11-24-2020, 05:04 PM
(11-24-2020, 03:55 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:(11-24-2020, 03:15 PM)Coke6pk Wrote: Victoria St now has wide asphalt sidewalks north of the expressway out past Lackner. The other day I was travelling (in a car) s/b on Victoria St in very slow moving traffic [This is important]. The truck in front of me made a right turn into either Whale & Ale or Canadian Tire lot, and almost smacked a guy who came flying up on an ebike.
It gave me a couple questions:
1) Are ebikes allowed on the sidewalk?
2) If this is a MUT, and bikes/ebikes are allowed, who would be at fault? In crawling traffic the driver would see pedestrians walking alongside the vehicle, and would yield, but to have a fast moving vehicle pass "to the right" unexpectantly would be hard to catch. -- I know when I make a right turn, I look in my mirror (on the roadway) for cyclists, but I can't honestly say I am looking down the sidewalk for them.
1) No ebikes aren't allowed on the sidewalk, because ebikes are bicycles and no bicycles are allowed on sidewalks.
2) This *IS* a MUT and yes, you must yield to bicycles, pedestrians, and any other trail user.
In general, you need to check the MUT and sidewalks for fast moving objects like people on bicycles just like you need to check a sidewalk for fast moving objects like runners, and in general when turning right you need to check for fast moving things (in our city notably trains).
Highlighting that phrase from Coke's post ... one frustration I have on our trails/MUTs that many of the "e-bikes" that fly past are not actually e-bikes (which need to have functional pedals) but e-scooters. And that's completely apart from our local MUT design issues.