Originally Posted by
davasi
The law (or basic rule as they put it, on their website) is that I can not ride on the trail after dusk. I work until 12am and ride my bike to work. I was recently warned by a county sheriff's deputy to not be on the trail at night. The two major roads, which are the only way to get near my house, are extremely busy... even at night. A local radio announcer was killed in 2002 while using one of said roads instead of the trail for biking home because he was warned and cited for using the trail after dark. I don't feel comfortable riding on either of these roads after dark or during the day for that matter, and am going to continue using the trail and fight every citation I get for using it. Am I bending the law too much here?
I don't think so. I think it boils down to what is reasonable under the circumstances. I'm sure we have a lawyer around here somewhere that might pipe in; however, to my single year of law school eye that is how I would frame the argument. If using the trail is the safest way to proceed at that time of the night then you may use the trail as an "easement"to get you from point "a" to "b" in lieu of using either the two roads. Especially if using the roads would be a risk to life or limb compared to using the trail.