I was riding on the sidewalk of Sepulveda southbound at a slow pace (probably ~5-7mph or so. .. I always ride much slower when I’m on the sidewalk) on the “wrong” side of the street, similar to the pic in this post. I approached the intersection of Sepulveda and Oxnard, where my crosswalk ahead had the “walk” sign lit, and a pickup truck was stopped at the red light on Oxnard waiting to turn right onto Sepulveda to go north.

As I approached the street, I noticed that the pickup truck driver was looking to his left (away from me, as I was approaching from his right) in order to judge when there would be an opening in on-coming traffic so he could turn right onto Sepulveda. He seemed to be moving his head back and forth a bit, so I made the stupid and wrong assumption that he would see me coming during one of his head tilts to the right. I slowed a bit, but did not stop (as I really should have), and rang my bike bell continuously. Apparently, the driver could not hear my bell as he had his window up. As I rolled into the crosswalk, the driver started revving his engine and the truck lurched forward when I was directly in front of it. I swerved a bit, but more importantly the driver then saw me and halted the vehicle inches from my left side. I continued to roll through the crosswalk, past a pedestrian who was coming from the other direction, who had just shouted “God!” in reaction to the near miss he saw take place right in front of him. I then turned left onto Oxnard (eastbound), now riding in the street, and looked back at the driver of the truck. His face looked shaken (not angry). I rode home.

This incident left a pretty strong impression on me. On the one hand, I think that I wasn’t doing anything illegal by riding in the crosswalk “the wrong way”, because under those conditions I am comparable to a runner/jogger, and the walk light for that crosswalk was lit. On the other hand, I was not being careful enough, because once I saw how focussed the driver was on the cars, I should have just stopped on the sidewalk and waited until either he saw me or he had turned right already. As for the driver, he should have been looking for pedestrians/cyclists coming from the sidewalk on his right, but I don’t really blame him because I’ve made plenty of right-hand turns onto busy streets where I was pretty focussed on the cars coming from my left, so I can relate to his behavior, though I realize he should have been more careful as well. And, when he did see me, his quick reflexes probably saved my life.

The reason I was riding on the sidewalk on that side of the street in the first place was because I was coming from the Orange Line bike path (just a block north), and needed to get onto Oxnard eastbound. This meant crossing sepulveda from west to east (which I did at the bike path crosswalk) and riding south on the sidewalk until I got to Oxnard, then turn left onto Oxnard St. The other option would have been for me to not cross Sepulveda at the bike path crossing, but instead ride on Sepulveda st. southbound to Oxnard, then use the crosswalk at Oxnard to cross Sepulveda. If I had been in a car, I would have driven south on Sepulveda and turned left onto Oxnard, but traffic was too heavy for me to feel comfortable making my way into the lefthand lane on Sepulveda on a bike.

In the future, I think I will continue to ride in the sidewalk, but I will slow down to true walking speed when approaching intersections, and I will NOT enter an intersection unless I make eye contact first with the drivers waiting at the red light.

True enough, but if drivers can’t see cyclists on the sidewalk, how do they see runners and pedestrians? I’m not a fast runner, but I can usually maintain somewhere north of ten miles per hour for about twenty minutes (e.g., an eighteen minute 5K), or about the speed of a casual, sidewalk riding cyclist. Since I generally run on the sidewalk … well, maybe I should be running on the road! ;-)

i say “usually” only because i’ve been assaulted by resentful drivers on numerous occasions. when i try to report these incidents, i am told by the LAPD that i have a right to risk my life in the street, but that it’s safer on the sidewalk.

miseducation by the LAPD is one of the most critical barriers to safety. there has really been no improvement in education or awareness since mandeville. it seems to me that police feel that it’s easier to advise cyclists to stop riding bikes than “take up a cause” to stop drivers from being reckless.

i understand where they’re coming from, but i still think LA deserves better.

Maybe their officers need to take a urban riding course though the LA bike Coalition. It help me greatly.

Once again, as shown by this ladot officer, the LADOT has no clue what to do with bikes.

A 1999 Cornell study by Dr. William Mortiz found a 24.8 times greater risk factor for riding on the sidewalk, as opposed to rising on a street with no biking infrastructure: http://tiny.cc/moritzstudy

Even a slow cyclist is usually more visible, and therefore safer, on the street — though I’d certainly suggest staying on bike lanes or low-traffic side streets if you can’t ride any faster than 5 mph.