Comments on: 4th near Liberty

By: J Morgan

J Morgan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:09:46 +0000

This morning as I was walking to work down Packard, I was hit full force from behind by a girl riding a bike way too fast on the sidewalk. I heard “….right” a split second before I was hit. I was startled and jumped, apparently in the wrong direction, because we both hit the ground a second later. Fortunately for me, it was cold out this morning, so I was wearing heavy jeans, real shoes (not sandals) and a coat with an umbrella in the pocket that took a lot of the impact. (I guess she doesn’t realize that most people — not me, for this very reason, but most people — have iPods in their ears and can’t hear anything around them.) Five minutes later, a young man came flying from behind (no warning at all), and went on someone’s grass up an incline to get around me. If he had slipped on the wet grass, he would have wound up on top of me too. All of this when there is a bike lane less than 5 feet away!!!

Last summer, I had the experience of having 2 bicyclists (young men) ride on either side of me as fast as they could from behind while I was standing on the sidewalk on Packard waiting for a bus. They both missed me by inches.

I also have bikers come flying up behind me when I’m out walking my 12-pound dog. If she had been with me this morning, she probably wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale.

Please, City of Ann Arbor…… DO SOMETHING. Put bike cops on Packard in the morning…. you’d raise so much revenue issuing tickets to obnoxious bikers that you wouldn’t have to raise the cost of meters!

By: John Squires

John Squires — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:05:54 +0000

I really don’t understand why the council has not passed the no bike riding on sidewalk ordinance. The more bikes car drivers see in the street, the safer it is for all bikers. I ride daily year round and do not even use off street bike paths because of the inherent danger of being clipped by cars leaving and entering the street. Drivers are much more aware of bikes in the street than on the sidewalks. Needless to say, there would also be less drivers telling bikers to get off the street and on to the sidewalks if it was illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk.

By: George Hammond

George Hammond — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Thanks for the correction KJMClark, I knew the state code could be superceded by local ordinance, but didn’t know there were any that applied.

By: Steve Bean

Steve Bean — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:46:38 +0000

4th Ave. near Ann St. Tuesday around 5:30pm — bicyclist pedaling ever so slowly on right side of sidewalk, pedestrian traveling in opposite direction apparently decides to initiate contact by stepping into bike’s path, cyclist stops and apologizes for hitting pedestrian, pedestrian angrily punches cyclist on side/hip and says something about getting off the sidewalk.

It all happened for a reason, folks. What is it?

By: KJMClark

KJMClark — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:15:05 +0000

None of which applies in Ann Arbor, since 257.606 authorizes local jurisdictions to have their own ordinances for some traffic regulation, in particular:
MCL 256.606 (i) Regulating the operation of bicycles and requiring the registration and licensing of bicycles, including the requirement of a registration fee.

So Ann Arbor’s ordinances apply. Ann Arbor’s ordinance simply says:
10:168. Riding on sidewalks.
No person when riding a bicycle upon a sidewalk shall fail to yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian.
(Ord. No. 46-61, 8-14-61; Ord. No. 26-74, 8-19-74)
and
10:171. Speed.
No bicycle shall be operated at any time faster than is reasonable or proper, and every bicycle shall be operated with reasonable regard to the safety of the rider and other persons and property.
(Ord. No. 46-61, 8-14-61; Ord. No. 26-74, 8-19-74)

The signs that appear in various places in the DDA admonishing cyclists to walk their bikes are advisory only, and don’t carry any legal weight. The DDA knew that at the time, and Council hasn’t made any changes to make them enforceable. Cyclists have to yield right of way to pedestrians on sidewalks and not go too fast. I doubt more than a dozen cyclists have been cited for those infractions in the past 50 years.

BTW, the Michigan laws are available at http://www.michiganlegislature.org, and the city ordinances are available through the city clerk website.

By: George Hammond

George Hammond — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:07:22 +0000

There is relevant law here.

Section 257.660c of the Michigan Vehicle Code says:
(1) “An individual operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or a
pedestrian crosswalk shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians
and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and
passing a pedestrian.
(2) “An individual shall not operate a bicycle upon a sidewalk
or a pedestrian crosswalk if that operation is prohibited by an
official traffic control device.
(3) “An individual lawfully operating a bicycle upon a
sidewalk or a pedestrian crosswalk has all of the rights and
responsibilities applicable to a pedestrian using that sidewalk
or crosswalk.”

From “What Every Michigan Bicyclist Must Know”
link to source

By: Bill Merrill

Bill Merrill — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:56:28 +0000

Manifex, Thanks for the correction, I was piecing it together back at my desk.

I’m just glad our flying fellow appeared to take the fall on his shoulder rather than his face or (helmetless) head. He seemed to be traveling too fast for conditions and hadn’t been prepared to deal with a pedestrian. Then he made the poor choice of abrupt and full front brake.

By: KJMClark

KJMClark — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:31:31 +0000

Yes, but let’s also set the downtown speed limit to 15mph, have regular police bicycle patrols on the downtown streets, and take out some of the on-street parking to put in bike lanes.

Still in favor? The Bicycle Coordinating Committee made recommendations like that about a decade ago. The problem is that many motorists around here are aggressive toward cyclists. That scares the cyclists off the roads onto sidewalks. It’s just a kind of bigotry to have motorists telling cyclists to get off the roads at the same time we’re telling cyclists to get off the sidewalks. People who think cyclists should be forced off the sidewalks should be forced to bike in traffic for a while.

Fix the road problem and the sidewalk problem will go away.

(BTW, I bike on the roads, not the sidewalks, every day in Ann Arbor, for over 20 years now.)

By: Elyse Rubin

Elyse Rubin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:15:32 +0000

For a while many downtown businesses were sporting signs/stickers asking folks to walk their bikes on the sidewalks downtown. What happened to this campaign? Couldn’t find anything on the web about it. Having been hit more than once by bicyclists while walking on the sidewalk I support this, for the cyclists’ safety as well as my own.

By: Matt Hampel

Matt Hampel — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:38:09 +0000

Dudes need to get off the sidewalk on Liberty. Especially if you’re going fast enough that you’d go over handlebars.