The Pedestrian on Path Overtake Conundrum

jessloader

THEY ARE SHARED PATHS!!! YOU MUST YEILD TO PEDESTRIANS

DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I only hog the path when I see a cyclist barrelling towards me. I have stuck a big stick in cyclists tires when they go by too fast. Once they hit the ground I RUNNNNNN!!!!

By the way, thanks to those who have respect for their fellow humans and slow down......I always say thanks to people like that.

trek930

i walk the pathways as much as i bike them and i've seen how SOME indifference gets ALL bikers blacklisted from shared pathways... "sorry about that" goes a longer way than "bite me".

daveornee

I think that the universal maxim applies here.
I live in an area where there are many "bicycle trails"; some paved and some limestone screening covered.
The nearly equivalent of 15 km/h speed limit of 8 MPH applies.
That is quite difficult for me to deal with, but it is the law.
On the rare occasion that I do ride one of these paths, I find that walkers/joggers/runnners/bladers/cyclist that use headphones are most difficult to communicate with. I know that they made the choice and that they are "abiding by the law", but they just don't hear my "on your left" communications.
David Ornee, Western Springs, IL (near Chicago)

mark_melb

Anger management needed Jessloader.

jessloader

What kind of management is needed for those who have thrown a pedestrian (including children) to the ground and have fled the scene?

mark_melb

Sorry, not all of listen to Norah Jones and need 'rules' for every little thing in life.

mark_melb

Stop whining, you are starting to sound like an Isreali.

Echinacea

a good rule of thumb is to treat pedestrians as you would have automobile drivers treat you.

jessloader

Yes we obviously do need rules for every single little thing because there's people like you in the world who don't give a damn about anybody else except making your "centuries". Or whatever you do. Hey, a little hint.....maybe instead of acting like a spoiled brat you could actually answer my questions. As for your highly tasteless comment on Isrealis, I can only say......case in point. It makes me sad that you live in a place where you feel you need to make fun of a very oppressed culture. It shows how mindless you really are. I wish someone else would reply because I can't get one intelligent comment from you. And finally, you are an ambassador for your sport......you are the one fueling the hatred towards your sport. I pity Australia for having you as a citizen. Treat others as you have do unto you.....with this being said, you probably get beat every day.........boo hoo

mark_melb

Hey, I was not making fun of the Palestinians only the Israelis. I thing you have gotten lost. This is a c...y...c...l...i...n...g forum. I have seen nothing but anti cyclist comments from you. This forum is for promoting cycling if you have not noticed. Do you walk around with a cloud over your head?

jessloader

I'm lost? I thought this thread was about pedestrians on the path. Hello! That's me. I'm not saying ALL cyclists run over people and kids and dogs, but there are many that do without so much of a blink of an eye. I'm wondering why cyclists who DO think like pedestrians owe cyclists the right of way, think the way they do. It's puzzling, because a year or so ago, I never had one thought about cyclists. And you ask if I have a cloud over my head? No, but I do walk with limp since being struck and left by a cyclist. And this isn't an isolated incident. A seeing-eye puppy I was training was killed by one, and now I feel I have to protect myself. This whole subject most definetly pertains to cycling. If you can't see that.....what more can I do but go about the only way I feel safe.

tanyaq

I take it that you yourself are not, and have never been a cyclist.

IMO, sidewalks are for pedestrians. If for some reason (and this is really rare) I feel compelled to use the sidewalk while on a bicycle, I either dismount it and walk it, or slow down to little more than pedestrian speed, riding carefully and overtaking with a foot down on the sidewalk.

Multi-user paths are different. Some seem to be set up primarily as bike paths and some are truly multi-purpose recreational trails. On the primarily bike path ones often times there is an equal pedestrian facility right next to the path (sidewalk, boardwalk or whatnot) and so a cyclist may feel the pedestrian should yield to the cyclist if they are on the bike path. Obviously most cyclists will still try to accomodate the pedestrian as nobody likes having accidents, and cyclists have been killed running into pedestrians before.

As far as ones clearly posted as MUP with speed limits for the cyclists I think the problem is just lack of facilities for cyclists. Some cyclists that are not comfortable riding on the roads may feel frustrated there is no place for them to ride at all. The problem can also be one of numbers as well - if a path has 20 cyclists on it for every pedestrian you are going to perceive it as a "cycling" trail and expect to be able to move at a reasonable speed.

When moving quickly and a pedestrian crosses your path (especially on twisty trails with low visibility ahead) it is difficult to brake in time. Passing is difficult if there are people walking abreast across the whole lane. And then there becomes the I see you, you see me, which way do I move conundrum, and if both the cyclist and pedestrian try to move the same way, not so good!

Keeping to the right except to pass is generally a good rule for all users of multi-user paths.

stevenaleach

I would point out that if they are telling you to get on the road... they're right. The sidewalk is for pedestrians, not vehicles. get off the sidewalk.

stevenaleach

My taxes pay for jails as well, but that doesn't mean that I want to stay in one.

If there happened to be a bike path that connected me to my destination, I would take it rather than the road, of course. This has never happened. I have yet to discover a bike path running between my house and the grocery store or the college for instance.

As is, the bike paths serve for recreation only ( And yes, my wife and I do use one just for recreational riding... but we don't exactly get anywhere useful). I think they probably do much more harm than good as far as respect that we (don't) recieve from drivers. It makes bikes look like recreational devices... they aren't, or at least no more so than a car. A bike is transportation pure and simple. I think bike paths make drivers even less likely to recognize the fact that we belong on the road. Even worse, of course, is cyclists who ride on sidewalks. Most drivers actually think that that is where bikes belong, and it is BECAUSE of the people that ride there.


Why don't we have "Car paths". 25 mph speed limit roads that go about 20 miles without ever getting anywhere... enough room to turn around but no actual destinations to stop at and then they just dead end...