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I had an epiphany early in 2007 and wanted to share.
I no longer worry about the joggers or rollerbladers on the road.
I used to see roads as the exclusive domain of cars, bicyclists, gorillas, or slow moving vehicles like tractors, buggies and farm machinery. I had a revelation riding this week, as a person jogged towards me in the wide outside lane alongside the parked cars: Any nonmotorized use of the roads is a good use!
In the interests of solidarity and reclaiming roadway space away from the auto, I no longer care if rollerbladers or joggers are using the road or bike lanes. I am going to smile and wave, and a big thumbs up, because I like seeing non-auto centric modes of transit.
Bring it on, I say! to people that want to rollerblade or walk or jog where i want to ride, cheerio.
Cheerio to our fellow nonmotorized users of the roads.
-end of epiphany-
[I threw the gorillas in the road there to see if you all were paying attention.]
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I agree! I pass plenty of foot traffic in urban, suburban and rural settings (a little less so in rural) and never had a problem, even when they are running/walking with traffic and have headphones on.
.....hmmmm, I'm sure I had a banana in the jersey pocket.
[I threw the gorillas in the road there to see if you all were paying attention.]
And I appreciate it!
Az
[I threw the gorillas in the road there to see if you all were paying attention.]
I missed that...
:D
I agree, except if your running in the bike lane against traffic, you should be aware of oncoming vehicles and yield appropriately. If you're three abreast, there's no reason you can't slip up on the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming cyclist out of courtesy if the traffic is heavy enough.
Rollerbladers tend to have much better control of their trajectory than their side-to-side motion would suggest, so I don't worry about them, either.
(This might not be the place to mention it, but as a pedestrian, I've experienced some strange behavior by some runners, very aggressive. Twice I was "fouled" while walking, a runner intentionally elbowed or body-blocked me. Ticked me off royally, for sure.)
Agreed!
Although I'd give gorillas very wide berth as they can be quite aggressive and dangerous.
Al
Agreed!
Although I'd give gorillas very wide berth as they can be quite aggressive and dangerous.
Al
I'd be aggressive too if I saw all those big black round toys cruising passed me attached to cars. :D
Agreed!
Although I'd give gorillas very wide berth as they can be quite aggressive and dangerous.
Just wait til you tell one he is going the wrong way!
I like runners best when they jump off the sidewalk into the bike lane right in front of me without looking. The run really funny with a bike tire between their legs. :D
I have no idea if it has the same efffect on gorilla's.
As long as they have some common sense it shouldn't be a problem. I skate more than bike and there are a lot of obliviot cyclists but the "rollerbladers" as you call them can be lane hogs as well. As long as folks can be considerate it's all good.
[I threw the gorillas in the road there to see if you all were paying attention.]
Wow.
When I want to make sure someone's paying attention, I clear my throat or something. You throw gorillas into a road.
Bek, you're badass, dude.
Caveman have brains, the ability to use language to describe abstract concepts.... and caveman STRONG.
I'm serious about the epiphany. I now like to see any and all nonmotorized use of the roads. Cheerio I say, cheerio.
I agree, except if your running in the bike lane against traffic,
That's my only complaint. There's a crowd I frequently encounter and they are a real hazard. Usually I meet them on a steep uphill which is lucky for them and me. If it was on a downhill I might have crashed into them by now, since it is often after dark and they are unlit.
Cheerio to our fellow nonmotorized users of the roads.
Along the same lines, I am very forgiving and tolerant of cab drivers, even though many cyclists seem to dislike them.
They help keep drunk drivers off the road.
They make it possible for more people to be carfree or to leave the car home.
They're expert drivers and if they miss you by a centimetre that was their intent.
They don't require all day parking space.
I had an epiphany early in 2007 and wanted to share.
I no longer worry about the joggers or rollerbladers on the road.
I used to see roads as the exclusive domain of cars, bicyclists, gorillas, or slow moving vehicles like tractors, buggies and farm machinery. I had a revelation riding this week, as a person jogged towards me in the wide outside lane alongside the parked cars: Any nonmotorized use of the roads is a good use!
In the interests of solidarity and reclaiming roadway space away from the auto, I no longer care if rollerbladers or joggers are using the road or bike lanes. I am going to smile and wave, and a big thumbs up, because I like seeing non-auto centric modes of transit.
Bring it on, I say! to people that want to rollerblade or walk or jog where i want to ride, cheerio.
Cheerio to our fellow nonmotorized users of the roads.
-end of epiphany-
[I threw the gorillas in the road there to see if you all were paying attention.]
That's cool, because in a lot of communities runners/joggers are allowed to use the roadway instead of the side walk, against traffic.
As a runner and walker there are great benefits (safety, surface condition) to running on the roadway, however it is technically illegal in AZ if a sidewalk is present:
"28-796. Pedestrian on roadways
A. If sidewalks are provided, a pedestrian shall not walk along and on an adjacent roadway.
B. If sidewalks are not provided, a pedestrian walking along and on a highway shall walk when practicable only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing traffic that may approach from the opposite direction."
I'd like to see more folks taking their horse drawn cart to work and shopping:
"28-625. Persons riding animals or driving animal drawn vehicles
A person riding an animal or driving an animal drawn vehicle on a roadway has all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter and chapters 4 and 5 of this title, except the provisions of this chapter and chapters 4 and 5 of this title that by their very nature can have no application."
Horses, their riders and livestock on roadway are required by law to be treated better than cyclists:
"28-858. Approaching horses and livestock
A person operating a motor vehicle on a public highway and approaching a horse-drawn vehicle, a horse on which a person is riding or livestock being driven on the highway shall exercise reasonable precaution to prevent frightening and to safeguard the animals and to ensure the safety of persons riding or driving the animals. If the animals appear frightened, the person in control of the vehicle shall reduce its speed and if requested by signal or otherwise shall not proceed further toward the animals unless necessary to avoid accident or injury until the animals appear to be under control."
Al
I don't care if they're breaking any laws, i'll leave that to the LEO's and instead show solidarity to all other nonmotorized roadway users.
bring it on, reclaim public rights of way away from the automobile.
I don't care either, unless recklessly.
I've on several occasion passed horses and riders who were using bike lane.
Al
Caveman have brains, the ability to use language to describe abstract concepts.... and caveman STRONG.
But can you handle Geico's website?:p
I agree, except if your running in the bike lane against traffic, you should be aware of oncoming vehicles and yield appropriately
I disagree and I think this is a common misconception. Running or walking in a bike lane is no different than running or walking in any other lane in that the pedestrian has the right-of-way and the vehicle must avoid them, not the other way around. If there is an adjacent sidewalk one would hope that the pedestrian would make use of it but they are not required to and there may be legitimate reasons not to use the sidewalk. As an operator of a vehicle you are required to avoid all collisions to the best of your ability.
If there is an adjacent sidewalk one would hope that the pedestrian would make use of it but they are not required to and there may be legitimate reasons not to use the sidewalk.
Except in AZ and likely other states too. If a sidewalk is present one must use it as a pedestrian - I am aware of no exceptions in AZ for a sidewalk that is open, yet difficult to traverse (such as covered in ice).
This of course does not mean I don't yield and/or safey pass a pedestrian who is using a bike lane when a sidewalk is present. I glady do so and as you point out this is required by law:
28-794. Drivers to exercise due care
Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter every driver of a vehicle shall:
1. Exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on any roadway.
2. Give warning by sounding the horn when necessary.
3. Exercise proper precaution on observing a child or a confused or incapacitated person on a roadway.
Al
28-796. Pedestrian on roadways
A. If sidewalks are provided, a pedestrian shall not walk along and on an adjacent roadway.That says a pedestrian shall not walk on an adjacent roadway. It says nothing about running.
I used to do a lot of running myself and I must admit that I don't know the exact legal status of runners on roadways. Are runners supposed to run with or against traffic? Some runners can go as fast as many bicyclists for short distances, particularly uphill (and I've known a couple of racewalkers that go faster than many runners). As a bicyclist, a runner coming toward me presents a greater problem than one going the same direction. I don't know that the law even addresses the question specifically.
It says nothing about running.
.
Thats an interesting angle. I suspect that legal interpretation would not make a distinction, but I very well could be wrong. What about crawling?
Al
Thats an interesting angle. I suspect that legal interpretation would not make a distinction, but I very well could be wrong. What about crawling?
Al
That is what makes laws and codes so much fun. With a couple more words they could remove all doubt and need no interpretation but that would leave a lot of poeple out of work. I think they do it on purpose.
I run as well as ride. When I'm on a run, I'll almost always use the roadway. It's much smoother and easier on the joints than the sidewalk. Ride with, run against, traffic.
Way to go, Bek! Welcome to the club!
Gorillas in the Road
Wasn't that a movie staring Sigourney Weaver? :D
Thats an interesting angle. I suspect that legal interpretation would not make a distinction, but I very well could be wrong. What about crawling?
Al
I was in India last month and saw a guy who walks on all fours with shoes on his hands. Is that crawling?
I think that legally anybody on feet is considered a pedestrian whether they are walking, sauntering, skipping, running, cantering or galloping.
I think next time I go biking I should drive some livestock as well. That'll teach those cagers to take care around me. Does it count if my livestock is a couple of parrots? How about 2manybikes with his corgie? Does that count as livestock? Oh wait, his dog never gets scared and in fact I think he actually mans the machine gun.
By the way, I prefer it if runners are going against traffic when in the bike lane or in my path because then I know they can see me coming and I leave it to them to figure out how to get out of my way. When they are going with traffic I have to figure out how to go around them and hope they don't change direction midway. And dang those rollerbladers can go fast. Some of them are way faster than me (I'm not that fast, but I had no idea a rollerblader can go 17mph or more.)
Ride with, run against, traffic.
While I much prefer to run off road (trails), I quite often have to run on the road to get to the trails. I follow the same rules WRT where I run/ride, but either way I will be lit up of the situation calls for it.
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