Joggers, Runners & Bikers....please explain?

[tzolkin]

As a runner, I always run AGAINST traffic. When I see a car coming, I go way into the side, off the road, into the shoulder. If there is no shoulder, I will gladly run along weeds and even into ditches. I get back on when the car is past.

I do this too. Most drivers give me a wave and I wave back. I had no idea there was so much animosity about runners until I read this.

If you do what Deb describes I can't see why there would be any animosity.

I have no issues with bikers/runners/walkers. I do have issues with stupid people who don't care about their own safety or that of others. I work in a college town and people always just step directly out into traffic without making eye contact. I went to the college myself and have heard people comment countless times that they (pedestrians) have the right of way. Well that's fine, but we also get over 10 feet of snow and have very steep hills here so when you walk right out in front of someone there's a possibility that you will get hit because they can't stop their vehicle in time.

Sometimes it's even just a courtesy thing. Yesterday morning there was a woman walking in the road with headphones in. I had to come to a complete stop and wait for the oncoming cars to pass so I could drive around her. I had to do this twice (both before and after dropping my DS off at school). She never even glanced at me or attempted to move near the edge of the street. To me, that's just rude. When there are sidewalks available on both sides why would you walk right in the middle of the lane and make everyone have to stop and go around you?(She was in a dress and walking to work, so I don't think she was concerned about the stress on her knees from the sidewalks.)

I live in a smaller village with no sidewalks. Our house is near the end of a dead end street with a field/park and creek across the street so there are always both kids and adults walking and riding their bikes. Everyone has enough common sense to at least move to the edge of the road when a car is approaching.

 

[SAHDad]

If you do what Deb describes I can't see why there would be any animosity.

But not everyone has that attitude. If you read through some of the posts, there are people here who do not believe that bikes should be on the road at all, let alone runners.

Random thought on cluelessness - in college, I tried very hard not to use the bike paths, and rode in the street instead. For starters, the bike paths often did not go far in the same direction that I did - there is little point in hopping on to the bike path for two or three blocks in the middle of a three or four mile commute. And second was personal safety - students would walk out onto the bike paths without checking for oncoming (bike) traffic, but very few students would walk out into the street without checking for traffic.

 

[Green Tea]

Did my morning run today. Encountered adults running, walking and on bikes, kids riding bikes to school, cars, an 18 wheeler carrying lumber, and a large snapping turtle. No one except the turtle seemed to care about folks getting exercise. I think some of you must live in hostile communities.

 

[Deb in IA]

If you do what Deb describes I can't see why there would be any animosity.

I have no issues with bikers/runners/walkers. I do have issues with stupid people who don't care about their own safety or that of others. I work in a college town and people always just step directly out into traffic without making eye contact.

But not everyone has that attitude. If you read through some of the posts, there are people here who do not believe that bikes should be on the road at all, let alone runners.

I have learned what I call "defensive strategies" after years of running.

I have no agenda or anything to prove.

I just want to stay alive, and if I go up against a 2 ton car traveling 55 mph, I'm gonna lose!


tzokin, we live in a college town too. I think all the college kids in the country must have an agreement to walk out in front of cars whenever they wish, because they do it here all the time too!

 

[SAHDad]

I have learned what I call "defensive strategies" after years of running.

I have no agenda or anything to prove.

I just want to stay alive, and if I go up against a 2 ton car traveling 55 mph, I'm gonna lose!

Oh, I run (and bike) under the assumption that all the motorists can see me. . . . and are actively trying to kill me. I'm not trying to crowd them, but there are places where I cannot run much farther to the left than I already am running.