General Cycling Discussion - Jogger with a deathwish

This one bugged me a little.

I was out to visit my sister tonight, after dark, and I notice the flashing of a cyclist's tail light further up the road. Traffic was fairly heavy, but there's a bike lane, so I think nothing of it. Just as I go to pass him, however, (sqeezing the centerline to be courteous), I see a jogger in the bike lane coming the other way. All three of us (me, cyclist, jogger) pass at the same time, with me hanging out into the other lane (which was momentarily clear) a little bit to clear the jogger, who is hanging out in my lane to clear the bike. At least he was wearing a light-colored shirt, but it was somewhat disturbing to see someone running in the dark, on busy road, in the bike lane, especially when there was sidewalk next to the other side of the road. I hope he wasn't compounding his danger by listening to music while jogging.

This was actually the second time this had happened, although the first time was in daylight, and the runners appeared to be paying more attention to traffic. Still...

How many of you see this happening?

OMG how dumb can people get these days??
marie

How many of you see this happening?

This is quite a regular occurrence around here, although more so early in the morning than during the commuting hours I ride most days. I think the only way to deal with it is to assume that any jogger you see in the bike lane is not going to move out of it, and prepare to move into the "traffic" lane. It's actually a surprisingly easy maneouvre if you give yourself appropriate time to do it.

Let's keep in mind that traffic codes generally provide that a pedestrian can use the roadway in the absence of a sidewalk, and that if he does so is required to face traffic. While there may have been a sidewalk at the point where you passed him, perhaps it was one of those roads where the sidewalk sort of appears and disappears? If so, the jogger's positioning is understandable.

In these circumstances,

1) The pedestrian has the right of way.

2) You, as the passing vehicle, have the responsibility not to pass unless you can do so safely.

3) Having a headlight on your bike (I assume you do if you're riding at night) is critical, since the jogger won't see a front reflector.

RichC

I thought the pedestrian did not have a right to the roadway.

In Kona during the week leading up to the Ironman WC, there were people running every hour of the day/night. There are no street lights on Alii Drive once you leave the downtown area. There are wide shoulders on each side of the road, but zero illumination. You would see athletes running and riding on both sides, in total darkness, with no lights, and little if any reflective material. It was disturbing to see. I don't know of anyone who actually wiped some one else out, but I did see and hear of several close calls.

By the way, Peter Ried is in pretty good shape eh? how is 4:37 for 112 mile bike, followed by a 2:47 marathon.....

hang out in Kona that week, you will feel like a complete athletic loser. I know I did.

In my neck of the woods, there is a 7 mile stretch of flat that has a very wide sidewalk and a great bike lane. There have been two occurences in which a runner was in the bike lane, going with traffic, with headphones on, and yelled at me to 'slow down' as I passed them. I am always mindful to call my position (i.e. on your left) long before I am near them, but it just kills me that they ignore the perfectly good (and safer) sidewalk, when they have got to know that a cyclist is bound to come along sooner or later. ARG!!

If the sidewalk is concrete, that is why runners are not on it.
Concrete will make your knees hurt in minutes.
I also run. Not making yourself visible at night is just imbecilic. Running against traffic is correct.

However, in our industrialized society's rush to engineer every square inch of the landscape for the automobile, the pedestrian is now an exile. Have some compassion and consideration.

...the perfectly good (and safer) sidewalk...

As a reformed runner and the son of an obsessive runner, I'll point out the virtues of blacktop vs concrete as a running surface - it's much easier on the knees! I put joggers in the roadway in the same category as rollerbladers, slower bikers, etc - occasionally irritating, but basically good. Certainly better than cars, buses, and taxi-hailers, anyway! ;)

I put joggers in the roadway in the same category as rollerbladers, slower bikers, etc -

NY State law says the same traffic laws that apply to cars and bikes also apply to rollerbladers.

Even worse... last week I passed a jogger enjoying the new "bike" lane on my street. She was jogging against the direction of traffic. This would not be a problem in itself, but the problem was that she was toting along her kid in a huge pushable "Burley" twins trailer. The stupid thing was taking up the whole bike lane.