"Women who ride"... on the sidewalk...

[PscyclePath]

The biggest hazard to a cyclist riding on a sidewalk is the cars.

Pedestrians and cyclists don't pose much threat to each other. The problem is when the sidewalk crosses an intersection, the traffic moving through the intersection isn't expecting something moving so fast. At a walk you can easily change direction or stop, anything faster, not so easy.

I have a friend who was jogging on a sidewalk with her dog when she was hit by a car. SHE looked--the driver didn't. Her dog was fine.

Absolutely. People ride the sidewalks because they mistakenly believe that "cars don't go there." The reality is that cars go there all the time -- at every single driveway. And in Arkansas, as well as other states, there's no specific law about sidewalks, so unless there's a city ordinance prohibiting it, you can drive your car on the sidewalk too! Fortunately not too many folks have figured the out yet ;-)

The Bike Path Folks and the Vehicular Cyclists often remain at open war with each other... the VCs claiming that the BP folks are sissy-babies for not taking to the streets, and the BP folks claiming that the VC folks don't want any more dedicated bike lanes established. The VCs tend to be a little more testosterone-laden and outpoken. In fact, at BikeForum.net, the VCs got banished to their own subforum when the arguments got too hot.

Me, I ride VC-style, but like having the opportunity to take advantage of the "best of both worlds" provisions.