Greater City ProvidenceThis video was all over the interwebs and the Twits and the Faceplace this week, and we got it emailed to us at least a half a dozen times, so it is obviously popular and we’re gonna get a million hits by posting here! Please to enjoy.
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Hysterical, sad and too true!
Wish Providence would ticket people for riding their bike on the sidewalks or folks walking in the street along a perfectly functional sidewalk and for bikers riding bike in the wrong direction on the street.
As a sometimes urban cyclist, often pedestrian and frequent motorist, it becomes a safety hazard when another bike is coming at you against the flow of traffic. As a pedestrian, the sidewalks are already too narrow for an individual, let alone a cyclist AND pedestrian – add into that… trees, signs, sidewalk seating and uh, other pedestrians.
But I get that sometimes either the sidewalk or the street / bike lanes are not always the safest and not always used for what they’re meant to be used for. Not to mention, bike lane “construction-design” in Providence is a joke. I could take some whiteout and slap it on the ground and call it a “bike lane.” The white lines and confusing signage make it difficult for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians alike.
Then again, we could just put a cone on it.
that dude as an awesome professional bike faller-offer!
I love how the cop wouldn’t get out of the car in the rain to give the ticket too.
In VA (suburbs) a lot of people bike because they can’t afford cars, or they don’t have drivers licenses and there is no way they can ride on the street because of safety concerns, so they use the sidewalks. Which isn’t such a big deal since no one really walks around here.
There is (properly) no state law against riding bikes on the sidewalk, and as someone who both bikes and walks a lot, I regard it as a situational issue. In downtown Providence I never bike on sidewalks (except perhaps on the wide sidewalk on the south side of Burnside Park) as there really are numerous pedestrians, but I occasionally use sidewalks on streets like Mineral Spring Ave (no shoulders, heavy traffic, very few pedestrians) or the Centerdale bypass (no shoulder, very fast traffic, one-way issues)
That said a bicyclist on a sidewalk has to be very careful about vehicles exiting driveways.
There is somewhat of a split about this in the bike community, I think some very confident, experienced on-road bicyclists are opposed to any use of sidewalks (and they are sometimes opposed to bike pats too)
It is legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk in Providence. I think that needs to change. My issue is that the sidewalks should be primarily for pedestrian use, especially in the city. Anything traveling faster than a walking or jogging pace on a sidewalk is dangerous for pedestrians. This is also why I am pretty sure that the law states that pedestrians and runners should be walking/running on sidewalks where they are provided. Nothing annoys me more than a group of people walking down the street in the street as if it’s “uncool” to walk on the sidewalk. I also get annoyed with runners in the street since they usually do it in the shoulder where bikes should be (for the record, when I go running, it’s on the sidewalk).
I also think the police need to start ticketing people who ride their bikes on the street against traffic. It’s dangerous for all involved, especially the bicyclist, but it will likely be the driver’s fault in the case of an accident even though the bicyclist was breaking the law.
I thought sidewalks have always been for pedestrians & bicyclists. The bicycle lane is helpful too, and if I rode a bike, I would stay in the bike lane or on the sidewalk. I wouldn’t risk riding into the street because of the maniacal drivers here in RI. It always irritated me how some pedestrians chose to wander into the street instead of staying on the sidewalk, defeating its purpose.
I have to say, that video is a classic.