2 cyclists pulled over by police on Cedar River Trail.

[XMcShiftersonX]

That's exactly the problem Eden. In the particular situation that this speed limit change is in response to, the cyclists announced themselves, began to pass the lady on the left and she made a mistake, panicked and accidentally ran to the left instead of the right and into the cyclists. It was an accident, but the cyclists did the correct thing and speed was never mentioned as an issue. But the backlash of the incident has been the cyclists being portrayed in the way that you said. It is I'm sure very sad for the family and friends who lost their loved one. However, the response would not have stopped this accident from happening - instead I feel that it is the city's way of telling the community "we're doing something about the "problem." When they're really not. It's a lot easier to enforce a speed limit than it is to make sure people are staying to the right except when passing, passing only on the left, announcing themselves, being aware of their surroundings and the people around them. So, unfortunately the cyclists are being punished. And like one of the articles printed at the time of this incident said, this is the only major accident that has happened on this trail since it was paved, which is pretty impressive considering I hear about Burke-Gilman incidents all the time.

Also, I must say that even if not everyone knows what "on your left" means, I would hope that when they hear someone's voice coming from behind them, they would look before changing their direction. If someone says on your left, all you have to do is nothing really, just stay right where you are, unless you're blocking the whole trail and someone can't pass. If the person is hard of hearing, I would hope they would look around before changing their direction as well, especially in an area that's full of all sorts of different people - people pushing strollers, walking dogs, skateboarding, riding bikes, rollerblading, running, etc. I don't think it's asking too much to expect people to be aware of their surroundings, and responsible for themselves on the trails. It's not right to punish everyone for a few people's failures. There are signs up on the trail listing the rules of passing people, etc. But it probably wouldn't hurt to have more education around this I'm sure, and honestly I think it would be more effective for the city of Renton to spend their time on this instead of the speed limit.