blacksquid

This article appeared in Sunday's Washington Post.

I'm very happy that the woman is Ok along with her unborn child. The cyclist did give warning that he/she was about to pass but we do not know if the walker moved into his path or not or if the cyclist passed in the oncoming lane.

I believe that the walker, like any other user of this trail has a responsibility to be aware of her surroundings. That means that if she uses a music player, that it allows her to continue to hear environmental noise. That being said, the cyclist has to be in control of the bicycle at all times and, if necessary, slow down, to a crawl if need be, and wait if he cannot safely pass.

I ride the Mt. Vernon, Custis, Capital Crescent, and WO&D trails and have had to moderate my speed on a number of occasions.

What is your opinion of what should be done to try to prevent this from happening in the future?

bdcheung

I've ridden the Capitol Crescent trail numerous times and have witnessed, first-hand, the stupidity of all users. People running/jogging with headphones so loud I can hear the lyrics to their music as I pass. Cyclists traveling at dangerously high speeds. Most people on that trail are oblivious to their surroundings, so I just avoid it if I can. My take on the accident? It was an accident. I'm not advocating a ban on headphones, but certainly users of portable music devices should operate their equipment at a level that allows one to hear ambient noises.

Be smart - walk as far to the right of the trail as possible. Heck, on many portions there is a small dirt path that runs next to the paved trail; use that, it's better on your joints anyways.

damocles1

Just what you said. The cycist needs to slow down, or stop if need be, when passing on a narrow MUT. I might go ripping by someone if they are walking the opposite direction and can see me, but if I come up behind someone, I always slow down. i also only use the MUT in the dead of winter, when it's cold. Once the weather warms up, folks on bikes shouldn't ride quickly on an MUT, period.

This was the cyclist's fault.

vpiuva

Road cyclists that ride MUPs have to realize that they are the odd man out once again. MUPs are designed for cruising, the road is for fast riding. The best you can do are fast intervals between very slow obstacle passing.

blacksquid

+1 - I try to avoid the crowds when I ride the trails and go out early. Or I just ride on the street.

deskjockey

Wow. If I were the cyclist, I'd be terribly concerned about her well being. It sounds like a very unfortunate accident but with few details.

I'm familiar with each of the trails mentioned above and try to be very conscious of my surroundings and the jogger's/walker's perspective. Each time I jog on theses trails, I'm amazed at the cyclists who fly past me without any warning (I do not wear headphones) or try to pass when there is oncoming traffic. Each person using the MUT must bear some degree of responsibility, but like cars on a road, cyclists have to be extra careful.

DrPete 

+1. If you're going to go barrelling down the MUP at 25mph, it is not in the least bit unreasonable to be expected to slow down when the rest of traffic is traveling 2-10mph.

Shame on this cyclist for being to busy asserting his innocence to do the right thing for a woman bleeding from her head due to an accident he was involved in.

If you want to go fast, get the hell off the CCT unless you're there at way off-peak hours. It's not designed for it. Hell, it's barely safe for recovery rides.

damocles1

+1

Somebody takes out my pregnant wife and splits her head open is likely to catch a beating of epic proportions!

dcvelo

I've had a few close calls on the CCT myself, some which I'd have to blame on my own damned impatience, some on the complete unpredictability of other trail users (like the guy who sitting on a bench with his bike leaning against who decided to get up, move his bike onto the trail and mount it right in front of me without ever casting a glance up or down the trail). So I have basically come to the conclusion that riding a bike on the trail has to be done with great caution and the cyclist really needs to be the one to slow down until they can pass safely.

Since I hate slowing down once I've gotten going, I pretty much stick to the road for the most part. Basically the MUP's are just too crowded around here to be much fun.

johnny99

Are you sure the cyclist hit the woman at 25mph? I did not see that speed mentioned in any of the article links included in the first post. Please post your source.

SpongeDad

Unless it's really early in the day, I use the CCT for low HR / recovery spins only. Anything with any speed just gets you into trouble with random dogs, kids, walkers, roller bladers (grr) and other cyclists.

If you take it for what it is - a MUP - it's a nice slow ride among some pretty scenery.

blacksquid

+1 - The MUP in and around DC take the rider/walker/jogger past some truly spectacular views.

lebowitz

I ride CCT and always pass people slowly. Also if they have headphones on I anticipate them crossing in front of me and keep hands on brakes. Also when it's cold there are many fewer people on that trail, as witnessed Sunday.

rmikkelsen

Pedestrians -- don't wear earphones on an MUP, and walk on the right!
Cyclists -- get a bell! A quickly shouted "on your left" does not cut it with civilians on an MUP. It could be their only walk of the year.

DougG

I agree that a bell is pretty effective as long as the walker doesn't have loud headphones on. I don't have a very loud voice and am never sure when to yell "on your left" anyway. I find that yelling this out often makes people jump out of their skin if they had no idea you were there. A bell is a bit less jarring, but probably too fred for most people here.

The best system is our local rail-trail that is surfaced in crushed limestone: the crunching noise under the tires is easily heard by people as you get close (but of course this is not a road-bike trail!).

derath

Why I hate MUP's

I have been in this sort of accident.

First off, to everyone slamming the cyclist, I didn't see anywhere that they were "speeding down the path at 25mph".

Headphones should be banned. This is one of the largest problems. People cannot hear anything other than their music.

I was riding on the B&A trail a couple years ago with my dad. It was around 7:30am on a weeday morning. This was before I got my road bike, so I was on my Mtn bike. We were probably going around 15mph when we approached 3 women walking side by side down the trail. (walking away from us). It looked to be a mother and her 2 teenage daughters. They were fairly 'large' and were taking up most of the path.

I slowed way down and announced myself early. They looked around, and made eye contact with me and proceeded to move right, so I moved to the left of the path and held my speed, at this point maybe 10mph max

Literally at the last moment one of them moved back left, while looking at me. It was too late to react and I hit her head on. It knocked her to the ground and I went over the handlebars into the dirt on the left side of the path (I was already all the way to the left of the path when it happened)

Bottom line, accidents happen. I did everything I could, short of stopping (which I didn't see the need since we had made EYE CONTACT, and they had moved right) and it still happened.

I stay on the road now. MUP's aren't even fun for slow cycling.

-D

DrPete 

Sorry, I wasn't clear about that. I wasn't talking specifically about the rider in question, but rather going from experiences on that trail with riders I've seen there. I didn't mean to imply that's what the rider in the article was doing.

Lithuania

I cant imagine trying to ride really fast on any of the trails in this area. I ride on them a lot when i am relaxing. They are actually really good for recovery since i dont feel very safe trying to go fast on them. Some of the trails have 15mph limits posted all over too.

it sucks when anyone gets hit.

johnny99

There is apparently no evidence that the cyclist was riding "really fast" or even 15mph when this crash occurred. The injuries reported in the newspaper could have been caused by a 5mph collision. I think we need to figure out what really happened before we start to talk about ways to fix it.

blacksquid

I think that regardless of the speed at which the accident occurred it is incumbent upon the cyclist to be extra careful when riding on the CCT or any MUP/T. Especially when it's crowded as it was at the time of this incident. I'm not saying that the pedestrian traffic has no responsibility, just that the cyclist bears the burden of being extra careful.

If you want to ride fast then stay on the roads. That's what I do.

orcanova

I hope the woman heals well. Clearly unfortunate and there is not enough info to figure who is at fault. I do find it odd that the woman is defending her right to use headphones on the path again, as it very well might have been a contributing factor. I think her stance that it is the cyclists responsibility to avoid pedestrians and it is not not the pedestrians responsibility to be alert is strange, given what happened to her. I think her input is biased because she seems to assume the attitude..."I got hit by a cyclist, I can't remember what happened, but its all his fault and I don't have to change a thing to better my safety." She got hit by a cyclist so she is now anti-cyclist. If she is concerned about her unborn she might want to consider altering her stance on headphone rights on the MUP.

Also, speed limits are arbitrary. There are situations where 15 MPH is way too fast, although legal, and likewise, I have no problem gogin way faster on an empty path...

I have to say there are many times pedestrians have had their ipods cranked up so loud that they can't hear me in my loudest voice, and then jump out of their skin as I pass them...

I think awareness and being careful and respectful to others is the answer for safer MUP's. They aren't race courses and you have to go easy around others, and accept slowing down to a stop regularly as part of the package.

blacksquid

The legal term is "contributory negligence" and has significant ramifications if this incident ever gets to court. Pedestrians bear a responsibility to be aware of their surroundings. They can wear their head/ear phones so long as it does not impede their ability to pay time and attention to their environment.

+1 on your last paragraph.

Enjoy the MUPs in DC as they are a great resource!

Lithuania

i didnt even read the story. i was just making a general comment. i didnt blame anyone.

acapybara

It seems like most people put themselves in a bubble where they assume everyone is doing what they're doing: Drivers seem consistently surprised when they have to react to bikes on the road, walkers seem consistently surprised when they have to react to bikes on an MUP, bikers are surprised by peds, etc.

It's neither here nor there, but I have found that biking has made me a much more aware and courteous ped - and being a runner has made me a more courteous biker.

eandmwilson

Sure there is. Follows the rules of maritime navigation--powerboats yield to sailboats. If you ride a bike on the MUP, you have much greater speed and much less maneuverability than the peds. Both are welcome, but in a "hit from behind" accident, it is fairly safe to assume the bike rider did not yield to a ped. That the ped did not hear the biker is irrelevant. Seems to me she was a relatively stationary target, and was the biker thinking "ON YOUR LEFT!" means carte blanche to plow into peds who don't hop to quickly enough? That there were witnesses to the accident means the trail at that point was crowded, and the a-hole didn't bother to slow down enough (or stop, perish the thought) to pass safely. I'm taking a wild guess here, and the medicos can correct me, but I'm guessing her split head came from noggin on the trail, but the ribs probably came from the upper body impact the cyclist gave the woman.

Read the article again--this is a quote from the author, not involved in the accident:

"I hit the Capital Crescent Trail after work today. It was crowded in both directions with walkers, runners, cyclists and rollerbladers.

I had been jockeying for position with a fellow cyclist..."

There is way too much of this mentality on the local trails. Friggin posers thinking the MUPs are their personal racetracks because they don't have the guts to actually ride on roads with all those scary cars. I use the Mt Vernon trail for commuting, and on some days it has cost me a whole 2 minutes out of 28 to slow down for peds. I also haven't hit anyone (thank God) and err on the side of caution--and yes, there are incredibly stoopid peds out there. I have also ridden the trail with my wife and son and gotten plowed into from behind by four exceptional morons riding in a paceline on the trail. Fortunately nobody in my family was hurt, because I'm sure I wouldn't be able to read the forums from whatever prison they sent me to.

Bottom line, rider at fault.