In article ,
Pbwalther wrote:
I am a bike rider, walker/hiker, and dog walker. My position is that all
pedestrians, including dog walkers, walk on the LEFT on multiuse trails
so that they can see oncoming bike riders

On our local trails there are posted rules. All slow traffic is on the RIGHT.


You know this makes sense. Bike trails are not that wide. If "pedestrians"
walk on the LEFT, that makes essentially a slot on both sides of the trail for
pedestrians. Actually, more then that because most pedestrians come in at
least pairs and walk side by side. A bike trail is just too narrow to allow
pedestrians walking on the LEFT with cyclists on the RIGHT. These things are
not 4 lanes.

AND, more importantly, keep
their unruly dogs under control by blocking them with their body to
prevent them from charging into the trail.

Unruly dogs have absolutely no place on multiple use trails. PERIOD!!! If a
dog has a tendency to charge anyone, they should not be out in this kind of
setting. In my observations on the local trails though, the dogs are pretty
well behaved. I have yet to see one try to pursue my bike.

This, coupled with the convention of walking to the left on roads with
automobiles to face traffic, seems to make it sensible to adopt the rule
of walking left on multiuse trails.

Again, multiple use trails are different. They are not nearly as wide as roads
and there just is not the space to conveniently allow for such.

It's a jungle out there. A zoo. My wife and daughter were
scared by a girl with an unleashed great Dane that was charging
people; but they were not as frightened as an elderly man who
actually ran up and hid behind my wife when this horse charged
him. My wife demanded to know why the girl didn't have him on a
leash, and she just whined 'sorry', but was back the next day
same story.

Yesterday, I had a dog leap at me as I passed and then he
chased me down the trail for a good 100feet, right at my front
wheel looking for a taste. The trail clearly says 'leash', but
one section is 'unleashed' on T,Th,Sat. It seems there's a lot
of dog owners on the city council and they're -very- vocal.

I don't understand it, b/c the dog owners are going to be
liable if the dog hurts someone. ;-(

-B
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