For pedestrians, it would work like this: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4_9kDO3q0w . 



I just hope we don't start seeing killer bunnies on the bike paths. 



----- Original Message -----


From: "Patrick Lenon" <[email protected]> 
To: [email protected] 
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 11:14:51 AM 
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Fwd:  Courtesy or Nuisance? 


I have TEH solution. 


Make these mandatory on the bike path.   


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfyC6NJqt2o&feature=player_embedded 


Pedestrians will have to operate theirs by hand, of course. 

------------- 
Patrick Lenon 




Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:29:15 -0600 
From: [email protected] 
To: [email protected] 
Subject: [Bikies] Fwd: Courtesy or Nuisance? 

Scott, 


I think you forgot.  My comment about moving off the path was a reference to 
comments made by Robbie Webber in the past on this list.  She explained that 
the reason people walk facing traffic on the path is based on what they have 
been taught about walking in the street.  But in the street as Chuck explained, 
you are not a privileged user and therefore required to move out of the way of 
on-coming traffic (This is state law).  By analogy, if you are going to walk 
against traffic on the path Robbie argued, you should also move out of the way 
even if it isn't the law for multi-use paths.  Apologies for assuming people 
remembered the prior discussion. 

I also made a similar point to Chuck by referencing John Rider's previous 
comments on this topic although not spelled out as well as Chuck put it. 

Mark 




On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 10:05 AM, S. Morris Rose < [email protected] > wrote: 




Thanks- your rationale for why peds should walk on the right is sensible, and I 
think it's the first time I've heard it explained. Or I forgot. 


Between Paulino insisting that peds should walk on the left, and practicing 
that, and Shahan insisting that such peds should step off the path, we've got 
an accident loaded and ready to fire. Oops. 


Well-observed conventions are our only hope. 









On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 6:45 AM, STRAWSER, Charles < [email protected] > 
wrote: 

<blockquote>




From: S. Morris Rose [mailto: [email protected] ] 
Sent: 
To: STRAWSER, Charles 

Cc: Bikies 
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Courtesy or Nuisance? 


  

  



On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 9:04 AM, STRAWSER, Charles < [email protected] > 
wrote: 


<blockquote>


  

I think it makes a lot more sense for peds to walk on the right... for all the 
reasons already 
described on this thread. 





  

On Friday, November 23, 2012 12:14 PM, Scott Rose wrote: 


I read the whole thread, and I didn't see anybody explain why it makes more 
sense, much less a lot more sense, for peds to walk on the right. I saw one guy 
explain why he thinks walking on the left is more sensible. But it's made clear 
by your forward that the convention on trails is for peds on the right, and 
clearly it's safer when people follow stated traffic convention than if 
everybody makes up their own. 



  


Less clear is why there is one convention for peds on roads and another for 
peds on trails. Let's guess that there are a lot of people who don't know what 
the conventions are. 



  

Scott M. Rose 

West Point Grey, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 


------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Scott, 

You’re right, it wasn’t made all that clear in the previous thread. 

  

Mark Shahan wrote: “The problem is most people don't know that when they walk 
against traffic on the left, they are suppose to move off the path when 
on-coming traffic approaches.” 

But this is not actually the (official) expectation of path users as I 
understand it. This is what is required of peds walking on a ROAD (not a 
sidewalk, and not a path). 

  

There is one convention for peds on roads because peds in roads (not sidewalks) 
are expected to yield to vehicles in the road. Therefore, peds in the road must 
be able to see the approaching vehicles that they are required to yield to, and 
hence must walk facing vehicle traffic. I believe this is state law, though I’m 
not going to take the time to look it up. 

  

There is another convention for peds on multi-use paths because peds are NOT 
expected to yield to vehicles (bicycles) on the path. It’s exactly the 
opposite: bicycles are expected to yield to peds on the path (well, actually, 
faster users are expected to yield to slower users, but with a few exceptions 
this generally means that bikes yield to peds). However, it is much easier for 
everyone (if not necessarily more comfortable for everyone) if all the traffic 
(bikes and peds) travels in the same direction. Here’s why: 

  

If you approach a ped traveling in the same direction as you, but there is 
oncoming traffic that makes it unsafe (or even just discourteous) to pass, you 
can ride at walking speed behind the pedestrian until the oncoming traffic 
clears and it is safe to pass. If the pedestrian you approach is walking 
towards you (on his/her left of the path), and you must wait for oncoming 
traffic to pass, at some point you and the ped meet and both must stop until it 
is safe for one to pass the other. This makes no sense at all (unless you 
believe that peds walking on the left are expected to get off the path, which I 
don’t think is codified anywhere in local or state law), it’s irritating for 
both the walker and the cyclist, and on a crowded path it quickly cascades into 
bottlenecks. 

  

The problem, as you put it well, comes when everyone does not follow the same 
convention. And too many folks don’t know what the official convention is, or 
seem to care. For example, I meet pedestrians walking in the road against 
traffic (even where there are sidewalks) all the time who do not yield to me as 
a vehicle, and of course I do yield to them because I’m not about to hit a 
pedestrian in the road simply because they are not following the law. This 
generally happens on relatively low speed, low volume local streets, so perhaps 
we have gravitated to a system where peds expect to be yielded to whether they 
are in a thoroughfare in which they feel relatively safe (such as local streets 
or paths). That’s understandable, and perhaps it’s even a more appropriate 
convention. But it doesn’t happen to be the law here in Wisconsin. 


  

Chuck Strawser 

Pedestrian & Bicycle Transportation Planner 

Commuter Solutions 

Transportation Services 

UW-Madison 

Room 124 WARF 

610 Walnut St 

Madison WI 53726 

608-263-2969 

www.wisc.edu/trans 
</blockquote>




-- 



Scott M. Rose 
West Point Grey, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 


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</blockquote>




-- 
Mark N. Shahan                               ------  __o 
607 Piper Drive                          -------  _`\<,_ 
Madison, WI 53711-1338             ---- (*)/ (*) 
(608) 274-9367 
[email protected] 

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