Much as I'd love to ride along the lakefront path some day, I wouldn't do it unless it was part of some huge organized ride due to the sheer number of clueless pedestrians/joggers on the path. The lakefront path would still be much better than Clark street. Joeybrooks might be at home there, but I sure wouldn't.

I hate when people abruptly change direction on the MUP and ignore the existence of all the other MUP users. It's annoying and dangerous and no one is laughing when someone is sprawled in the path with tire tracks or shoe prints marked all over. Jogger's fault in this instance because he chose to be oblivious to his surroundings and didn't check over his shoulder before changing direction. Once we become psychic mind-readers maybe we can skitter all over the MUP.

Our discussion of the Dallas pedestrian killing on a local forum turned into this same argument. It's because we all just want to assign blame. The word "fault" has been said a lot more times in this thread than "careful".

Maybe it's just me, but I try my very best on an MUP not to hit anyone (or any animal, for that matter), no matter how badly they behave. Just being able to blame it on them afterwards isn't good enough for me.

If I ever get into an accident I hope I remember not to post it. I would hate to be attacked on a message board because someone else did something stupid.

I hope you and the bike are okay Steely Dan. Maybe look into an airzound or something similar.

trust me, i'm not out to hit anyone or anything when i'm on the path either (this is the first time i've ever had a collision on the MUP in over 3 years of daily, careful riding), but what was i supposed to do? i called out a "passing on your left" warning, i gave him a wide berth by going into the opposing traffic lane, and he makes a 90 degree abrupt mid-run u-turn across the path right into the path of where my bicycle is going to try to pass him. i suppose i should have come to a full stop behind him, politely tapped him on his left shoulder and said, "excuse me sir, i'm intending on passing you with my bicycle on your left side, so for the next 5-10 seconds, please don't make any abrupt u-turns to the left across the path, thank you".

i'm not terribly caught up in the blame game, i'm just venting a bit because it's frustrating dealing with such a monumental, oblivious, idiot. or as someone earlier in the thread called him, an "obliviot". that's exactly what he was. the good thing is that we were both okay, i'm just stunned at times that joggers will pull this u-turn cross-path stunt frequently on an MUP, yet not a single one of them would ever dare make a u-turn in their car in the middle of street without looking behind them to check for traffic to their rear.

+1 Where you on the M-50 steely?

Runners, joggers, walkers, mothers pushing strollers, and kids playing all use MUPs. Most don't even bother to think about cyclists. If you use MUPs riding, you need to always be aware that some runner may just decide to turn around at the hlaf way point of their run without looking. It doesn't make any difference who's at fault when a collision occurs because the results isn't like auto insurance where one party pays. What hapens is one or both get injured

+1

actually, mine is a '96 M-80, but yeah that's my winter bike. she looks more like a proper old-school MTB these days with the big fat knobby scwalbe snow studs on the rims.

Warnings are good, but for some reason deaf people are also allowed to use public paths like that. They won't hear your warning.

I don't know why the runner couldn't have just stopped and turned around, so he could see where he was going. Oh well. Good thing nobody was hurt worse.

Yeah, any accident discussion always comes down to this. Sounds to me like this was an accident. The jogger could have helped by not turning abruptly, the biker possibly could have helped by slowing around peds. Whatever. It was an accident and I'm glad everyone is ok.

Since most of us here are cyclists and not joggers, the thing we can take from the discussion is keep our speed down around joggers on MUPs because sometimes they do things erratically. Slowing down wont fix everything obviously, but it helps. You might be 100% in the right, but that doesn't really make you feel better when someone gets hurt. I'm not at all accusing the OP of going too fast. He may have been crawling and still had no way to avoid the accident. None of us were there.

I hate Ninjas.....though they seem to be getting rarer and rarer as the joggers have started to wear lights on their arms (not iPods and iPhones, actual lights) or some reflective gear. Now if the walkers and dog owners had some sense of maybe I shouldn't blend in with the blackness I'd be all set.

Thats right i forgot yours was the 80 Well good to hear you both made it through it ok:)

I noticed more reflective harnesses on dogs this fall, as well as headlamps on some of the dogwalkers. It's good to see them noticing their surroundings more.

Agreed. It's another reminder to all of us to be careful, thankfully one that saw no one seriously hurt. Hopefully, the trail zombie took a lesson, too.

Not the full U-turn, but you do see autos change lanes without looking from time to time, or turning across bike lanes without visually clearing them. There are idiots everywhere, it's just that the rules for operating on a roadway are more explicit, making traffic more predictable (but not, unfortunately, idiot-proof).

FWIW, I find that runners are among the most predictable of MUP users, as they tend to move in a straight line and rarely deviate. In over a decade of regular MUP use (on bike, on 'blades, on skis, and on foot), I've only once run afoul of the ol' U-turn-to-the-face maneuver from a runner (although, like you, I've seen it repeatedly); and since it was on a crowded section of path, I was going slow enough to hit the brakes and put a foot down, and watch with increasing bemusement as the runner stumbled into my front tire. I have also been run completely off of the path once, nearly run off several more times, and buzzed innumerable times by cyclists on the MUP; same kind of idiots, just with more speed.

Dude, if you blew an airhorn as you passed me on an MUP, I would have a hard time not pulling you off of the back of your bike and bellowing into your face for all that I'm worth. Save that crap for the road.

Plenty of clueless cyclists too. The last time I was in Chicago (love the place BTW) my wife and I nearly got run down by some fool on his road bike on the lakeshore path with no warning given and we were so far to the right of the trail I was walking on the grass.

I usually take the Lakefront Path if I need to go from the Northside to Downtown, it's like an expressway for cyclists. In part I do it because I figure it's safer than taking the streets. But I do wonder about this, maybe taking Clark St. is safer after all, especially in the summer time when it gets really busy.

The cyclist on the MUP had moved into the oposite lane to pass too. Just as cyclists on the road need to check for cars going around them, pedestrians need to look for cyclists and faster runners overtaking them before they cross over to the opposite side of the path. If you run into a pedestrian who stops on the right side of the path, you're at fault. Otherwise, the fault lies with the person whose behavior is unpredictable.

As others have pointed out, the injuries aren't shared with the same ratios as the blame. When I am overtaking others on the path, I assume that they are totally oblivious and stupid. I resist the urge to take advantage of tailwinds and go fast. I have had cyclists do stupid things like pass with oncoming traffic way too close, stop across the trail, etc. Communication and predictability are the 2 things that help most with traffic safety.

The only real solution is to barrel down the MUP with an Airzounds blaring away... if that doesn't get the message across, nothing will.

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.

Would get thrown out of court. Called "contributory negligence". Basically both parties at fault and it's a wash.

Personal opinion is that yeah, there's some cyclist responsibility but the jogger was a dope. I got one the same way about a year ago. Only one I really feel for was the one running with two dogs I spooked with an "on your left" and she face planted in the trail when she tripped looking back.

silly assumption.

silly assumption.

BTW, I've got two words for you: Air Zound... oh, wait... that's one word actually ;) Oh well... If the idiots don't hear THAT, then at least no one should question whose fault it is :D If I see people with headphones I use the horn, don't even bother with the bell or yelling out.

It's always unpleasant to have contact with the headphone zombies. It was nice of the OP to take the brunt of the encounter by leaning away from the inevitable impact. It is usually safer for the cyclist to lean into a certain collision with a movable object, but I understand the reluctance to do so. By steering away you may save both of you from damage, but if you don't succeed you could be much worse for wear. Where I live, the bike paths have numerous solid objects at the edge (light standards, concrete blocks, map displays, mile posts, planets (scale replicas), concrete walls, bars...). It encourages me to carefully consider what actions the zombies could take and make sure I always have an out.

I'm really surprised this thread has gone on this long about (what would/should be) a common sense issue. The jogger made a U-Turn without first looking around to make sure it's safe. We actually have signs that say if you are going to turn around, you need to first go onto the shoulder and turn around and look and then go into the other lane. The jogger isn't an idiot but he was certainly in a moment of not thinking. There was nothing else the cyclist could have done about it to alleviate the situation, except for not being there in the first place.

Common sense people, seriously.

You could be talking about some of the people here with the same sentence.

Not really sure what you're getting at here. Though I, too, am glad the damage and pain was negligible.

Yes, it is an accident. I don't think anyone intended it to happen.

It is an accident where the jogger is at fault.

I won't immediately say 100% because I don't know OPs speed, just how radical the U-turn was, etc., but the jogger did have a responsibility to NOT make the radical move. In the end, CCrew is probably right about it netting out to contributory negligence / wash in court, unless there was God-cam video showing that this jogger's stupidity was on par with that we see all the time then it would be victory for Steely Dan. Good thing it looks like this doesn't need to and isn't going there.

The only way I would point even a fingernail at Steely Dan was if he was going recklessly fast, passing recklessly close to the jogger's original track, or this happened right to be at a junction or such where the jogger was making a predictable "legal left turn" and not from the right hand lane. I doubt any of those are true. Random no look U-turn at the point where he has run far enough or remembered he left the oven on doesn't shift fault.

I think this below is well said, pallen. People do stupid things, accidents will continue to happen. I'll be a part of fewer at 10-15mph than 20+. And when they do happen, and they will, I'll have done my part, and the other guy will be at fault, whether I would win in court or not. And I'm praying that the other "guy" is not some kid in a baby stroller with a clueless mom / nanny.

Amen! Seems to be a recurring theme around these boards! I had a similar experience after my mishap on Christmas Eve. Anyone with a brain can read the OP and get the picture... some people love to twist things around and stir up ****.

My sympathies to the OP. Anyone who rides on MUPs can easily relate to wear you are coming from.

andy