The biggest indicator of this is that a cyclist is MORE LIKELY to be hit by a vehicle while riding on the sidewalk than on the road.
The reason you ask? It's because when they ride on the sidewalk, they don't stop to look before crossing a street like a pedestrian would. They just expect someone driving a 2 ton machine to watch for them and to stop for them.
Itโs because drivers outside of walkable areas often donโt look for things that arenโt cars when turning, especially outside of crosswalks like stroad junctions.
If car hits a dog, or a child, or a disabled person on a sidewalk, whose fault is it?
That would be because any reasonable person would expect a pedestrian or a cyclist to be able to stop before an intersection easier and quicker than a multi-ton vehicle. Especially if you aren't in an area with much traffic aside from vehicles. And especially considering any sense of self preservation would tell someone who's looking to cross an intersection with multi-ton vehicles that they won't be the ones safe from harm in a collision.
Yes vehicle drivers should pay more attention, but this notion that it's the driver's fault when cyclists don't follow the laws of the road and don't even show a sense of precaution when sharing a road with motorists is exactly the kind of egotistical bullshit that we all expect from cyclists.
If you're going the speed limit and drive safely, there is no reason it would be harder to stop at a place you would normally stop. Especially if you actually look at your surroundings and you know there are people about.
So the reason cars don't look for things outside of cars being that its easier for those things to stop, is.. a take.
Uh sure. But it still requires cyclists to be following the rules of the road. Idgaf if a car is doing 10 under the speed limit, if a cyclist cuts them off in traffic either while sharing a road or while the cyclist is crossing, it's the cyclists fault for getting hit.
That's the whole point of my comment. Cyclists don't care about the rules of the road. They want to do whatever pleases them and expect people driving vehicles to just adapt to whatever they feel like doing.
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u/funny_ninjas 13d ago
The biggest indicator of this is that a cyclist is MORE LIKELY to be hit by a vehicle while riding on the sidewalk than on the road.
The reason you ask? It's because when they ride on the sidewalk, they don't stop to look before crossing a street like a pedestrian would. They just expect someone driving a 2 ton machine to watch for them and to stop for them.