Bikes Off Sidewalk

Several years ago in Manhattan there was a tragic accident - a restaurant delivery person riding their bicycle on the sidewalk, hit an old man. The man hit his head on the concrete and later died.

There was an outcry against bicycles on the sidewalk, and a ban was put into effect and strictly enforced by the police.

Shortly after the ban, I was walking along East 79th Street towards Central Park with my 7 year-old son pedaling slowly beside me on his bicycle. Several people yelled at him to get his bicycle off the sidewalk and ride on the street.

We ignored them.

About a year later there was a revealing article in the New York Times. Apparently, police and city officials were baffled by the sharp rise in the number of injuries and deaths of New York City cyclists during the previous 12 months.