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Nearly a hundred comments in, and nobody has yet mentioned John Forester, so I'll step up and play the part of the curmudgeonly old grouch. (And only one mention, in passing, of vehicular cycling.) This tragedy illustrates exactly what John Forester rants on about on his website and in his nearly 20-year old book. That is, the idea that lumping cyclists and pedestrians together, on multi-use trails, simply because neither are motorized misses the essence of cycling.

Bicycles are vehicles and vehicles can follow the rules of the road, and the rules of the road allow high speed traffic to flow safely. By contrast, there are no rules of the sidewalk--the relatively slow speed and extreme maneuverability of pedestrians means that "don't run into one another" suffices. So not only is there no official code, it is unnecessary for pedestrian safety and imposing a code on pedestrians would be unreasonable.

Multi-use trails are poorly defined hybrids. There is no universal set of multi-use trail rules, and I don't think you could really reach a consensus amongst racing cyclists, plodding cyclists, runners, joggers, walkers, dog-walkers, stroller-pushers, children, in-line skaters, skateboarders, and whomever else wishes to use a multi-use trail.

There are only two viable options. First, make it a bicycle-exclusive trail, on which one follows the rules of the road and upon which pedestrians are not allowed. Second, treat it like a sidewalk, which means that cyclists may not go too fast. In particular, it is exclusively the responsibility of cyclists to avoid collisions with pedestrians--a sort of level of responsibility that is often cited in the Dutch model of motorist responsibility. Cyclists must not presume that pedestrians can hear or see them, or that pedestrians will stay to the right, or keep in a straight line. If necessary, this could mean that cyclists will be traveling no faster than the pedestrians.

I do understand that most cycling advocates have given up on Forester's unyielding absolutism, and that bicycle facilities bring out more cyclists and that increasing numbers of cyclists is the best way to improve cycling safety. But some of the things that Forester says are still relevant.

by thm on Jun 12, 2012 11:17 am • link • report