Mythical Retort #2: Isn't it safer to ride on the sidewalk?
Definitely not. The overwhelming majority of bicycle crashes happen at intersections, where driveways count as intersections as well as streets. Sidewalks are generally pushed back a few feet from the road and motorists typically do not look for fast-moving vehicles on the sidewalks; typically, a motorist only expects pedestrians on the sidewalk. Furthermore, motorists tend to roll past sidewalks before coming to a complete stop. This is not so much of a problem if you're walking, but if you're going 10-15 mph on a sidewalk and a car appears in an intersection ten or twenty feet in front of you, it is likely that you will collide with the car.
The least safe place to ride is on the sidewalk opposing traffic. This is the case because motorists tend to look in the direction that traffic is coming. For example, if I intend to make a right turn out of my street, I will look left as I approach the intersection as that is where the traffic is coming from. A wrong-way cyclist on the sidewalk truly flirts with disaster in this scenario, as it is incredibly likely that I will overshoot the sidewalk in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the oncoming traffic. As an experiment, sit for a minute and watch how drivers behave at a residential intersection: you'll be amazed at how far past a stop sign most will actually stop.
A bicycle is a vehicle.
In the eyes of the law (in most states), the bicycle is subject to the same rules of the road as motor vehicle traffic. The bicycle is treated as a slow moving vehicle. This means that you can receive a DUI on a bicycle, a speeding ticket, failure to yield or stop, and so on.
Given that your bicycle is a vehicle, and is traveling in the same space as automobiles, the best and safest way to ride is predictably, and with the flow of traffic. Riding predictably means that you should ride in a straight line at a reasonable distance from the curb or shoulder (or in a bike lane if there's a well-maintained lane striped on the road). Motorists are prepared for the things that cars do, like slowing down, signaling, turning and the like. If you do the same things, you are far safer because you're not metaphorically asking motorists to do anything extraordinary by giving you space; they give you space like any other slower-moving vehicle on the road.
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