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Driving
Get on the sidewalk
If you are going to ride a bike (which I think is awesome and very eco-friendly of you) please ride on the sidewalk. I know that bikers have the same rights as drivers but I also know that when I bike I always use the sidewalk when possible and it's really no worse than road and you have a less likely chance of being killed by a car. I think biking/walking/skipping around athens are all really wonderful but I also nearly have a panic attack every time some biker decides to ride on the street and I have to nervously pass them while trying to avoid on coming traffic. And don't get all "share the road" on me; you know it annoys you too.
09/04/2008 - It is illegal to ride on the sidewalk dumbs***!!! thats why people bike on the raod!!!09/04/2008 - wow that last commenter is angry. i love when people get so angry at online strangers; its really mature.09/04/2008 - Unless I was told wrong, you only have to ride your bike on the road downtown. Plus, the odds of a cop doing anything if they see you riding on the sidewalk are kind of low. I ride to school and ride on the sidewalks all the time if I'm not downtown (and there's a sidewalk there). No one has ever bothered me. I do it because I don't want to die, and because yes, as a driver, it annoys the crap out of me when bikers going 6 mph take up a lane, especially on Prince, Broad, etc. I know you run the risk of running into people or cars pulling out of narrow streets/driveways on the sidewalk, but you also run that risk with parked cars pulling out in front of you on the road but with cars going 50 right next to you.09/04/2008 - ya the law about riding your bike on sidewalks only applies in "downtown proper". The poster wasn't saying riding bikes is bad or annoying just that its impractical for cars and bikes to share a road and clearly if there is a collision its not going to be the car that is hurt.09/04/2008 - ya the law about riding your bike on sidewalks only applies in "downtown proper". The poster wasn't saying riding bikes is bad or annoying just that its impractical for cars and bikes to share a road and clearly if there is a collision its not going to be the car that is hurt.09/04/2008 - ya the law about riding your bike on sidewalks only applies in "downtown proper". The poster wasn't saying riding bikes is bad or annoying just that its impractical for cars and bikes to share a road and clearly if there is a collision its not going to be the car that is hurt.09/05/2008 - use the bike lane- that's what its for. Otherwise, use your judgment, but personally I prefer the road, as riding on the sidewalk can prove dangerous to pedestrians and to you (the biker) if a car decides to suddenly turn right and doesn't see you (he is much more likely to see you if you are on the road).09/15/2008 - bikes on the road are fine as long as you obey the same laws. INCLUDING stopping at stop signs and red lights. If they don't, they should get a ticket just like other riders on the road in cars. Period.09/15/2008 - I have never understood why drivers hate cyclists so much? is it some sort of 'macho' thing? Or is it just a redneck thing? As a driver and a bicycle rider, the only time cyclists annoy me is when they ride abreast, thus taking up a larger, if not all of the lane. As for myself, when I ride, I always defer to cars. I let them have the right of way/ go through stopsigns first. And yes I run stopsigns, but I do that in a car too.09/25/2008 - As a bicyclist, I refuse to ride on the sidewalk. The ups and downs as it enters/exits the road are painful, annoying, and unsafe at speed. I commute on my bike, and speed is of the essence.
Oh, and if you are nervous passing a bicyclist, it is because you are uncomfortable driving your car. Buy a smaller car, or get off the road. EVERY road in Athens has lanes large enough to pass a cyclist without coming to a crawl. If the thirty+ people that passed prior had no problem at all, I don't understand how you could.
10/02/2008 - I drive a small compact car and I'm a good driver. Perhaps my nerves about passing come from not wanting to kill someone or get killed myself because I had to swing out into the other lane. What I don't understand is this, there are not only speed limits on roads but also speed minimums right? If bicycles are supposed to obey all traffic rules does this one not count? Look I understand people are going to bike around Athens and as a general rule I think that is great but that doesn't negate the fact that it makes me super nervous when I am driving down Springdale (which by the way is NOT wide enough to pass safely without entering oncoming traffic) and a biker refuses to move over tighter to the curb.10/02/2008 - Speed minimums, I believe, only exist on the interstate.
Too bad it still seems like people don't follow them, especially in the fast lanes! hah
10/14/2008 - As a runner and a biker, I really dislike having to move off the sidewalk to let a biker pass. That is ridiculous! Why should I have to move off the sidewalks for someone who should be on the road with the rest of the bikers? Athens is made to be a bike friendly town. I feel really safe on the roads for the most part. Roads are for wheels and sidewalks are for feet. Thats an easy rule of thumb!
