Originally Posted by
welshTerrier2
Of course bike riders on MUPs should be required to ride safely around pedestrians. What bothers me about this, though, is the double standard between cars and bikes.
I rode on a MUP yesterday often with speeds between 15 and 20 mph. When I passed pedestrians traveling in the same direction, I was able to cross the center line and leave a good three to four feet between my bike and the walkers. If I couldn't, I slowed down. My bike with me on it had a combined weight of around 190 pounds and was traveling at 15 mph while the walkers were traveling at, say, 2 mph or a differential of 13 mph. For opposite side walkers, the differential was 17 mph. Would a collision cause severe injuries? Of course it would.
But now consider bikes and cars traveling on the roads. Many states have just a 3-foot passing law if they have one at all. What's the weight of an average car? Let's use 2,000 to 3,000 pounds with many much heavier. Now let's take that same bike and rider traveling at 15 mph with a car traveling at 40 mph or so giving an even greater differential than we calculated on the MUP between bike and pedestrians.
Granted, there are all sorts of other variables to consider on MUPs such as people walking unpredictable dogs, little kids riding tricycles and people walking with headphones on who are oblivious to just about everything.
Nevertheless, if a 3-foot passing distance is considered safe for a 3,000 pound car to pass bicycles on the roads, why can't the same standard be applied to a 200-pound bike and rider unit passing a pedestrian on a MUP? It seems like a double standard to me.
Conditions on MUPs vary widely on different days and on different sections of the MUP. The MUP I rode yesterday is usually incredibly crowded but was almost empty yesterday due to the weather. Even when it's very busy, there are often sections where far fewer pedestrians are present.
Instead of fixing speed limits on MUPs, why not make rules that accomplish the real goal? How about a rule that requires MUP riders to slow down when passing pedestrians and to ensure a minimum passing distance? Perhaps fixed speed limits make sense on some MUPs but, in general, they seem like overkill to me.
The BIG problems on MUPs and rail-trails where I am is that
#1 , people tend to walk side by side and thus there isn't 3 feet left to pass them with and
#2 a lot of the paths don't have 3 feet of clearance if the person is in the middle of the path.
#3 is that a lot of people walking there dogs do so with the dog on a VERY LONG leash that can reach across the entire width of the path (and then some) and that can happen at any time. I find the MUPs and rail-trails to be more stressful to ride on than a busy road is. especially if I'm wanting to go somewhere fast on the MUP or rail-trail. When I se a lot of cars at the trail head parking lot I just avoid the path and keep on the road.
Too many times on the rail-trail it's sprint, almost stop/trackstand, wait for the person dog to move out of the way, pass very slowly and then sprint and repeat. Great for training as it's like doing intervals but very nerve wracking. And that's not to mention the off leash dogs that dart out of the woods and cross directly in front of you causing you to either brake hard or swerve to avoid hitting them. I had a small dog run out of the woods and dart right in front of my wheel. When I instinctively swerved to miss it I hit the deep loose gravel at the edge of the trail and took a very nasty tumble that scraped and cut me up pretty badly. The dog was off leash even though every road crossing the trail has a sign stating that dogs must be on a leash.
in summer I leave the rail-trails to the alkers and enjoy riding the country roads a lot more as it's a heck of a lot safer there.
Cheers