Originally Posted by
daibutsu
The mere fact that the jogger was wearing headphones indicates a selfish disregard for his own safety and as a practical matter endangers other; in this case the cyclist. I ride in DC area often, lot's o' MUPs and lots of road riding too. If i see head phones I don't even waste my breath saying "on your left" nor do i ring a little bell. I'll not compete with headphones, period. Additionally if walkers or joggers are two abreast with no headphones, I'll warn them, three abreast, I cut as close to them as possible.
It's not the wearing of headphones that shows a disregard for other's safety, it's the moving erratically without paying any attention to traffic around you. If deaf people can safely navigate on a MUP, so can 'phoned people, they just need to learn how. And just because someone has headphones on doesn't mean that they won't hear your bell. Some people listen at a reasonable volume, and just because others don't doesn't mean you should not give fair warning. Lastly, intentionally cutting close to people is a d**k move; it's an MUP, so maybe you should learn to share, show respect for people who are just out enjoying what is essentially a park, and save your passive-aggresive BS for the road.