The sidewalk is over there!

[renebt]

speaking of the sidewalk being over there…i’m a casual CaBi rider. Is it legal for me to ride on the street from VA to DC (or vice versa) on the Key Bridge? First, all of the bikers I’ve seen on Key Bridge bike along the sidewalk. Second, I’m not really sure what area the Key Bridge is on? Is it VA or DC? I think under DC regs, bikes can be on the street. Just want to get input from fellow bike riders.

[baiskeli]

@ShawnoftheDread 26954 wrote:

That said, it is a bit amusing that we hate runners in the bike lane as much as drivers hate cyclists in the street.

Yep. We should keep that in mind.

Of course, the difference is that we’re right about the law in both cases. Bikes belong on the streets, while runners don’t belong in the streets or bike lanes or cycletracks.

[baiskeli]

@renebt 26962 wrote:

speaking of the sidewalk being over there…i’m a casual CaBi rider. Is it legal for me to ride on the street from VA to DC (or vice versa) on the Key Bridge? First, all of the bikers I’ve seen on Key Bridge bike along the sidewalk. Second, I’m not really sure what area the Key Bridge is on? Is it VA or DC? I think under DC regs, bikes can be on the street. Just want to get input from fellow bike riders.

I believe it’s entirely in DC, but is not in the downtown zone where bikes aren’t allowed on sidewalks.

I would never ride in the roadway on any DC bridge, law or not.

[Tim Kelley]

@renebt 26962 wrote:

speaking of the sidewalk being over there…i’m a casual CaBi rider. Is it legal for me to ride on the street from VA to DC (or vice versa) on the Key Bridge? First, all of the bikers I’ve seen on Key Bridge bike along the sidewalk. Second, I’m not really sure what area the Key Bridge is on? Is it VA or DC? I think under DC regs, bikes can be on the street. Just want to get input from fellow bike riders.

Yes, it’s legal to ride on the Key Bridge in the street. A CB bike is pretty slow so you might have a ton of car traffic passing you unless you’re going over at rush hour.

And yes, the Key Bridge is under DC’s jurisdiction.

[creadinger]

@ShawnoftheDread 26954 wrote:

That said, it is a bit amusing that we hate runners in the bike lane as much as drivers hate cyclists in the street.

The minute someone puts up a “Share the Bike Lane” sign I’m getting the hell out of here. Sheesh.

I ride naturally with my boney knees and elbows sticking out…. sort of like a scarecrow on wheels…. still has yet to deter them, maybe I need to install a plow on the front of my bike?

I once played chicken with a cyclist going the wrong way down the bike lane on Mass Ave in SE. She was heading down the hill and I was going up. I gave her the “what the hell are you doing!?” look combined with an “I’m tired and not moving” glare and a pinch of terror and she veered into the empty road. She actually did apologize as she went past.

[baiskeli]

@mstone 26951 wrote:

It’s all fun and games until they push you into traffic.

That’s what gets me about salmoning joggers – they screw up the understanding of which way people should go when passing. Are you going to stay to the left like you would for a car? Or to the right like we’re both on a two-way path?

[GuyContinental]

@Tim Kelley 26966 wrote:

Yes, it’s legal to ride on the Key Bridge in the street. A CB bike is pretty slow so you might have a ton of car traffic passing you unless you’re going over at rush hour.

I witnessed a bizzaro-world incident post Espresso-ride one Sunday several years ago where another rider from the ride took Key Bridge (I’m skeered of bridge traffic so was on the sidewalk), was pulled over by DC police and forced to climb over the railing onto the sidewalk under protest. The rider was livid, the cop called for backup and next thing I knew there were 4 cops there blocking up traffic for milllles… it then ended rather suddenly with the rider cruising up the sidewalk unmolested… between the four of them the DCPD must have decided that it was indeed legal to ride the bridge.

I’ve also seen APD flash lights and point to the Custis to riders taking choosing Lee over the trail.

[Tim Kelley]

In some cases “Legal” and “Smart” are two different things.

[eminva]

@Tim Kelley 26960 wrote:

I occasionally have to negotiate around the homeless gentleman in the wheel chair or the woman in the electric scooter who rides and walks her dog in the bike lanes.

I was riding west on Fairfax the other evening and came across a man salmoning the bike lane in a scooter just by the Ballston metro station. That is kind of a treacherous area with people parallel parking for the carryouts on the north side of the street, buses, etc. I can’t imagine what the alternatives were like if he thought that was the safest way to go.

Liz

[dasgeh]

At least salmoning joggers in the bike lane generally have the option of ducking between cars/on to the sidewalk when they see a bike coming their way. I used to see that a lot, but not I see joggers STAYING IN THE BIKE LANE when a bike is coming at them, which I just don’t get.

A salmoning bike is just dumb, because it’s not so easy to hop out of the way.

[lordofthemark]

@baiskeli 26963 wrote:

Yep. We should keep that in mind.

Of course, the difference is that we’re right about the law in both cases. Bikes belong on the streets, while runners don’t belong in the streets or bike lanes or cycletracks.

i dont run but I do want to say

in the suburbs there are places where

A. There is no sidewalk

B. Where the sidewalk is poor for runners (overhanging vegetation, etc)

On the other hand there are places where, due to crime, the street is (or at least feels) safer at night than a poorly lit sidewalk with adjacent alleys, vegetation and other potential ambush points. I know there are times that, as pedestrians, my wife has insisted we walk in the street.

Note that has nothing directly to do with bike lanes or cycle tracks.

[Nuke]

Talking about signage, I would like to see some signs in DC that would inform people, including the CABI riders, of the no bikes on sidewalk areas, along with signs explaining who belongs in the bike lane.

On Penn Ave I saw two moto scooters in bike lanes. That’s just dumbfounding.

[DaveK]

@Nuke 26984 wrote:

On Penn Ave I saw two moto scooters in bike lanes. That’s just dumbfounding.

Depending on their engine displacement that may be legal. DC has some funny laws about sub-49cc scooters and bike lanes.

http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/Publication%20Files/On%20Your%20Street/Bicycles%20and%20Pedestrians/Bicycles/Bicycle%20Laws/DCLaws_NonTraditional_MotorizedVehicles.pdf

[baiskeli]

@DaveK 26988 wrote:

Depending on their engine displacement that may be legal. DC has some funny laws about sub-49cc scooters and bike lanes.

http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/Publication%20Files/On%20Your%20Street/Bicycles%20and%20Pedestrians/Bicycles/Bicycle%20Laws/DCLaws_NonTraditional_MotorizedVehicles.pdf

Thanks Dave. Gonna print this out and put it in my pannier with my collection of Virginia traffic laws.

[Subby]

Well thinking more about this, I feel like an idiot. I was kind of annoyed at the guy for yelling at me, but for the love of god, I was in the bike lane during rush hour. That was dumb.

In my defense, while I have run down that bike lane a hundred times, it was, before Monday, always in the early afternoon. The other day was the first time I have ever run down it during rush hour. That would probably explain why I have never really come across cyclists other than the rickshaw drivers before now. Still…dumb.

My bike commute actually takes me east-west (penn ave in front of the white house down to CCT) so I haven’t really used any bike lanes and didn’t appreciate the issues from the point of view of the bike commuter. DUMB.

Anyway – I am seeing a pattern here, thanks for helping me wise up.

[Author]

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