And obviously bikes can operate at a range of speeds, if I feel like I need to go on the sidewalk for safety reasons and there's any other people I stick to a pace comparable to someone jogging.

Yeah totally, that's how it works in Tokyo. Bikes are supposed to ride on the road, but if the road seems unsafe you can ride on the sidewalk. Even cops ride on the sidewalk here.

That being said, ebikes are partially banned here. Pedal assist is fine but full ebikes count as motor vehicles. I think it's a decent compromise.

If you want to take your bicycle on the sidewalk, you're welcome to walk your bike.

A mounted bicyclist at a walking pace has a lower cross section than a parent with a stroller or a person in a wheelchair. Sidewalks are multi-modal, until we can get rid of the scourge of cars, anybody opting not to use them should be encouraged as long they're being civil.

Try testing that theory. If you walk your bike in a crowd, the crowd will pack in the space around you very efficiently. If you ride your bike at walking speed, the crowd will give you quite a wide buffer zone. You are less predictable, and most bikes at that low of a speed are very wobbly. Thus you talk less space walking your bike despite the wider cross section.

This isn't true in my experience. I have ridden through areas like this often, because for some reason my city put one of the main bicycle routes through a busy pedestrian tourist area, full of families and inebriated diners.

If you dismount and push a bike, people get struck by pedals and handlebars. The rider has to allow much more space to prevent people walking right into them.

Riding at walking speed, some pedestrians may give a bit of space, but most of them don't alter their movement in any appreciable way. A capable rider has better control of a bicycle when they are actually riding it, and can keep pedals away from shins even in close proximity.

Nobody is riding their bike in a crowd mate

Then the objection I'm replying to is also irrelevant.

It's not, bikes fit in sidewalks just fine

> It's absolutely safe for bikes to ride on same place as pedestrians: collisions are rare, and when they do happen they're not deadly.

It's not deadly for the cyclist.

https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2022-07-14/cyclist-who-rode-o...

Hey, driving a car into cyclists isn't deadly for the driver, so, under your logic that's not "actually dangerous" either? Right?

It's so safe that when a death happens it makes the news. When hundreds of people get killed by cars every year it doesn't even get picked up unless it was a kid.

I'd even say it's probably more dangerous for the human on the bike if they get thrown off the bike in a weird way.

I'm not sure what your point was?

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/cyclist-riding-e...

To me it is quite obvious that pedestrian crashing with a bicycle is much less dangerous than pedestrian hit by a car.