More hostility towards cyclists.....

[jobob]

I have no back-up information, but can only assume the tickets are for cyclists. Of course, it must be our fault. No need to repeat the thread about clueless pedestrians who are oblivious to their surroundings.

Errr, sorry, but ... on shared trails it's up to cyclists to give wide berth to pedestrians, or to yield to pedestrians.

It doesn't really matter if the pedestrians are clueless, it's up to us cyclists to avoid them. So yes, in cyclist/ped accidents, technically it is the cyclist who is at fault.

That should be spelled out on shared paths, but even if its not, cyclists should be aware of that anyhow.

Sorry ...

[Thorn]

+1 to jobob

Yield to the slower form of transportation. Always. If we expect cars to treat us with respect, we need to treat the slower forms with respect.

[Eden]

I know it can be tempting to complain about pedestrians if you use MUPS, but whenever you get annoyed, write down what you want to say, then replace walker with cyclist and cyclist with car and see how you would feel about it then.....

It is always the responsibility of the larger/faster party to be aware and careful of the more vulnerable. On the road that means cars need to be aware of cyclists and on a MUP cyclists need to be aware of peds. It doesn't excuse bad behavior and certainly accidents can be caused by clueless walkers, but it does obligate cyclists to slow down and yield to walkers, even if the walkers are not following all of the rules.

[Biciclista]

yes. My stepfather was about 80 when he quit walking on a MUP, because of this incident: a cyclist came up behind him and probably said "on your left" and he heard "LEFT" so he went LEFT and got hit and knocked down. Is it his FAULT? Our society is based on taking care of the more vulnerable parts of it. The cyclist should have been ready to stop, based on the possibility that he might not hear you, and he certainly can't see you.
I agree however, that they aren't making it any easier by wearing headphones so they can't hear you no matter what and we really shouldn't have to hand out warnings "Bicycles use this multiple use path, beware" you know?

[Duck on Wheels]

Yup, on the MUP I always tinkle with the bell or call out a good bit behind when approaching pedestrians, then slow down and prepare to stop until I can see how they're gonna respond. Oh, and smile and say thanks when I pass them after they pull to one side or the other, or both (groups will often split). My commute route takes me past a pre-school, a petting farm, an elementary school and an elder center. My route home via the gym takes me past a pre-school, two health facilities (one a psychiatric hospital and the other a training facility for young people with cp) a middle school and a high school. I also share both routes with hundreds of students, mostly unhelmeted and wearing ear buds. You really can't assume that the pedestrians I pass here will all know, or remember, the traffic rules. You can't even assume that they all know, or remember, what "right" and "left" mean. So the one "rule" that applies is that whoever's using the bigger, faster, harder vehicle -- in this instance, the bike -- is the one responsible for everybody's safety. The only times I allow myself to be upset about traffic on the MUP is when there are cars there (as is allowed in some situations) and they don't take that responsibility. Just the other day, a van driving off the campus from a construction site almost ran me over twice, first backing onto the MUP for a Y-turn off a pathway, then pulling forward towards the road right after I'd veered around him to keep him from backing into me. THAT was unacceptable!!!

[TrekTheKaty]

Gosh! I guess I've just gotten defensive after reading all the current posts. There are posted rules, and they are pretty standard. I will take a pic tomorrow. As I recall--Keep right except when passing is one, which is my biggest complaint. There is a painted yellow line, which seems mostly useless. I'm sure there are bad cyclists there, as well as bad pedestrians. My DH doesn't like riding here, because we've outgrown it--but my sister does, so we limit it to one casual ride per week. I just don't want to see my rights taken away because of a few bad apples. The 15 mph and leash limit are great ideas. I'm anxious to stop and talk to a ranger myself--we frequently say "Hi" in the early mornings as they do their morning check of the path, and that is probably why they stopped my sis to talk.

I give pedestrians a wide berth and frequently have to stop if I can't get through. I've never hit anyone or had a confrontation. We say "Hi" to almost everyone, in an effort to show not all cyclists are jerks. A walker's dog (who keeps the well-behaved Lab on a short leash) had her paw clipped by a cyclist who didn't even stop to say he was sorry, or see if the dog was OK. Luckily, she doesn't hate cyclists, because my sister stopped and gave them a ride when it was hot and the path was closed (it's a 4 mile loop)--too long of a walk back to the car in the heat for the dog. We stay away on weekends, because it's too busy.

We do ride on the road, but I had my closest call this morning--so I'm pretty frustrated. A textbook "Right Hook #6", right off of bicyclesafety.com. As I rode up to a red light, a car passed me on the left, then turned 90 degrees across me and slowed down to get in the right turn lane. I yelled, "HHEEEEYY!" But she was on the phone. DH wanted to pull up to her passenger window and ask why she tried to hit me, but of course, she took off. Later, DH said I should have been watching for that, and I said, "I was! I was watching the cement truck in front of her that I was sure was going to miscalculate my speed!"

Maybe I need a massage Martian, you're right. I should be happy they are ticketing cyclists, because it should make it safer for all of us.

[jobob]

I just don't want to see my rights taken away because of a few bad apples.

Which rights are those?

[TrekTheKaty]

Which rights are those?

I guess it's a long story and I didn't tell it all. Rumors have been circulating since spring that pedestrians wanted the trail limited--maybe "no bike" days. Of course, my question was, "I hope that doesn't happen but, if it does--when are no pedestrian days?" Nothing happened. I guess I'm just worried they will prohibit bicycles altogether.

[MartianDestiny]

I guess it's a long story and I didn't tell it all. Rumors have been circulating since spring that pedestrians wanted the trail limited--maybe "no bike" days. Of course, my question was, "I hope that doesn't happen but, if it does--when are no pedestrian days?" Nothing happened. I guess I'm just worried they will prohibit bicycles altogether.

We have a mountain biking trail that has 2 "no bike" days a week. I don't like it, but that's the way it is since those before me screwed it up by being reckless.

I'd say if you don't want to see this happen, increased enforcement and tickets are going to HELP you by either a) teaching the unsafe cyclists the error of their ways or b) hacking them off enough that they stay away. I'd much rather see it done this way than the former.

[jobob]

I bike a lot on a local paved multiuse trail, and occasionally I'll see an elderly person walking along holding a cane or a stick horizonally in front of him or her.

I cringe whenever I see that because it tells me that the person, or a friend, has at some point been startled by a cyclist passing too close -- and probably too fast . (And I have seen cyclists riding really fast in large packs on the trail, especially around the time of the springtime Early Bird Crits near the bay end of the trail -- yeah guys we know you're racers, good on ya's )

When I see these stick-carrying folks folks in particular I slow down even more than usual, give them extra wide berths and give them a cheery hello when I pass by (calling it out if I'm approaching them from behind).

I hope they get the impression from me that not all of the cyclists using the trail are dorkwads.

[Biciclista]

Trek theKaty, obviously you aren't the scofflaw that people are complaining about. Keep doing what you're doing!