Cyclist in Crosswalks is getting hotly debated

Submitted by 303admin on

Last week a 7year old boy was seriously injured while riding his bike in a crosswalk 28th Street and Iris Avenue in Boulder. It is assumed that this happened at the new crosswalk in front of Safeway and not the intersection crosswalk. Luckily the boy was wearing his helmet. Ever since this tragic incident many residents have been writing into Daily Camera complaining about bikes in crosswalks and the blinking light crosswalks. Apparently it is legal for cyclist to ride through a crosswalk as long as they travel at pedestrian speeds. While I've never crossed this crosswalk I have very often used the "blinking lights" at the Walnut and Folsom and have always ridden across and mostly at pedrestrian speeds mostly because it took time until a car actually stopped for me while I was waiting.

Are they dangerous? IMO that is depandant on the care of the cyclist/pedestrian and the drivers combined, so it depends. What's your take?

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3 Comments

I believe that if you're

Submitted by josh (not verified) on

I believe that if you're going to be riding your bike in a pedestrian thoroughfare, be it a sidewalk or a crosswalk--then you should be going pedestrian speeds. The problem is that riding at pedestrian speed is very difficult to do while going in a straight line. To ride that slow makes one weave back and forth.
People underestimate how fast they really are going. If they're on the sidewalk, passing people who are walking, then they're moving too fast to be on the sidewalk, and should either dismount and walk or get in the road/bike path.

Its not really about speed

Submitted by BAC (not verified) on

its about being safe and smart. Just because you press the button doesnt mean its all of sudden safe to step into the crosswalk. Cyclists should make sure that each car in each lane has acknowledged you, and is either slowing down to a stop, or is already stopped.

There have been countless times when all of the lanes but one is stopped, and then some duffus just blazes through.