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# Pedestrians caught up in a bad cycle
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/pedestrians-caught-up-in-a-bad-cycle-editor/
- Published: 2006-07-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T19:03:22.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Main St, #archive-import

*By M. L. Duncan Santa Monica*

With your front page article entitled “City a dead-end for riders” (SMDP, July 18) you have undone two years of work that I’ve devoted to getting bicycles off the sidewalk. You mention Boulder, Colo., where I’ve corresponded with a couple who have also worked very hard to get bicycles off the sidewalk. The SMPD have focused on this issue, the Transportation Department have had meetings where over 60 persons have said they want bicycles off the sidewalk. You have devoted one short sentence to “fleeing to the pedestrian pavement “ in a manner that comes through as “but go ahead and be safe.” You are a bleeding heart for bicyclists in your article. Nothing is said about the rude manner of bicyclists, the arrogance, the threat to pedestrians, handicapped person, mothers pushing baby carriages, those persons who have no place else to walk but sidewalks and are forced to either step aside or be injured by the bullying tactics of the many bicycle riders who insist upon riding on the sidewalks. Many bicyclists have never taken the time to learn the laws surrounding riding bicycles. They bully their way on sidewalks, cut across four-plus lanes of traffic in the middle of an intersection to get where they want to go and are a wild bullet, a renegade. They are heartily disliked by both vehicles and pedestrians.

Yes, there are some professional bicyclists who follow the laws, show courtesy and respect, but over 90 percent of bicyclists appear to feel they are “entitled”because they are not using gas and are self-powered. Sidewalks are for pedestrians, persons who need to get around on foot and want to walk. It is great danger to pedestrians to have Segways, skateboards, motor scooters who are already using sidewalks and for which no regulations have been put into place. Ordinances are in place for bicycles — as you state in your article, it is illegal for them to be on the sidewalks, but nevertheless, they are on the sidewalks. At times when SMPD has been successful in getting a few bicycles off the sidewalk, the pedestrian traffic has greatly increased. Pedestrians are threatened when a minimum of 150 pounds, going at a speed of 15-25 mph is coming toward one on the sidewalk. And there are still many people who enjoy walking. Accidents between pedestrians and bicycles are not kept separate from other injuries for pedestrians so there is no way of knowing how often a collision happens. I personally have been knocked into the bushes on Ocean Avenue by a bicyclist. I’ve talked with numerous persons who have been injured from hits from bicyclists. I know of one instance in Manhattan Beach where a woman, 60 years of age was knocked to the sidewalk, serious head injury and died. A fall to a senior citizen caused by a bicyclist can well mean the end. There is not room on the sidewalk for a bicycle and pedestrians. It appears there is a feeling of territorialism, bicyclists feel they have a right to ride on the sidewalk. Bicycles are vehicles. Bicyclists are not required to be licensed, they many times have no lights, if one is hit by a bicyclist, the bicyclist will not always stop. There are sites on the Internet written by police personnel specifying the importance of enforcement of bicycle laws. Special training is offered to police personnel. Because of the extreme Please clean up your great defense of bicyclists by using your paper to defend pedestrians’ rights. Please give more than one short sentence to the great danger posed by bicyclists riding on the sidewalk. Please do a bit more research before publishing such a one-sided view of bicyclists.

Traffic is way too heavy in Southern California to have the disregard for laws that many bicyclists display. Attack the system for lack of bicycle paths (paths which many times are not used by bicyclists, i.e., Venice Blvd., Ocean Park Blvd., Main Street) and do not justify the rudeness of the large number of bicyclists.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 24, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072406.pdf?ref=smdp.com)