, can't walk, no use of hands at this point, she can sit in a wheelchair only. The other woman was injured but not too seriously so she was out of the hospital within a week.

The drunk driver is in jail, awaiting prosecution. This is all too common where drivers don't watch out for cyclists and are on their cell phones. I dislike the 'sharrow' roads because there is no dedicated bike lane. There are sidewalks on this particular road. Of course a drunk driver is just plain dangerous for everyone everywhere, but still. We have too many auto and bike collisions and not enough cycling-friendly roads.
 
harryS said:
Hi RichC. I got my Illinois rules from http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=100-0209 for the most recent changes to the state law, in particular section Sec. 11-1517 , paragraph g.

One positive change is that the 20 mph limit for low speed electric bikes has been removed.
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I did say in the edit at the end that I saw that. But it still looks sketchy since it also states "Low-speed and electric bicycles must follow all laws applicable to bicyclists" I'm sure not going to challenge it in court though! LOL
 
It depends on the rules. In my home country, the authorities themselves often obligate people to ride bikes on the sidewalks. It's a stupid rule, but there it is. If I'm riding on the sidewalk, I go no faster than 15 kph, or 10 kph if there are many people. When it's too crowded to even go that fast, I get off and walk the bike. This is just sensible, socially aware rules.
 
Oh, how I hate the bike lanes let me count the ways. Truth be told, I guess I would prefer to have them vs not have them. But I commuted today on my class 3 R&M and just in one day I came away with so many bike lane frustrations. Sorry to bore everyone with more of my bike lane woes but sometimes it helps to put things in writing - like journaling so to speak. Get things off my chest.

Today's commute bike lane woes:
1. 6:15 a.m. 2 joggers in the bike lane coming towards me. Refuse to move and force me into the traffic lane. It would have been easy for them to jump onto the sidewalk briefly to allow my passage but I guess it is a sign of weakness to yield the bike lane to the cyclist.
2. a section of greenway I use has 3 lanes. Northbound and southbound cycle lanes clearly marked for bikes and a wider lane clearly marked for pedestrians. Usually the markings are ignored by pedestrians. A man and a woman taking up the entire northbound cycle lane walking a large dog that is not on a leash. Dog is excited to be out on a nice day and is running around the greenway like a squirrel. No predicting which way that dog is gonna go. I have to pull in behind the couple walking briefly and pretty much stop because I have southbound cyclists passing. The couple doesn't care and is pretty much oblivious to the markings denoting bike lanes vs pedestrian lane as well as signage that dogs must be leashed.
3. several minor irritations combined into one bullet : 2 cars parking in the bike lane when plenty of space is afforded them to park without entering the bike lane, woman making an illegal u-turn in an suv and right-hooking into the bike lane to have enough room to make her turn (caught me by surprise, almost hit me, causing hard braking, never police around when this stuff happens), woman refusing to respect my right-of-way and turning left in front of me causing hard braking to avoid collision.
4. but the ultimate irritation was: young man on a Bird scooter ignores red light causing me to brake (I had green) and he turns into bike lane in front of me then I'm stuck behind him with no room to pass and due to his headphones he doesn't hear my bell or my shout. I'm forced into the traffic lane in order to pass Bird scooter-boy. Although I suppose I could have been more patient and ridden behind the slower moving Bird.

I guess I'm just a cranky old fart. These incidents frustrate me but then I always stop and think "well, I am on a class 3 bike so maybe I shouldn't even be in the bike lane and therefore really don't have right to complain...". In keeping with the thread topic (class 3 bikes in bike lanes) ...

By the way, the Bird scooters have only been on our streets fora few weeks. But if I had to guess I'd say they are wildly popular. I'm seeing a ton of folks using them.
 
Dewey said:
there are no safe on-street road crossings of the Potomac for ebikes or pedal bicycles, all the bridges are fast 45mph arterial roads (not legally of course, that’s just the speed the traffic goes). I am obliged to ride on the bridge sidewalks and I break DC municipal regulations both ways in order to cross the river safely.
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The two sidewalks on the bridges crossing the Potomac are part of marked bike routes and riding on them is perfectly legal.
 
Yep, pedestrians do block bike lanes and monopolize shared use paths without regard to cyclists or faster pedestrian traffic, for sure. I take this as a given, that this will happen, and do the dismounting or stopping or slowing, as well as using my voice or bell nicely, that I need to do For example, when pedestrians or joggers are blocking the bike lane when they could be on a sidewalk, I find it effective just to stop in the bike lane. This keeps me out of traffic, and the pedestrians can get themselves up onto the sidewalk. I find stopping around pedestrians to be pretty effective. It only adds a few minutes to my commute or errand.

It's also good to keep in mind that all people don't have full sensory or intellectual abilities. Being a pedestrian doesn't require one to have good vision or good hearing, and there are people with hidden disabilities (developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities) also. All of these things can add up to unexpected behavior or slow response times of pedestrians. Some dog owners also are quite taken with and silly about their pets (the love-me-love-my-dog gang) to the extent that they endanger their pets without realizing it. I tend to go very slowly around off-leash dogs as I don't want to be chased (which is something that I've had happen as well!)

I hope that a result of the coming (I predict and hope) rapid increase in ebiking, cities will make more separated lanes for bicycles only. I envision a future road infrastructure that looks radically different from the car-clogged streets and pedestrian-clogged shared-use-paths of today. Let's keep working toward that end. :)

We are allowed to ride on sidewalks in the cities where I live and ride, and I do so when the only other option is a high-speed arterial where I'd have to take a lane. I've found that pedestrians seem to quite understand why I am there, though if it's the lunch rush downtown, it is slow going on the sidewalk.

Happy riding! :)
 
Nova Haibike said:
The two sidewalks on the bridges crossing the Potomac are part of marked bike routes and riding on them is perfectly legal.
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Nope, DC Municipal refs ban riding ebikes on sidewalks or bike routes and DC jurisdiction extends to the Virginia shore
 
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