Originally Posted by
hankaye
So, are these Rules for convenience or are they supposed to be practical?
Neither, they're to protect the more vulnerable users. A mountain bike rider going downhill is the least vulnerable user and as such is afforded the least protection and must act to accommodate other users.
Once again; if you're riding downhill on a multi-direction and multi-use trail and cannot stop for an obstacle as it appears within your line of sight, you are riding too fast and need to slow down.
On the roadway, this is the basic speed law and applies to vehicles. California has even gone so far as to codify this as seen below. Mountain biking does not generally need such legislation but often individual parks will have some sort of rule similar to this.
Vehicle Code section 22350 provides: “No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.”
https://www.google.com/search?q=cali...utf-8&oe=utf-8