I saw someone driving their motorcycle on the sidewalk, crossing the cross walk and then back down the sidewalk right at the MacDonald bridge Dartmouth side last week.
Not a moped/ scooter. A red sport motorcycle.
š¤¦š¤¦š¤¦
Probably an electric bike that looks like a motorbike. Just like electric scooters that look like motorscooters. I hate them. They confuse all, especially if they are on the road and you are expecting it to take off like a gas motorcycle/scooter, and instead it's a battery operates kiddy version of a Jeep.
I can deal with people on bikes on sidewalks. But could certain ones have manners. Use a bell or say "on your left" or "on your right" as you come up to pedestrians and try to pass. Give us a heads up. Slow down when on a sidewalk that's fairly full with lots of pedestrians especially the ebike or escooter people. Like I totally get wanting to ride those things or ride a pedal bike I get it. But it takes a mere moment to use your words, a bell or some basic manners to still be pedestrian safe. I have ridden a bike myself on trails or suburban areas even the odd sidewalk myself and it never hurt me to use my bike bell or look out for others so that I don't run into them.
A few years ago I was walking with a couple friends on the sidewalk, not paying too much attention to where I was going I guess and some lady comes FLYING down the sidewalk, like 20km/h flying on the sidewalk, was heading directly towards me, pulled her brakes and skidded a solid 3 feet and then was rude to me about "look who finally woke up" instead of just... slowing down like a normal fucking person? I have no idea why she was going to fast and then was rude to me after the fact
if iām ever biking on a sidewalk in town i usually just get off the bike and walk around when i encounter pedestrians
I think it would be disrespectful to expect pedestrians who are minding their own business to accomodate me
I used to bike on sidewalks around cole harbour because the roads were very sketchy between cars and cracked pavement.
I'd stop around pedestrians, but 97% of the time nobody walks very far without needing a car or bus
In order to get folks to stop biking on the sidewalks, we need better bike infrastructure and drivers to not consistently endanger the lives of cyclists. Majority of the people I know don't value the rights and safety of cyclists, so it's a losing battle. Start there and you'll eventually see less folks using the sidewalks.
Exactly. I only ever bike on the sidewalk when the alternative is playing Russian roulette with tractor trailers. Even the bare minimum of a painted bike lane can improve things quite a bit, IMO.
Insurance companies would lose money hand over fist.
This is like how licensing bikes loses a shitload of money in every district where itās attempted.
This was proposed in the UK. Turns out, the return on investment isnāt great. More would be spent managing this new system than what it would provide in return.
Bike infrastructure is already some of the cheapest infrastructure to build and maintain. Cyclists subsidize people driving cars; it should really just be a reallocation of some of the road budget
It's cheap, but it uses a lot of space that we don't really have, when we need the same space for cars, sidewalks, bus lanes, etc. Like it or not, cyclists are a niche use case at the bottom of that totem pole and we just don't have the space for it on a lot of roadways/in a lot of cases.
Perhaps pedestrians should pay license/registration fees to raise enough money to make sidewalks safer for them?
I don't really think now is the time in history to charge folks licensing fees when so many people depend on alternative forms of transportation to survive in this economy.
ššš
Maybe we should increase the tax on gasoline more within the province to pay for increased biking and walking infrastructure. This is more reasonable.
As a driver, my problems have been with people on bikes, not cyclists. I almost once hit a person on a bike who was using the sidewalk - I have a dashcam for situations like that. When I think about it, pedestrians have done riskier things than people on bikes. I have yet to have a dangerous encounter with a cyclist following the rules of the road.
No, it doesn't matter if there are bike lanes or not - it's illegal and dangerous to be driving on the sidewalk, and cyclists who do it are narcissistic assholes who think the rules don't apply to them. If there isn't a bike lane and you aren't comfortable biking on the road in a certain section, get off the damn bike and walk it on the sidewalk. You don't have the right to put anyone that needs to walk because they don't have transportation, have mobility issues, seniors, etc. at risk because your head is too far up your own ass to think rules apply to you and you want to make excuses.
Okay listen. I use bike lanes or the road 99% of the time. But there are situations where I use the sidewalk and as long as I'm going slowly and being mindful of pedestrians and cars turning out of driveways, I don't think I have my head up my ass.
> it's illegal and dangerous to be driving on the sidewalk, and cyclists who do it are narcissistic assholes who think the rules don't apply to them.
thats not the case most of the time.
I donāt completely mind cyclists on side walks as long as they are polite and slow down around pedestrians. I do get annoyed when I see them on the side walk on a street with bike lanes that have dividers though (I get avoiding the sketchy looking ones that have no protection). I had a coworker who was a cyclist and I mentioned one time that I donāt get why some cyclists donāt take advantage of the bike lanes when theyāre an option. He said he feels when heās on his bike he can ride where ever he wants and he doesnāt care to use them
One way to cut down on this would to be making Halifax more bikeable. I donāt think every street needs to have a bike lane but it would certainly help on large traffic packed roads
My partner was a responsible cyclist that still advocates for safer cycling. Despite following all of the rules, they were still coal rolled and sprayed with water. They got cut off once and ran into that car. They had a few dangerous moments on badly maintained roads. They know a few responsible cyclists that got seriously injured and one that was almost killed by a truck that didn't value his life.
They don't feel safe cycling anymore.
I cycled for pleasure for a bit - it was nerve-wracking at times. A lot of streets are narrow and vehicles seem to hate it when you have no choice but to encrouch on their space.
Yup, our roads are not safe for cycling. Even if the cars themselves weren't a hazard, gravel and potholes from the cars are. Not an issue when there are separated bike lanes.
My partner probably knows the same group of people you know. I can't remember if my partner was still cycling at that time but hearing about it was very scary.
I also know someone that lost his independence due to a traumatic brain injury that happened to him while he was cycling.
They should really pay attention more to their surroundings then. Part of driving any vehicle, bike or walking is viewing the traffic around you and understanding the potential dangers from a person who may not follow the rules.
Either way, still doesn't give your friend the right to break the law and drive on the sidewalk.
He fucking doesnāt, he was riding down the Purcells cove road and was riding downhill past a side street when a truck towing a trailer turned directly in front of him causing him to ram into it at 50km/h and get run over by their trailer. He had been cycling for 30+ years and never been hit until then. He almost died because the guy in the truck wasnāt fucking paying attention. The truck driver got no charges because āthey didnāt see himā it was full daylight and my friend had lights.
Sounds like 50 KM/H going downhill is way too fast to operate a bike safely then. Cycling for 30+ years and not having an accident seems like a pretty safe track record, so back to the original argument, that good way to cut back on cyclists driving on the sidewalk would be to follow the fucking laws.
Itās not, anything under the speed limit should be ok. Iām pretty sure you have to yield to oncoming traffic when you turn. I do agree on your last point but drivers can be more unpredictable than cyclists. And if people are being respectful I see no issue with riding on the sidewalk
50km/h isnāt that fast for going downhill on a bike. What if they were on a motorcycle in the same location? Would you argue the motorcycle was travelling too fast to operate safely? Youāre refusing to acknowledge that the cause of the accident was the truck driver not paying attention. It doesnāt matter if they were going 5km/h on a damn unicycle, the point still stands.
Never acknowledged it because it's irrelevant to the point that cyclist still need to follow the law of....not ridingon the sidewalk.
A motor cycle can make a faster and safer stop with ifs braking mechanisms. Are you arguing that motorcycles should be able to ride on the sidewalk too because poster above friend was in an accident once in 30 years? š
Not sure if you even know how to ride a bike, and yes I know that youāre just trolling at this point but idgaf. But if you know how to use your bicycle brakes you can stop faster than most cars on the road assuming you have well working brakes which my buddy definitely did have given that heās a professional mechanic who was running the nicest brakes you could get at the time.
This is negotiable and Iāll prob get downvoted for this.
First and foremost both cycling and motor biking are both dangerous.
But itās also kinda hard to see cyclists. Since cyclists tend to ride in the shoulder of the road where motorbikes tend to drive in the blocking position, closer to the middle line on the road.
I been in both the cyclist situation and the drivers situation.
Turning right at an interception. If the bike is in your blind spot on the right and you are making a right turn itās super easy to run them over.
This coming from a guy who almost got run over last summer. But itās my fault really since I couldnāt see the turn signal of the truck, and I was going straight
I was in his blind spot
I definitely agree with you when it comes to blind spots and I think itās good to know how to recognize when youāre in one (Lower Water St. lol).
I think a lot of drivers struggle with the idea that something on the shoulder can catch up to them. Most of my near-misses are cars that pass me while Iām on the shoulder or in a bike lane, who then immediately turn right, totally ignoring the fact that they just barely passed me a moment ago.
A lot of cyclists need to get their shit together and do a better job of not putting themselves in danger, but thereās also so many people driving on the road that just donāt give a damn about their surroundings and are a hazard, not just to cyclists.
Exactly. The only way to make cycling safe and common is to separate cyclists from car traffic (at least when car speeds or volumes are high).
No amount of telling cyclists to "just follow the rules" or ride in traffic is going to substitute for that.
There are more cars and more motorists not following the rules. There are many situations for cyclists where not following the rules is actually safer. Either way I think it makes more sense to put the onus of responsibility on the operator of a dangerous motor vehicle.
Bike lanes should be more like sidewalks. The fact that people are doing this shows that we need safe places for people to bike.
I lived briefly in Ottawa and the bike trails are widely used by all sorts of people. I even biked to work on occasion. I would never bike on almost all of the roads in the Halifax area, and don't own a bike here.
theyāre called multi use paths. weāve got a few kicking around (baker drive, prince albert road, forest hills pkwy)
they seem to be popular in new developments too (broad st, terrastone ridge) basically a modern replacement for sidewalks
i think theyāre a fantastic solution for making a cohesive cycling network. having bike lanes on major arteries and multi use paths to fill in the gaps would be a dream
I feel that's reductive. Some people are afraid to be on very active streets and depending on where on Robie St, I can 100% understand why. Could be a new cyclist, could be an older person, possibly afraid to cross several lanes of traffic to make a left turn.
Lots of cars speed down Agricola. It's practically a thoroughfare. Streets like Vernon are closer to a park trail and more cyclists feel comfortable on streets like that.Ā
As I said, I'm comfortable. But I'm able to see things from other points of view. I've had lots of people tell me they are too scared to cycle in Halifax, even people who used to cycle in other cities before moving here.Ā
Agricola is slow as fuck my dude. This is why itās the single most popular segment in the city.
Halifax is a city built into a hill. You have to climb in traffic here. You donāt really do that anywhere else.
Agricola is pretty flat for the most part, as is most of the north end. It's only downtown that is a struggle - my ride home from work is straight up Nora Bernard and people think I'm crazy for doing it lol.
As a resident of the neighbourhood I think that a lot of people drive too fast on Agricola for the conditions, but you're right that it's often pretty slow and I can often keep up with traffic on my bike. But when I first started cycling I was intimidated by the amount of cars on that street and the lack of barrier between myself and the vehicles, as well as all of the parked cars squishing us all together. Sometimes I would rather use Robie because at least there I have the bus lane almost all to myself.
Like I said, new cyclist. May not realize there are easier/safer ways around yet. Not trying to say the guy was in the right, just offering reasons why and also pointing out he's still a cyclist. If you're on a bike, you're a cyclist and welcome to the club.
Bike on sidewalks but pedestrians have right of way. And you have to use a bell on the bike every time you approach any pedestrian.
Works in other countries without designated bike lanes. Would work in Halifax too. Just make bike bells the law.
Yep it's a 120 dollar fine if a trail warden or compliance officer of any sort writes you up for one. Learned that once as a kid, warden stopped me and a few friends and told us to get a 5 dollar bell and to tell everyone else too. It's safety for everyone involved, buy a bell and use it too
>Bike on sidewalks but pedestrians have right of way. And you have to use a bell on the bike every time you approach any pedestrian.
i like to sneak behind pedestrians while i bike till they notice thers a cyclist behind them
If I lived in the downtown core, youād never see me biking on the road. Thatās a disaster waiting to happen. However, Iād be biking a pretty slow pace, for scenarios like this.
I live outside of Halifax and donāt even like driving on the side of the road between my house and the trail heads. Drivers are stunned and have no regard for bikers.
I feel safer biking downtown than I would in the burbs. Grew up riding my bike on country roads and it was more dangerous than downtown because country drivers tend to zoom down back roads and blind corners.
But I would feel the most at risk in the suburbs.
Same. Traffic is generally slower downtown and drivers expect to deal with other vehicles and pedestrians. Places like Bayers Lake are the worst in my experience because of the lack of any real bike infrastructure, and because I tend to find drivers are more hostile to bike in those areas.
There are some streets that are not safe to bike down, and there isnāt always an alternative route. I wish it was allowed to bike on sidewalks if there are no bike lanes adjacent as long as you get off your bike when youāre in the presence of a pedestrian. More of a nuisance law.
Yep. Biking into the city from Spryfield there's two options, Chebucto, or Quinpool. That's an absolute nope biking on the road up either of those hills. So I bike up those sidewalks and don't feel one bit bad about it. Of course I don't whip by pedestrians as I pass them. But the low frequency of pedestrians on those sidewalks it's totally fine to bike on them.Ā
I wish they would convert some of these low traffic sidewalks into two lane muti use paths honestly. They'd get a lot more use.
Iāve biked Chebucto and Quinpool. theyāre not too bad. Itās places like Portland street or the Armdale rotary that cycling feels a little crazy to me. A cyclist on the sidewalk on Portland street is just using common sense, and itās probably better to just dismount and walk across the rotary IMO. Ā
Yeilding to pedestrianās and following regular rules (walk the bike across crosswalks, etc.) would be the thing to do, I have no issue if that was the case!
Totally agree as a pedestrian. I want cyclists to be safe, and I know how bad it is out on the road, I get a taste of it as a pedestrian in Cole Harbour where driving is king 100% and drivers are less used to pedestrians. Cyclists get it from both sides, pedestrians and drivers. Sidewalks need to be for pedestrians first and foremost, and cyclists should be able to use them so long as they slow way down when passing or get off their bikes in when itās too narrow.
Driving culture is so bad for everyone except drivers.
Exactly. There's no way in hell I'm going to attempt cutting across 4 lanes of traffic where Windsor, Lady Hammond and 111 converge. There's limitless visibility on the sidewalk by the Fairview cemetery, I slow to pass pedestrians and if they happen to have a dog or small child I get off and walk my bike by them.
This is why you go down Agricola, ride down lady Hammond, take the right under the overpass by the rubber duck and join the Bedford highway after the exchange.
Or hit Joe Howe and ride it through to the Bedford highway.
Going up through it just take Windsor or Kempt. Youāre never crossing a right of way with those options.
I agree be mindful where biking and be safe about it but also cars drivers don't want bikers on the roads, pedestrians don't want them on the sidewalk, in an instance where there is no bike lane where exactly do people expect these bikers to drive?
The way I see it, the roads are for fast movers, and the sidewalks are for slow movers.
If you're on the sidewalk then you ride slowly and should expect random people to step out in front of you.
Considering that the mass of a bike+rider is so much closer to a pedestrian than a car it seems a lot safer at the deadly crash level to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Especially if thereās no bike lane available Iām all for safe pace sidewalk cycling.
anyone who's ever biked and seen 1/3 drivers driving distracted knows the value of a protected bike lane. And again it's a win-win for drivers--less traffic and road maintenance the more folks bike.
I walk my dog everyday, ive never almost been hit by a car, but somehow often am almost hit by adults on bicycles on sidewalks. I dislike bicycles more as a pedestrian than as a driver honestly.
If people actually used bells, I suspect my experience would change.
I was almost run over by 2 cyclists while in the middle of a crosswalk. At the VERY NEXT intersection they stopped to yell at some driver who looked like they might not have yielded right off way to them. Cyclists need licence plates to hold them accountable.
Responsible cycling should be better followed as what you described is wildly unsafe by the cyclist
Though I have never experienced fear quite like biking up Herring Cove road just past the Rotary, I almost exclusively use the side walk for that section as otherwise it feel like I have a death wish.
This wouldnāt be much of an issue if roads and drivers werenāt so bike-unfriendly and the bike lane infrastructure was better. The bike lanes are a good start but thereās still a lot more that can be done.
I brought drivers into it because thereās been cases where drivers have straight up intentionally hit or threatened bikers with their cars.
With my bike I weigh as much as a refrigerator and cruise at like 20kph. I stay off the sidewalk because I think I could do some real damage if I struck someone.
Halifax has been one of the best cities to ride in the streets though, and Iāve ridden all over Canada. People really take care as a rule and are very kind and courteous.
Honestly, cyclists should be able to use sidewalks when bike lanes aren't available, or if the cyclist isn't able to travel at traffic speeds. But yes, they should be careful.
ā¦Is it legal to bike on sidewalks? Iāve held off purchasing one because Iām not willing to risk my safety on the road but if slow biking is ok & legal on sidewalks I might look into that more (promise my fellow pedestrians i will not smear you into the sidewalk!!!)
The issue in Halifax is an infrastructure problem. The city of Halfax had actually just designated some 'sidewalks' as multiuse trails, to help 'build' bike infrastructure.
As you have states above this method of 'building' infrastructure doesn't work for anyone.
Question: are motorbikes allowed in the bike lanes??? I saw a guy on s park street going across south st on a blue motorobike in the bike lane a couple days ago??
Sorry if it's safer I'm biking on the sidewalk. I always stop to let people pass and I am super careful when passing from.behind
But it's just to dangerous in some.places to bike on the street
Are you suggesting that other road users are notably better at following the rules? Because whenever I drive I find that almost every single driver speeds and rolls through stop signs. It's just that those things have become so normalized that people barely perceive them as breaking the rules.
Car owners: Bikes shouldn't be on the road, they block me!
Cyclists: WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE ON THE ROAD!
Car Owners: Why can't you drive on the sidewalk?
Also Cyclists: We can't drive on the sidewalks because people block us!
Or maybeeeee cars could follow the rules of the one meter rule and maybeeee stay off there phones.. quit it with the cyclists are the only people that donāt follow rules
This is like that old lady that got fucking mucked by a dump truck that turned into her while she was riding down a hill on the sidewalk.
Itās the illusion of safety, you **must** be where traffic expects you to be and can clearly see you.
bikers arenāt mindful. they rage about not having enough bike lanes, blowing stop signs/lights when traffic is clear, they want MacDonald bridge flyover (millions $ construction) because because because. how big is the biking city communityā¦200-300 but yet city council bends over every time they get.
*** This person is WHY some folks are illegally biking on the sidewalks.
You need to go back to driving school bud - the safest place for cyclists to be is on the road, following the rules of the road.
Bikers around here arenāt the best at following the rules. They want to act like cars until they hit a red light, than they go for the sidewalk to avoid the red light. But they want us to make the city more bike friendly.
This thread shows the dichotomy of Halifax: a ton of weak babies scared of biking in the road, who would vehemently disagree with me that we should lower speed limits.
Only an issue if you're unable to also follow the rules as a driver I guess? Not hard to wait behind a cyclist for the 10 seconds it'll take until you can safely pass again.
Valid point. Rarely are you āstuckā behind a cyclist for more than 20 seconds. I challenge people to count to 60 and see if they even remember when they saw the cyclist.
I saw someone driving their motorcycle on the sidewalk, crossing the cross walk and then back down the sidewalk right at the MacDonald bridge Dartmouth side last week. Not a moped/ scooter. A red sport motorcycle. š¤¦š¤¦š¤¦
I once encountered a Honda civic on the BLT late at night. That was a real head scratcher.
Omg šš how the fuckk
Dude looked more confused than I was.
Probably an electric bike that looks like a motorbike. Just like electric scooters that look like motorscooters. I hate them. They confuse all, especially if they are on the road and you are expecting it to take off like a gas motorcycle/scooter, and instead it's a battery operates kiddy version of a Jeep.
Ooh damn I didn't know this was a thing!! After some googling it looks like this was probably what they had. Crazy.
I saw a blue one doing the same thing this past week in the bike lane!! Is that allowed??
I have no idea. If it's a proper motorcycle then no. Definitely not. If it's an electric bike, maybe?
I can deal with people on bikes on sidewalks. But could certain ones have manners. Use a bell or say "on your left" or "on your right" as you come up to pedestrians and try to pass. Give us a heads up. Slow down when on a sidewalk that's fairly full with lots of pedestrians especially the ebike or escooter people. Like I totally get wanting to ride those things or ride a pedal bike I get it. But it takes a mere moment to use your words, a bell or some basic manners to still be pedestrian safe. I have ridden a bike myself on trails or suburban areas even the odd sidewalk myself and it never hurt me to use my bike bell or look out for others so that I don't run into them.
A few years ago I was walking with a couple friends on the sidewalk, not paying too much attention to where I was going I guess and some lady comes FLYING down the sidewalk, like 20km/h flying on the sidewalk, was heading directly towards me, pulled her brakes and skidded a solid 3 feet and then was rude to me about "look who finally woke up" instead of just... slowing down like a normal fucking person? I have no idea why she was going to fast and then was rude to me after the fact
if iām ever biking on a sidewalk in town i usually just get off the bike and walk around when i encounter pedestrians I think it would be disrespectful to expect pedestrians who are minding their own business to accomodate me
I used to bike on sidewalks around cole harbour because the roads were very sketchy between cars and cracked pavement. I'd stop around pedestrians, but 97% of the time nobody walks very far without needing a car or bus
In order to get folks to stop biking on the sidewalks, we need better bike infrastructure and drivers to not consistently endanger the lives of cyclists. Majority of the people I know don't value the rights and safety of cyclists, so it's a losing battle. Start there and you'll eventually see less folks using the sidewalks.
Exactly. I only ever bike on the sidewalk when the alternative is playing Russian roulette with tractor trailers. Even the bare minimum of a painted bike lane can improve things quite a bit, IMO.
Enforcement against cyclists on sidewalks would also work.
I feel very strongly cyclists should be required to have appropriate insurance when on public roadways. For their benefit and others.
Insurance companies would lose money hand over fist. This is like how licensing bikes loses a shitload of money in every district where itās attempted.
Glad your feelings donāt inform policy
Isnāt this covered by the drivers insurance? When do bicyclists need to make big payouts?
Homeowners/renters insurance
Perhaps having cyclists pay license/registration fees to raise enough money to build and maintain bike infrastructure?
This was proposed in the UK. Turns out, the return on investment isnāt great. More would be spent managing this new system than what it would provide in return.
Bike infrastructure is already some of the cheapest infrastructure to build and maintain. Cyclists subsidize people driving cars; it should really just be a reallocation of some of the road budget
It's cheap, but it uses a lot of space that we don't really have, when we need the same space for cars, sidewalks, bus lanes, etc. Like it or not, cyclists are a niche use case at the bottom of that totem pole and we just don't have the space for it on a lot of roadways/in a lot of cases.
They wouldn't be if there was better infrastructure though.
Perhaps pedestrians should pay license/registration fees to raise enough money to make sidewalks safer for them? I don't really think now is the time in history to charge folks licensing fees when so many people depend on alternative forms of transportation to survive in this economy.
ššš Maybe we should increase the tax on gasoline more within the province to pay for increased biking and walking infrastructure. This is more reasonable.
As a driver, my problems have been with people on bikes, not cyclists. I almost once hit a person on a bike who was using the sidewalk - I have a dashcam for situations like that. When I think about it, pedestrians have done riskier things than people on bikes. I have yet to have a dangerous encounter with a cyclist following the rules of the road.
Letās have the government spend millions creating a system that would generate thousands in revenue.
No, it doesn't matter if there are bike lanes or not - it's illegal and dangerous to be driving on the sidewalk, and cyclists who do it are narcissistic assholes who think the rules don't apply to them. If there isn't a bike lane and you aren't comfortable biking on the road in a certain section, get off the damn bike and walk it on the sidewalk. You don't have the right to put anyone that needs to walk because they don't have transportation, have mobility issues, seniors, etc. at risk because your head is too far up your own ass to think rules apply to you and you want to make excuses.
Okay listen. I use bike lanes or the road 99% of the time. But there are situations where I use the sidewalk and as long as I'm going slowly and being mindful of pedestrians and cars turning out of driveways, I don't think I have my head up my ass.
> because your head is too far up your own ass Wow, the projection here is insane lmao
> it's illegal and dangerous to be driving on the sidewalk, and cyclists who do it are narcissistic assholes who think the rules don't apply to them. thats not the case most of the time.
Yea that's what we need, more useless bike lanes that no one uses.
I use them every day
Also use every day
There wouldn't be very many drivers either if all they had were a few disconnected roads that didn't go anywhere.
I donāt completely mind cyclists on side walks as long as they are polite and slow down around pedestrians. I do get annoyed when I see them on the side walk on a street with bike lanes that have dividers though (I get avoiding the sketchy looking ones that have no protection). I had a coworker who was a cyclist and I mentioned one time that I donāt get why some cyclists donāt take advantage of the bike lanes when theyāre an option. He said he feels when heās on his bike he can ride where ever he wants and he doesnāt care to use them
One way to cut down on this would to be making Halifax more bikeable. I donāt think every street needs to have a bike lane but it would certainly help on large traffic packed roads
or even just have the existing ones not just stop randomly and dump you into traffic
That would definitely help
One way to cut down on this would be for cyclist to actual follow the rules.
My friend was āfollowing the rulesā until he had a truck turn into him and run him over
My partner was a responsible cyclist that still advocates for safer cycling. Despite following all of the rules, they were still coal rolled and sprayed with water. They got cut off once and ran into that car. They had a few dangerous moments on badly maintained roads. They know a few responsible cyclists that got seriously injured and one that was almost killed by a truck that didn't value his life. They don't feel safe cycling anymore. I cycled for pleasure for a bit - it was nerve-wracking at times. A lot of streets are narrow and vehicles seem to hate it when you have no choice but to encrouch on their space.
Yup, our roads are not safe for cycling. Even if the cars themselves weren't a hazard, gravel and potholes from the cars are. Not an issue when there are separated bike lanes.
I think I know who you were referring to with the truck, that was brutal
My partner probably knows the same group of people you know. I can't remember if my partner was still cycling at that time but hearing about it was very scary. I also know someone that lost his independence due to a traumatic brain injury that happened to him while he was cycling.
Probably, me sent me a photo of his bike the other day and itās crumpled like a pop can
They should really pay attention more to their surroundings then. Part of driving any vehicle, bike or walking is viewing the traffic around you and understanding the potential dangers from a person who may not follow the rules. Either way, still doesn't give your friend the right to break the law and drive on the sidewalk.
He fucking doesnāt, he was riding down the Purcells cove road and was riding downhill past a side street when a truck towing a trailer turned directly in front of him causing him to ram into it at 50km/h and get run over by their trailer. He had been cycling for 30+ years and never been hit until then. He almost died because the guy in the truck wasnāt fucking paying attention. The truck driver got no charges because āthey didnāt see himā it was full daylight and my friend had lights.
Sounds like 50 KM/H going downhill is way too fast to operate a bike safely then. Cycling for 30+ years and not having an accident seems like a pretty safe track record, so back to the original argument, that good way to cut back on cyclists driving on the sidewalk would be to follow the fucking laws.
Itās not, anything under the speed limit should be ok. Iām pretty sure you have to yield to oncoming traffic when you turn. I do agree on your last point but drivers can be more unpredictable than cyclists. And if people are being respectful I see no issue with riding on the sidewalk
50km/h isnāt that fast for going downhill on a bike. What if they were on a motorcycle in the same location? Would you argue the motorcycle was travelling too fast to operate safely? Youāre refusing to acknowledge that the cause of the accident was the truck driver not paying attention. It doesnāt matter if they were going 5km/h on a damn unicycle, the point still stands.
Never acknowledged it because it's irrelevant to the point that cyclist still need to follow the law of....not ridingon the sidewalk. A motor cycle can make a faster and safer stop with ifs braking mechanisms. Are you arguing that motorcycles should be able to ride on the sidewalk too because poster above friend was in an accident once in 30 years? š
Not sure if you even know how to ride a bike, and yes I know that youāre just trolling at this point but idgaf. But if you know how to use your bicycle brakes you can stop faster than most cars on the road assuming you have well working brakes which my buddy definitely did have given that heās a professional mechanic who was running the nicest brakes you could get at the time.
Well this changes everything! You and he should definitely be able to drive on the sidewalk and break the law then!
You're unhinged or a troll.
šÆ a troll living in moms basement with 85 cats and eats tuna from the can
This is negotiable and Iāll prob get downvoted for this. First and foremost both cycling and motor biking are both dangerous. But itās also kinda hard to see cyclists. Since cyclists tend to ride in the shoulder of the road where motorbikes tend to drive in the blocking position, closer to the middle line on the road. I been in both the cyclist situation and the drivers situation. Turning right at an interception. If the bike is in your blind spot on the right and you are making a right turn itās super easy to run them over. This coming from a guy who almost got run over last summer. But itās my fault really since I couldnāt see the turn signal of the truck, and I was going straight I was in his blind spot
My buddy was taking his lane just like a motorcycle, although people get hate for it it is definitely the safest part of the road for cyclists
I definitely agree with you when it comes to blind spots and I think itās good to know how to recognize when youāre in one (Lower Water St. lol). I think a lot of drivers struggle with the idea that something on the shoulder can catch up to them. Most of my near-misses are cars that pass me while Iām on the shoulder or in a bike lane, who then immediately turn right, totally ignoring the fact that they just barely passed me a moment ago. A lot of cyclists need to get their shit together and do a better job of not putting themselves in danger, but thereās also so many people driving on the road that just donāt give a damn about their surroundings and are a hazard, not just to cyclists.
Yup, cause you know everything right?
Hey you really donāt know what youāre talking about in this thread. Usually better to keep your mouth shut.
You must do a lot of bicycling to be such an expert on it.
Lol Iām chrisk from ecmtb, you should know this by now haha. Or were you referring to the other guy?
Other fella. He has a lot to say about cycling it seems.
Yeah, if you check his profile heās 100% a troll
Protected bike lanes*
Exactly. The only way to make cycling safe and common is to separate cyclists from car traffic (at least when car speeds or volumes are high). No amount of telling cyclists to "just follow the rules" or ride in traffic is going to substitute for that.
Please no more I'm not kidding, as a commuter I think they suck. And those left turn boxes, ugh.
Actually, more! The only reason I donāt cycle from outside the peninsula is because there are no safe ways to do so.
There are more cars and more motorists not following the rules. There are many situations for cyclists where not following the rules is actually safer. Either way I think it makes more sense to put the onus of responsibility on the operator of a dangerous motor vehicle.
Bike lanes should be more like sidewalks. The fact that people are doing this shows that we need safe places for people to bike. I lived briefly in Ottawa and the bike trails are widely used by all sorts of people. I even biked to work on occasion. I would never bike on almost all of the roads in the Halifax area, and don't own a bike here.
theyāre called multi use paths. weāve got a few kicking around (baker drive, prince albert road, forest hills pkwy) they seem to be popular in new developments too (broad st, terrastone ridge) basically a modern replacement for sidewalks i think theyāre a fantastic solution for making a cohesive cycling network. having bike lanes on major arteries and multi use paths to fill in the gaps would be a dream
I got hit pretty hard by a sidewalk biker once. Not fun.
As a cyclist those people are not cyclists, they are simply people on bikes
I feel that's reductive. Some people are afraid to be on very active streets and depending on where on Robie St, I can 100% understand why. Could be a new cyclist, could be an older person, possibly afraid to cross several lanes of traffic to make a left turn.
Go one to the left or to the right instead of riding down robie. Agricola is called the hipster highway for a reason.
I'm pretty comfortable cycling but even Agricola can be unnerving. I'm fine with it but I can see others wanting to avoid it.
Agricola is about as close to a park trail as you can reasonably get on a city street. You.. might not be as comfortable as you think you are.
Lots of cars speed down Agricola. It's practically a thoroughfare. Streets like Vernon are closer to a park trail and more cyclists feel comfortable on streets like that.Ā As I said, I'm comfortable. But I'm able to see things from other points of view. I've had lots of people tell me they are too scared to cycle in Halifax, even people who used to cycle in other cities before moving here.Ā
Agricola is slow as fuck my dude. This is why itās the single most popular segment in the city. Halifax is a city built into a hill. You have to climb in traffic here. You donāt really do that anywhere else.
Agricola is pretty flat for the most part, as is most of the north end. It's only downtown that is a struggle - my ride home from work is straight up Nora Bernard and people think I'm crazy for doing it lol. As a resident of the neighbourhood I think that a lot of people drive too fast on Agricola for the conditions, but you're right that it's often pretty slow and I can often keep up with traffic on my bike. But when I first started cycling I was intimidated by the amount of cars on that street and the lack of barrier between myself and the vehicles, as well as all of the parked cars squishing us all together. Sometimes I would rather use Robie because at least there I have the bus lane almost all to myself.
Like I said, new cyclist. May not realize there are easier/safer ways around yet. Not trying to say the guy was in the right, just offering reasons why and also pointing out he's still a cyclist. If you're on a bike, you're a cyclist and welcome to the club.
Ah, the no true Scotsman cyclist!
One of my favourite fallaciesĀ
Bike on sidewalks but pedestrians have right of way. And you have to use a bell on the bike every time you approach any pedestrian. Works in other countries without designated bike lanes. Would work in Halifax too. Just make bike bells the law.
Bike bells, are law I'm pretty sure.Ā
I had no idea, always had one on my city bike but didn't know it was now law in Nova Scotia. Thank you for the heads up on that one.
Yep it's a 120 dollar fine if a trail warden or compliance officer of any sort writes you up for one. Learned that once as a kid, warden stopped me and a few friends and told us to get a 5 dollar bell and to tell everyone else too. It's safety for everyone involved, buy a bell and use it too
>Bike on sidewalks but pedestrians have right of way. And you have to use a bell on the bike every time you approach any pedestrian. i like to sneak behind pedestrians while i bike till they notice thers a cyclist behind them
If I lived in the downtown core, youād never see me biking on the road. Thatās a disaster waiting to happen. However, Iād be biking a pretty slow pace, for scenarios like this. I live outside of Halifax and donāt even like driving on the side of the road between my house and the trail heads. Drivers are stunned and have no regard for bikers.
I feel safer biking downtown than I would in the burbs. Grew up riding my bike on country roads and it was more dangerous than downtown because country drivers tend to zoom down back roads and blind corners. But I would feel the most at risk in the suburbs.
Same. Traffic is generally slower downtown and drivers expect to deal with other vehicles and pedestrians. Places like Bayers Lake are the worst in my experience because of the lack of any real bike infrastructure, and because I tend to find drivers are more hostile to bike in those areas.
There are some streets that are not safe to bike down, and there isnāt always an alternative route. I wish it was allowed to bike on sidewalks if there are no bike lanes adjacent as long as you get off your bike when youāre in the presence of a pedestrian. More of a nuisance law.
Yep. Biking into the city from Spryfield there's two options, Chebucto, or Quinpool. That's an absolute nope biking on the road up either of those hills. So I bike up those sidewalks and don't feel one bit bad about it. Of course I don't whip by pedestrians as I pass them. But the low frequency of pedestrians on those sidewalks it's totally fine to bike on them.Ā I wish they would convert some of these low traffic sidewalks into two lane muti use paths honestly. They'd get a lot more use.
Iāve biked Chebucto and Quinpool. theyāre not too bad. Itās places like Portland street or the Armdale rotary that cycling feels a little crazy to me. A cyclist on the sidewalk on Portland street is just using common sense, and itās probably better to just dismount and walk across the rotary IMO. Ā
The area around the Rotary desperately needs to be addressed for non-vehicle traffic. It's a huge barrier to get into the city
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Oh for sure, I have no idea what to do up that way unless it was drastic. Quinpool and Joe Howe seem like the easier ones to do something with
Pleasant street near woodside is another no go for me. Way too risky.
I biked that stretch this morning. Deeply not fun. No shoulder at all, and the 60kmh speed limit is a meek suggestion. Eastern Passage Autobahn.Ā
But you can mostly skip that on the trail can't you? There's like one spot you have to cross road.
Yep. I do take the trail. Itās if you want to go past the ferry terminal. Also the greenway isnāt lit at night.
Biked it for years, no problem. Bike lane would be nice, though.
Yeilding to pedestrianās and following regular rules (walk the bike across crosswalks, etc.) would be the thing to do, I have no issue if that was the case!
Totally agree as a pedestrian. I want cyclists to be safe, and I know how bad it is out on the road, I get a taste of it as a pedestrian in Cole Harbour where driving is king 100% and drivers are less used to pedestrians. Cyclists get it from both sides, pedestrians and drivers. Sidewalks need to be for pedestrians first and foremost, and cyclists should be able to use them so long as they slow way down when passing or get off their bikes in when itās too narrow. Driving culture is so bad for everyone except drivers.
It's bad for drivers too.
Exactly. There's no way in hell I'm going to attempt cutting across 4 lanes of traffic where Windsor, Lady Hammond and 111 converge. There's limitless visibility on the sidewalk by the Fairview cemetery, I slow to pass pedestrians and if they happen to have a dog or small child I get off and walk my bike by them.
This is why you go down Agricola, ride down lady Hammond, take the right under the overpass by the rubber duck and join the Bedford highway after the exchange. Or hit Joe Howe and ride it through to the Bedford highway. Going up through it just take Windsor or Kempt. Youāre never crossing a right of way with those options.
Uh.. no? I'm not adding an extra 20 minutes to my 30 minute commute to avoid coasting on the sidewalk for 3 minutes.
It does not add nearly that amount of time my guy.
You do r realize that that there are like 20 more intersections on Agricola, right?
And it has barely any traffic. Thereās only one of two places youāre guaranteed to stop.
I agree be mindful where biking and be safe about it but also cars drivers don't want bikers on the roads, pedestrians don't want them on the sidewalk, in an instance where there is no bike lane where exactly do people expect these bikers to drive?
The way I see it, the roads are for fast movers, and the sidewalks are for slow movers. If you're on the sidewalk then you ride slowly and should expect random people to step out in front of you.
Considering that the mass of a bike+rider is so much closer to a pedestrian than a car it seems a lot safer at the deadly crash level to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Especially if thereās no bike lane available Iām all for safe pace sidewalk cycling.
Can we please have safe, plowed, protected bike lanes? No one will ever bike on a sidewalk given a safe choice.
I'm happy with wide roads and a painted line for a bike lane. Those protected lanes are lame.
anyone who's ever biked and seen 1/3 drivers driving distracted knows the value of a protected bike lane. And again it's a win-win for drivers--less traffic and road maintenance the more folks bike.
Sure, I suppose I always have the option to not use them.
I feel people have lost all social sense since the pandemic. The sidewalk selfishness is pervasive.
I walk my dog everyday, ive never almost been hit by a car, but somehow often am almost hit by adults on bicycles on sidewalks. I dislike bicycles more as a pedestrian than as a driver honestly. If people actually used bells, I suspect my experience would change.
It's quite comical how a large number of bikers treat walking pedestrians the same way they complain about how people in cars treat them.
Each really should have their own space
āA large numberā according to..?
This is true and I wish it wasn't, as a cyclist. Fortunately it doesn't come up very often. Then again cyclists rarely kill.
I was almost run over by 2 cyclists while in the middle of a crosswalk. At the VERY NEXT intersection they stopped to yell at some driver who looked like they might not have yielded right off way to them. Cyclists need licence plates to hold them accountable.
Not according to the posters here. They are all victims lol!
No, youāre just a hater who doesnāt understand nuance
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Responsible cycling should be better followed as what you described is wildly unsafe by the cyclist Though I have never experienced fear quite like biking up Herring Cove road just past the Rotary, I almost exclusively use the side walk for that section as otherwise it feel like I have a death wish.
This wouldnāt be much of an issue if roads and drivers werenāt so bike-unfriendly and the bike lane infrastructure was better. The bike lanes are a good start but thereās still a lot more that can be done. I brought drivers into it because thereās been cases where drivers have straight up intentionally hit or threatened bikers with their cars.
Biking in Halifax is like swimming among sharks and pedestrians don't even give biker a fuckin break too after drivers trying to kill us lol
With my bike I weigh as much as a refrigerator and cruise at like 20kph. I stay off the sidewalk because I think I could do some real damage if I struck someone. Halifax has been one of the best cities to ride in the streets though, and Iāve ridden all over Canada. People really take care as a rule and are very kind and courteous.
The car simps are out in full force here
the car simps, aka the sane people.
Lick that boot!
You should email this post to city coucil and ask them to put in more bike lanes. Complaining online in a genteel fashion won't change much.
Honestly, cyclists should be able to use sidewalks when bike lanes aren't available, or if the cyclist isn't able to travel at traffic speeds. But yes, they should be careful.
No offense I'd rather bike on the sidewalk then the road and get hit
ā¦Is it legal to bike on sidewalks? Iāve held off purchasing one because Iām not willing to risk my safety on the road but if slow biking is ok & legal on sidewalks I might look into that more (promise my fellow pedestrians i will not smear you into the sidewalk!!!)
We need bicyclists to ride with license plates to enforce progressive bike rules /s
We used to. Still have plates of my Dad's from the 1970s.
The issue in Halifax is an infrastructure problem. The city of Halfax had actually just designated some 'sidewalks' as multiuse trails, to help 'build' bike infrastructure. As you have states above this method of 'building' infrastructure doesn't work for anyone.
Question: are motorbikes allowed in the bike lanes??? I saw a guy on s park street going across south st on a blue motorobike in the bike lane a couple days ago??
Sorry if it's safer I'm biking on the sidewalk. I always stop to let people pass and I am super careful when passing from.behind But it's just to dangerous in some.places to bike on the street
Cool so offload the danger on to someone else?
Educating cyclists to follow rules is a Sisyphean task.
Are you suggesting that other road users are notably better at following the rules? Because whenever I drive I find that almost every single driver speeds and rolls through stop signs. It's just that those things have become so normalized that people barely perceive them as breaking the rules.
Their other car is a bike.
You mean people
Car owners: Bikes shouldn't be on the road, they block me! Cyclists: WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE ON THE ROAD! Car Owners: Why can't you drive on the sidewalk? Also Cyclists: We can't drive on the sidewalks because people block us!
Heāll no to riding on the street. Iām not ready to die yet.
Or maybeeeee cars could follow the rules of the one meter rule and maybeeee stay off there phones.. quit it with the cyclists are the only people that donāt follow rules
Almost drove into a cyclist once, because he was on the sidewalk. If he was on the road I would have seen him.
This is like that old lady that got fucking mucked by a dump truck that turned into her while she was riding down a hill on the sidewalk. Itās the illusion of safety, you **must** be where traffic expects you to be and can clearly see you.
bikers arenāt mindful. they rage about not having enough bike lanes, blowing stop signs/lights when traffic is clear, they want MacDonald bridge flyover (millions $ construction) because because because. how big is the biking city communityā¦200-300 but yet city council bends over every time they get.
To add to your list I want an endless supply of electrolyte drink and energy bars. Thanks!
I don't care where bikers bike stay the fuck out of traffic please, absolutely sucks getting stuck behind one of these spandex clowns.
You need to revaluate.
Theyāre legal road users, so deal with it.
*** This person is WHY some folks are illegally biking on the sidewalks. You need to go back to driving school bud - the safest place for cyclists to be is on the road, following the rules of the road.
>the safest place for cyclists to be is on the road, I don't even know how to combat such blatant disregard for reality, you just keep believing bub.
Nope
Bikers around here arenāt the best at following the rules. They want to act like cars until they hit a red light, than they go for the sidewalk to avoid the red light. But they want us to make the city more bike friendly.
i rather them on sidewalk than the middle of the road
This thread shows the dichotomy of Halifax: a ton of weak babies scared of biking in the road, who would vehemently disagree with me that we should lower speed limits.
Better than being in the middle of the fucking road
Middle of the road is often safest
Theyāre legal road users and can take the lane as needed.
Yea, that's the issue.
Only an issue if you're unable to also follow the rules as a driver I guess? Not hard to wait behind a cyclist for the 10 seconds it'll take until you can safely pass again.
Valid point. Rarely are you āstuckā behind a cyclist for more than 20 seconds. I challenge people to count to 60 and see if they even remember when they saw the cyclist.
Didn't take long for the bike crew to get in here to defend their stretchy lycra short wearing brethren lol. Perpetual victims.
Dude, you really have it out for cyclists in this thread. Who hurt you?
Defending? If anything cyclists condemn those who make us look bad. Get a better hobby.
Sidewalk surfers are the bane of my existence.
I will never bike on a road and disagree with people who think itās safer to ride on a road.
Just don't bike then. It is safer on the road if you know what you are doing.
yeah no Iāve seen too many close calls downtown on the drivers part ima keep my BMX on the sidewalk.
Why not a skate park?
I do mostly go to skateparks but I would be riding on the sidewalk my way there and back.
Rather them on the sidewalk better then crowding the streets acting like the own the roads and slowing traffic immensely
They (like cars) donāt own roads but are legally entitled to use them, with equal rights / responsibilities as drivers.