BIKE: Statesman Editorial: Cyclists: Be Careful

[Jeb Boyt]

Here are my thoughts and comments on this letter:

1 - Cyclists always have a responsibility to safely overtake pedestrians.  
Announcing "on your left" is usually a good idea, particularly in low 
traffic and parent-child situations such as the one described.

2 - "[W]e were walking to school on the Shoal Creek hike and bike trail."  
Any idea where this happened?  My first thought is that it happened on the 
hill in Pease' s park, roughly across from where MLK dead ends into Lamar.  
But, I don't know of any schools in that area.  There aren't any hills on 
the Shoal Creek trail near Bryker Woods Elementary.

3 - "He[ a] came down the hill behind us, too fast, [b] didn't alert us that 
he was coming, and [c] assumed he knew which way we would dodge when we 
finally heard him."  The cyclist was apparently wrong with a & b.  However, 
with regards to c, the author of the letter may have assumed that she knew 
which way to dodge.  Unless the cyclists was passing them on the right, they 
likely dodged to the left and into his path.  I am amazed at how often 
pedestrians do this.  This is why announcing "on your left" is a good idea.  
If nothing else, the pedestrians look really sheepish when they then dodge 
to the left (which still happens).  Also, if the cyclist was passing them on 
the right, they would have had to been walking in the middle of the path.  
Finally, often there is no need to dodge, simply slowing down or briefly 
halting are more certain ways to ensure that a cyclist will pass safely.  On 
this point, I give the benefit of the doubt to the cyclist.

4 - "Walkers have the right of way on the hike and bike trails, followed by 
runners and then cyclists."  No.  Faster traffic has an obligation to yield 
to slower traffic.  That includes all downhill traffic yielding to uphill 
traffic.  Pedestrians do not have absolute right of way.  Only equestrians 
have absolute right of way on trails.

Jeb Boyt
Austin Metro Trails & Greenways
http://www.austintrails.org

----Original Message Follows----
 > Anyway, here's the letter.................
 > ********************************************************
 >
 > "A bicyclist ran over my 9-year-old daughter as we were walking to school
 > on the Shoal Creek hike and bike trail recently. He came down the hill
 > behind us, too fast, didn't alert us that he was coming, and assumed he
 > knew which way we would dodge when we finally heard him. He guessed wrong
 > and ran right into my daughter. We're very lucky that she suffered only
 > scrapes , bruises, and a lot of tears. I'm trying not to imagine the
 > injuries a child could receive being squashed on the pavement by two
 > hundred pounds of bicycle and rider. Walkers have the right of way on the
 > hike and bike trails, followed by runners and then cyclists. It's always
 > the cyclist's responsibility to pass pedestrains slowly enough to avoid 
an
 > accident."
 >
 >
 >
 > _______________________________________________
 > Get on or off this list here:  http://BicycleAustin.info/list




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