Is it okay to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk when on a major road in NY?

A

Andrew G

New member
If you are cycling on a major road in New York, is it okay to ride on the sidewalk, as long as there are no pedestrians on it, in order to avoid traffic?
 
Consider this:

- On major roads in NYC, the speed limit tends to be 25mph
- Your bike goes 15mph
- Fastest NYC walker tends to do 5mph

So, you're going right in-between the two speeds, but you're going at 3x the speed of pedestrians but more than half the speed of the cars.

Do you think it's OK to drive a small vehicle or ride a motorcycle on the sidewalk? Or, how about walking down the center lane of a major road?

It's a safety issue - it's not OK. A pedestrian may appear any time. Meanwhile, if there is traffic, you can weave and lanesplit a bit.
 
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