"Bicyclists must follow the same rules of the road as other vehicles”. You’d would think they were entitled to ride on the sidewalks by the way the expect people to move out of their way and get pissed when you don’t move out of the way. A majority of bicyclists also think they don’t have to stop at stop signs or lights at intersections and end up getting hit because of it.

There is an exception for "residence districts." I believe that much of Sacramento falls into this exception. Of course that depends on the definition of "residence district."

Of course, I find it funny that in business districts like downtown you are not allowed to ride on the sidewalk yet those are the streets that are the least safe for bicyclists on the road. Residential areas of Midtown have bike lanes and traffic is slower, but there bicyclists are allowed to ride on the sidewalk.

It's simple. Provide a bike lane & I will ride in it. When the bike lane goes away, I take each scenario as it comes. If I feel safer on the sidewalk then that is where I'm riding. I assume most anyone would do the same in a similar situation. Cyclists have just as much right to feel safe as everyone else.

There are sings on N street saying you can ride on the sidewalk, so that is usually the best way to head out of Downtown. I usually use the sidewalks on L on the Parkside because you'd have to be suicidal to ride your bike down L street with the way people drive.

When I see police officers riding bicycles in the downtown area, they are always riding on the sidewalk. Is this the policy of the city's police department? Are they riding on the sidewalk because it is safer??

The "okay to ride on the sidewalk in residential district/not okay in commercial district" rule breaks down in mixed-use neighborhoods. How do you judge whether or not you can ride on the sidewalk along, say, L Street or J Street, where many blocks feature a mixture of businesses and residences? I have been told that if there are more residences than businesses it is treated as a residence--or vice versa for businesses. But is a bicyclist expected to stop and count buildings at every block before proceeding? How about, say, 18th-19th on L Street--the street is almost totally commercial on the ground floor, but there are 200 or so residential units on upper floors. Is that commercial or residential?

And considering that many business streets have busy auto traffic but relatively little foot traffic, does that rule even make sense?

And what happens when there is a bike lane on a residential street? Is a bicyclist expected to use the bike lane rather than the sidewalk, or not? To me, if there is a bike lane, that is where bikes should go, whether or not the street is residential--the sidewalk is obviously for pedestrians, and bicycles have their own designated lane, so get off the sidewalk! That's what I do when I ride, anyhow.

In some ways this was less of an issue before so many of Sacramento's sidewalks were made ADA-compliant by adding ramps at corners. Before their additions, bikes had to stop and hop onto the sidewalk at curbs, now they can just roll onto the sidewalks. Making sidewalks usable by the disabled also facilitates their use by bikes--but having both wheelchairs and fast-moving bikes on a narrow sidewalk seems like it is asking for trouble.

Michelle, what constitutes "acting within the scope of their duties", does merely being "on the clock" allow officers to ride their bicycles on the sidewalk? I often see bicycle officers riding on the sidewalk when there doesn't seem to be any call they are responding to, I've even seen them ride on the sidewalk from the corner down to whatever cafe/restaurant they're going to.

One more hazard for bikes-garbage containers/leaf piles in the bike lane. Where would you have me ride in this case? Out in the street in front of cars or the sidewalk? When the bike lanes can't be kept clear of leaf piles and garbage cans (not to mention people's car doors) then it makes the situation a bit more complicated and I sure as hell do not like riding in the street