Traffic Law question - Cyclists forced to use bike lane?

[Fancy]

And there's one on Abbott Street. Guess this topic is over.

[GordonH]

City sidewalks fall under that city bylaws, so if sidewalk does not say multi use & the bylaw state cycling is illegal on sidewalks.... guess what its illegal.

I could be wrong on this one, sidewalks along Harvey fall under Province (are maintained by the City). I don't believe Province has cycling laws on sidewalks riding, or does city bylaws override the Province.

Reason the sidewalk belongs to Province is X distance on either side roadway is part of that roadway.

Bottom line is it illegal to cycle on sidewalks along Harvey/97, no idea.... does anyone know.

[Fancy]

I'm still searching for municipal laws regarding cycles on sidewalks and the only places so far is Maple Ridge and New Westminster.
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=34843&p=2107226#p2107226
Page 13 on the Bike Sense manual

[GordonH]

City of Kelowna Cycling bylaw
http://apps.kelowna.ca/CityPage/Docs/PD ... ations.pdf

[Fancy]

Anyone riding in Kelowna should be aware of the cycle laws though I do understand why the original question.

[spooker]

City sidewalks fall under that city bylaws, so if sidewalk does not say multi use & the bylaw state cycling is illegal on sidewalks.... guess what its illegal.

I could be wrong on this one, sidewalks along Harvey fall under Province (are maintained by the City). I don't believe Province has cycling laws on sidewalks riding, or does city bylaws override the Province.

Bottom line is it illegal to cycle on sidewalks along Harvey/97, no idea.... does anyone know.

Both the City and the Province have very clear laws against riding on the sidewalk. Multi-use paths such as the section on the west side of Glenmore from Dallas to Scenic, Abbott from the hospital north, Cawston, from Gyro down Lakeshore are not considered sidewalks and as such will mix both pedestrians and cyclists. Gordon heading north from H2O is an interesting thing since they have put the bike lane on the sidewalk between the pedestrian area and the fence. Makes it sketchy for any cyclist using that and continuing north after Casorso ...

Harvey has "sidewalks" which under the MVA are illegal for people to ride on (sec 183(2)(a))... plus the HOV lane is plenty wide I never worry about sharing the lane with a car though I know most people will shy away from that ... the MVA does allow the City bylaw to take precedence

One thing that I try to explain to other cyclists who think it's safer to ride on the sidewalk is that whenever you are not visible to a person in a car you are at greater risk of being hit at intersections, driveways and the like ... ride like you mean it and keep yourself respectfully visible ...

[Fancy]

Since we're so off topic now, Maple Ridge has allowed bikes on sidewalks but the bylaws aren't that clear. Haven't heard of any major incidents but pedestrians are suppose to have priority and cyclists can be ticketed if found guilty of an offence.

[spooker]

Since we're so off topic now, Maple Ridge has allowed bikes on sidewalks but the bylaws aren't that clear. Haven't heard of any major incidents but pedestrians are suppose to have priority and cyclists can be ticketed if found guilty of an offence.

Education and fact-finding taking us off-topic is a lot more useful than the usual tangents :)

The way they word that bylaw in Maple Ridge really leaves it up the people involved. Sort of like smacking someone with a rolled-up newspaper and saying "use some commonsense" ... occasionally you might see me on the sidewalk riding from the corner to my gate ... but I'll be rolling at walking speed and if there are any pedestrians around I just get off ...

If cyclists act smart then people don't usually have an issue with them ... the OP had questioned riding in the lane since at first glance it probably seems pretty risky ... this is the natural progression of a good debate :)

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Spooker, re your 2nd last post, last paragraph..
If you were riding on a sidewalk assume you are invisible...of course you cannot expect people to see/know you are there.
Now if you assumed you were invisible you would have to treat every driveway, hidden entrance, street crossing as if no one could see you coming... Eye contact is a good thing...no matter where you ride it should be done respectfully..

[spooker]

Spooker, re your 2nd last post, last paragraph..
If you were riding on a sidewalk assume you are invisible...of course you cannot expect people to see/know you are there.
Now if you assumed you were invisible you would have to treat every driveway, hidden entrance, street crossing as if no one could see you coming... Eye contact is a good thing...no matter where you ride it should be done respectfully..

Exactly, the cyclists you see on the sidewalks who then proceed across the crosswalks don't understand that no one expects them to be there and are surprised when they get hit. If you treat yourself as if you're invisible then you have to force people to see you. Mokes visibility your first job.