Walking in the street pushing a stroller is risky business

QYou stated that people pushing strollers should “use the sidewalk. That’s common sense.”

Obviously, you don’t live or walk in a neighborhood where the sidewalk is part of the “down” portion of a driveway. No stroller could navigate those “bumps.” I know because I tried it pushing a wheelchair.

Guess where we ended up walking? The street. It got a little hairy when cars went by, so I never took my dad out around the neighborhood again in the wheelchair.

AMany others using the street instead of a sidewalk chimed in.

QI must take exception to your comment that people pushing strollers must use the sidewalks because it is “common sense.”

How many decades has it been since you walked the neighborhoods in San Jose?

In my neighborhood, sidewalks directly abut the street but are raised curb-height above it. Thus walking on the sidewalk subjects you to driveway cutouts every few feet.

This is extremely hard on the knees and would subject a child in a stroller to constant tipping and jerking. It is usually impossible to wander up the driveway to avoid the cutout since the driveways are usually full of cars.

Then there is the problem of trees that will eventually push up sections of the sidewalk, creating unexpected bumps that grow several inches high. As someone who walks daily but has bad knees, I always walk in the street. I avoid the main streets that carry most of the traffic, but walking on sidewalks is too hard on my knees.

Add a dog to be walked thrice a day and several neighbors who can’t stand animals anywhere near their lawns, and it is more relaxing to walk in the street. — Allison Lane, San Jose

ARelaxing is not the word I would use. Before my medical issues, I walked two-plus miles a day with two energetic golden retrievers leading our convoy, plus a cat who would sometimes skittishly join us. We always used the sidewalk (except for the cat).

That seemed the common sense thing to do.

QI sometimes see a pack of several oblivious moms pushing strollers in the street walking side by side, sometimes extending into the middle of the road. Not good. — Mark Nelson, Redwood City

ANot good indeed. A couple of tips for walking in the street:

Walk facing traffic and if walking a dog, keep the leash short. If a child is walking with you, have the kid walk next to the curb and the adult walk to the right toward the center of the street. And hold the child by its hand or a kid leash (really).