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Watch where you ride

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I want to know more!

I also want to see these signs handing from every lamp post in the city, but that's just me being optimistic.

Anyone know where this was, and who it was arranged / sanctioned by?

3 ( +9 / -6 )

Security guards walk with public notice signs saying in Japanese, "No bicycles allowed on the sidewalk," in Tokyo on Monday.

The Japanese solution to social problems and commuter flows:Pay people to stand around holding signs.

Enforce laws making it illegal to ride bicycles on crowded urban sidewalks.

13 ( +17 / -4 )

Cops ride their bicycles on the road all the time, so...

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

It really depends on each street, during what time since it can be really crowded like shotengai for example.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Cops ride their bicycles on the sidewalks all the time, so...

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Security guards walk with public notice signs saying in Japanese, "No bicycles allowed on the sidewalk,"

No it doesn't. It says to walk your bicycle. There is a distinction.

There are places where you can't even WALK your bicycle. Having parked my bike and gone into places to get some lunch and then eaten next to my bicycle only to be told my bicycle can't even be IN the spacious plaza. Then being stopped on my way out and told by a different security guard that I can't WALK my bicycle in that area. Madness. I don't argue, just roll my eyes and proceed to exit.

BTW, I understand completely the rules about not riding on busy sidewalks. I don't do it.

Moderator: The caption has been corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Considering that cycling tracks are non-existent in Japan....................................!

4 ( +9 / -5 )

@1738Kwaaa!!

What are you talking about? Cycle tracks are VERY present in Japan. I regularly have to WALK on them to avoid the speeding cycles on the sidewalk!

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Not only are cyclists zipping along recklessly on the pavement dangerous, but they invade the space of pedestrians as they pass inches away from them. Very rude. "Baka" cyclists are one reason why I believe Japanese are NOT really a polite people.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

My wife comes from Nagasaki, which probably because of its hills is relatively bicycle-free. When we go down there and walk around, it's such a pleasure not having to worry about a dimwit coming up soundlessly from behind and running us over. Especially dimwit mothers with their offspring in that infamous vehicle named a "mama-char."

Actually, I think the lack of bicycles is more a sign of the greater consideration of people in Nagasaki than the topography. There are so many rude, inconsiderate cyclists in Kansai!

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Just ask are you police ... No then get out of my way or I will call them and tell them you hit me.

-10 ( +0 / -10 )

Bicycles are a nuisance, IMO.

"Motor vehicles" on the other hand, make daily life convenient for all of us.

So, if you're going to ride a bicycle, please mind your manners.

My 2 cents.

-12 ( +3 / -15 )

@Mat

I would love to give you a free tour of Tokyo to prove it :)!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

If the police, instead of walking around with signs which will be ignored, were to stop the offenders and start handing out 15,000 Yen tickets then they might just see a result.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Many of the "cycling lanes" are just lines that are 20-30cm from the sidewalk (the average handlebar width is 40-42cm wide), and are littered with rainwater drainage grates, uneven surfaces from tree roots or badly repaved areas, and sometimes trash nets. Intersections can be a death trap as you never know if a car is actually going to turn, cause a lot of drivers won't use their turn signals until they're in the midst of turning if at all, and will definitely try to cut you off instead of letting you pass. Many drivers will veer into the cycling lane for some reason even though they have a lot of space towards the inside of the lane, making you pray that they won't clip your handlebars with their side-view mirrors. I understand that there may be some ignorant uber eats cyclists and such, but schoolchildren can't drive and need a safe area to ride their bikes too. Until cycling lanes are a consistent width, I don't care if one whole car lane has to be spilt into two cycling lanes on each side of the street, and drivers are actually being policed for bad driving habits, the sidewalk is the safest place for cyclists if there are no adequate cycling lanes.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

I also want to see these signs handing from every lamp post in the city, but that's just me being optimistic.

Outside a local station, there are dozens and dozens of these signs plastered on the walls, on the pillars, and on the ground. A stupid amount.

There are dozens and dozens of cyclists cycling past them.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@1738Kwaaa!!

Thanks, but I don't need a tour, I can just look outside and there they are, cycle lanes all over the place.

Very rarely see a cyclist in one though.

Had one come up behind me on a particularly narrow footpath, ringing his bell trying to get me to move out of the way. Not supposed to do that, so I turn around and yell at him, tell him that this is a sideways and point at the road, at a picture of a cycle painted on the road, in the cycle lane. His response was basically "not riding there, roads are dangerous"

I mean come on, this was like a 25 year old guy, scared to take his vehicle on the road with the big boys.

It's pathetic.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

No more Ching...Ching from behind!

More tea, vicar?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Why would anyone do that?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

No more Ching...Ching from behind!

There're wide sidewalks which allow bicycles and you cannot complain Ching Ching if you and your companions blocking that sidewalks.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

How about meating out some fines to those not complying? I thought not.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Maybe if they thought about incorporating dedicated cycle lanes into the city's infrastructure eons ago, they wouldn't have this problem now. Having these security guards strut around holding up signs is completely useless and inefficient - who the heck is going to pay them any ounce of attention as they're zipping off to their next destination? If they started issuing fines then it would have more of an effect but as you know, this is Japan and everything they do lacks spine and teeth.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

These otherwise unemployed 'security guards' are probably obstructing both pedestrians AND bicyclists. It is odd, though, that a country with such a history of bicycle usage hasn't done more to facilitate their integration into urban traffic. But, then, the people most concerned with such matters as urban planning are riding oblivious in the back seats of chauffeured, state owned CARS... If Nihon has an 'aging crisis', it is in its government of semi-senile jijis, and too polite activists...but so much better and more satisfying to unimaginatively criticize and castigate those around one than to loudly publicly demand that an obvious problem be fixed.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

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