Sue told me that she's been out with her guide dog Wonder when bicyclists come up behind her on the sidewalk - or around her -and she doesn't hear them. A few have been rude to her . "I can't hear them coming up behind me, " she told me. "They just keep telling me to get out of their way." She's been bumped into, jostled and disoriented by their behavior - and then they ride off.
It's not illegal where I live for people to ride their bikes on the sidewalk (except in certain towns where it's posted.) But still - sidewalks are for pedestrians. When people choose to use a bicycle on the sidewalks, they have to take into account that they're sharing it with pedestrians on foot, in wheelchairs, using guide dogs and slow walkers. Slowing down for other pedestrians is a reality of sharing the sidewalk safely.
On my way home yesterday (right before I spoke to Sue to hear her story) I was behind a woman with arthritis who was walking slowly along. I saw an adult bicyclist careen around her at a high speed. She reached out and clung to a fence near her and as I approached said to me "My balance isn't good and I just had this guy on a bike scare me so badly." I stayed with her for a while until she was more sure of her bearings, but incidents like this can result in serious injuries.
