omg what's Next?
peeps riding horses
and pigs and buffalo
too and zooming in &
outta places of Businesses
stealing Whatever they can Carry
and the Man on the Street FORCED to
STAY on the Street for his* OWN Protection?

if Only we Hadn't
de-Funded
the Po-po.

*or Her?

"Seattle streets are crazy, and as soon as we get rid of the cars, there will be more overlap between pedestrians and cyclists and scooterers, and even now there are all kinds of folks infringing on the sidewalk or the right of way with e-scooters and bikes."

I've read this sentence several times now and still don't understand what the author is trying to say. Can anyone decipher this?

Old white guy here, guilty of almost all all the old white guy sins, except MAGAhood. I am a frequenter of the Trader Joe's on Fauntleroy (the checkout clerks there are the friendliest people on the planet). I have yet to see Harley riders on the sidewalks there or anywhere, but I do have a pet peeve regarding the fat tire E-bikes traveling 20 mph on the sidewalks. Human powered bikes fall in some hazy mid zone between pedestrian and vehicle, but the E-bikes are definitely motorized vehicles and should be operated as such. When I am out on my morning run on Alki (old fucker now, can't get below a 10 minute pace) and one of those silent fat tire E-bike cocksuckers flies by me on the pedestrian path without a warning I would have a heart attack if I had a heart. My personal decrepitude is eminent, and all too soon I will have to give up my fancy carbon fiber road bike and get an E-bike. But I pledge to not be an asshole while riding that 60 pound overpowered sucker.

I wouldn't worry about a trend, I don't think most motorcycle riders wouldn't be inclined to do so. They want the wide open road to go FAST!

@dirtbag
whoa. sounds like
we're gonna Need rear-
view Mirrors and walking sticks.

What does race have to do with this? I used to see middle aged black guys do this daily in California.

@11: Because bicycle use of the sidewalk is conditional, depending upon ambient sidewalk conditions, and always subordinate to pedestrian use of the sidewalk:

“Every person operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or public path shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian thereon, and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing any pedestrian.” (https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT11VETR_SUBTITLE_ITRCO_PT4PEHIBIEPMOFOSCRU_CH11.44BIRU_11.44.120RISIPUPA)

@5 I didn't know Trader Joe's used 4 door sedans and minivans to distribute their goods. Seems nearly as inefficient as moving individual people around a densely populated city that way.

@14: I didn’t quote the entire paragraph, as you would have learned had you actually gone to the url I provided, and read the law before whining about it. It starts with this:

“Every person operating a bicycle upon any sidewalk or public path shall operate the same in a careful and prudent manner and at a rate of speed no greater than is reasonable and proper under the conditions existing at the point of operation, taking into account the amount and character of pedestrian traffic, grade and width of sidewalk or public path, and condition of surface, and shall obey all traffic-control devices.”

Both paragraphs make operation of the bicycle on the sidewalk completely dependent upon the cyclist respecting pedestrian traffic. Any other operation could be called infringement.

(By your stupid logic, driving on the left-hand side of a two-way street couldn’t possibly be infringement, because cars can be on roads.)

@Kristofarian. All too soon, alas. Today "Leave the Light On" by Chris Smither came on my Spotify year in review. It is sort of the country / folk version of Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game". A downer at this time of year for we incipient gummers. But all bike law close reading interpretations aside, the sidewalk and ped paths are for slow traffic, wheeled or on foot. If you are on your e-bike at 20 MPH or in a peloton with your riding buddies, you should be on the street. Motorcycles? is there a question there? Try to not be a dick and all will be well.

@7 -- a
ferry boat'd
Crush a Unicorn
had it only Opportunity

but a Good Fairy'd
be a Welcome
Sight Right
here right
about
Now.

"Try to
not be a dick
and all will be well."

words to Live by
to be Sure
Dirt.

take Note
'by Your
stupid
logic.'

This doesn't smell right. #6 is right. IAnon is weasel talking, not actually saying these old white guys are riding Harley's on the sidewalk but implying it. We're talking scooters not Harleys. If IAnon had said old people with bad hips on ebikes or scooters who can only manage a meek "thank you," we might all fall back asleep but the very thought of an avuncular Caucasian rumbling down the promenade on a roaring Fat Boy with a snow white goatee and big purple gin nose shouting "OUTTA MY WAY, YOU GAY MILLENNIALS OF COLOR!!!" ... outrageous! But naw. That's not what's happening. What is happening, yeah, they shouldn't do that.

C'mon, Grampy, let's go home.