Yep I agree, they all ride bikes on the sidewalks in China. ( They drive their cars on the sidewalks too) and it doesn't seem to bother anyone. You see, people are considerate enough to go slowly and pedestrians are smart enough to get out of the way

A bike is a vehicle, be it self propelled or not. Cyclists need to follow the rules of road as much as any car or truck. Obeying signs, using hand signals, not riding on sidewalks, wearing a helmet (a bike's equivalent to a seatbelt), not expecting cars to wait for you when you cross a crosswalk still riding your bike- all part of being a responsible cyclist.

... the Motor Vehicle Act was meant for infernal combustion engine powered vehicles. Language pertaining to bicycles was just inserted in a random fashion. Following the letter of the law isn't always the safest option for cyclists.

so much figured out...are your last words in amongst all that wisdom...'seemed to be safe'...something like that?

Pariah cyclist.

I don't give a shit how dangerous the streets are for you, the solution is not to make the sidewalk less safe for me.

Give me a break. You're so holier than thou! Obviously you're also not a cyclist. The Op wasn't suggesting that totally disregarding the rules is acceptable, but was just saying what the reality is for cyclists. Do you know how much more effort and energy is expended for that cyclist who has to come to a complete stop and then start again? It's not like being in a car when you apply minimum pressure to a pedal and the car goes. If you're heading up a hill, it's a major deal for a cyclist to stop and start. I never come to a complete stop at any stop sign unless there is a car coming or I don't have the right of way. Similarly, if it's dangerous for me to be on the road due to no room or extremely busy traffic, I will go onto the sidewalk if it's mostly empty. If I do encounter a pedestrian, I'll either get back on the road or I'll go so slowly that there is no concern that I could cause harm to them unless they decide to jump right into me. I always stop at traffic lights however, and don't ride through red ones even if there's no car coming. People (pedestrians) need to lighten the hell up on cyclists and get off of your high horses and find something else to bitch about!!!

Totally agree.

I must agree with the previous comment. When you commute on a bicycle it can be hard workout, especially after working all day! Fully stopping and losing momentum when completely unnecessary makes no sense. Full time drivers act like they never California roll through a stop sign when no one is around? Come on. I also drive from time to time and obey the rules of the road, it's completely different than riding a bike. We're on a bicycle not a motorcycle, it is like getting mad at someone for skateboarding on the sidewalk. If I see an elderly person, group of people, parent with a child etcetera, I respectfully dismount and walk my bike past. Some people need to stop assuming that all cyclists are assholes. Active, healthy people who exercise daily shouldn't be shit on this much! We're not idiots with zero regard for fellow humans safety. Most of us are very nice! :)

If I hear one more argument from a cyclist that uses physics as an excuse for lack of respect for public safety..

Police need to start seizing bikes on the streets for unsafe behavior - like ignoring stop signs or pedelling on the side walk. Cyclist also need to get into the habit of staying at the scene when they hit people.

I live in Chinatown and walk to work downtown. I've been hit twice on the sidewalk by cyclists this summer. Neither stopped. Had I been seriously injured, what's my recourse?

A bike is a vehicle? Note how one has to strain to emphasize that bikes are included in that definition, because mostly people think of cars when they hear “vehicle”. Cyclists clearly *do not* need to follow the rules of the road as much as any car or truck, since injury or death resulting from a cyclist not obeying the rules is so much less serious. CBC reported that there was an average of 875 car crashes a day in 2016 in BC, by the way. A strict definition of “responsible cyclist” (from someone who doesn’t bike, I’ll wager) as necessarily including all of the following defies common sense: obeying signs (if it’s “dismount” I am personally not convinced dismounting is always required, as I’ve said); hand signals at every change in speed or direction (that would mean losing a significant portion of your control at the most dangerous moment—an intersection with traffic); wearing a helmet (while an important protection and better than nothing, it is far better to focus on prevention of accidents rather than assuming they will and so one must armor up); and I’m sorry—not expecting cars to wait at a cross walk? Shouldn’t cars stop at a crosswalk? Cyclists (or pedestrians) do not assume cars would always stop at a crosswalk—that would be dangerous. “Pariah cyclist” says one person: “one that is despised or rejected.” Are you trying to cast me out, stranger? So the assumption is, despite my assurances that I cycle at walking speed and yield to pedestrians on the rare occurrences that I ride on the sidewalk, I am somehow making it less safe, equivalent to how I might feel on a busy street. This sounds more fearful than realistic, unnecessarily castigating, and without perspective. And if the thumbs were actually representative of Vancouver’s population, naysayers here are denigrating more than 40% of their fellow citizens—that is, people who are probably already in their lives. They should talk to their cycling friends.