Pedestrians in San Francisco are sick of bicycles and scooters on sidewalks
It's illegal, yet not enforced
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's reputation lies in its "anything goes" attitude.
But even the most tolerant people are tired of having to look behind and in front for movable objects on the sidewalk.
"A couple of times from behind me. Oh, where did that come from?" explained Lloyd Sparks, a pedestrian who says he is constantly startled by these coming up behind him.
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We've heard that if you spend some time on Market Street, you'll catch a few people on their scooters, bicycles, etc., riding illegally on the sidewalk - so we decided to hang out for awhile. We set up a chair to just observe.
How does that phrase go? It was like shooting fish in a barrel?
As they went by, riding illegally on the sidewalk, we gently reminded them that the sidewalk is reserved for pedestrians.
Accidents do happen like when a woman was hit by a man on a scooter. He fled the scene.
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The San Francisco Transportation code specifically states that bicycle riding on sidewalks is prohibited except for children under the age of 13.
There is no enforcement, at least not while we were there.
Ironically, the nonprofit "Walk San Francisco" which advocates for safe streets, did not want to address this ongoing problem with us.
Trish and Laurence Wiener live nearby in the SoMa neighborhood. They can't understand why the sidewalk is being used when San Francisco spent millions in putting 2.2 miles of bicycle lanes on Market Street, and limited vehicle traffic as part of the Better Market Street Project.
"It's dangerous because you've not really tuned in to that while you're walking and they go fast," said Trish Wiener.
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"Well now with the scooters and everything, it's not like a regular bicycle, a pedal bicycle, They go these e-bikes and they have these scooters and a lot of time they wiz by you and they just miss you," added Laurence Wiener.
Some cyclists say the proximity to buses on Market Street can be somewhat unnerving and find that the sidewalk is, at times, safer.
"When the bus is coming from this way you have to be careful about that and the bus is coming next to you, you have to be careful about that," explained Abdo Dalali, a bicyclist.
We found that the worst offenders are the delivery people on e-bikes or motorized scooters.
Ridesharing bicycle and scooter companies have it printed right there: "no sidewalk riding."
We contacted three delivery companies, DoorDash, Uber Eats and GrubHub. They each insisted that delivery people are given guidelines as part of their signing agreement and told that all local regulations must be followed. DoorDash said they even send reminders.
