What does this sign mean to you?
I’m not asking to be sarcastic. I’m asking because we pass this on our walk daily, and every single day we encounter a problem because of it.
Here’s how I read it: I walk on the left side of the path. If there is a biker, they are coming straight at me, but since I am a pedestrian, I have the right of way and therefore do not have to move to the right. They, in turn, being on the bike, have ample time and speed to circle around me on the right (their left). Because like on the road, you pass on the left.
Right? Or, er, correct?
Because it’s like a deadly game out chicken out there. Sometimes the bikers don’t move, so I have to push the stroller out of the way quickly to the right to avoid becoming road kill. Which is not always the best solution if there are bikes coming up behind me on the right! And if they win the game of chicken, they give me a death stare as they zoom by me on my left.
Or sometimes there are people not following the sign at all and waking on their right, so you’ll be walking towards each other and then bikes will come along and all hell breaks loose because OMIGOD WHERE DO WE GO?
I very well could be wrong here and maybe I AM supposed to move aside for the bikes. I have no idea. The sign isn’t all the clear.
What do you think?
Owen and I thank you in advance for keeping us from becoming road pancakes.
25 comments
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April 19, 2011 at 1:22 pm
prettylittlereckless
That is a very good question. I would be completely confused too. We definitely don’t have those in MN. We walk on the right and any bikers will call out “on your left!” just so you’re aware they’ll be passing you.
Maybe you can ask another walker? I guess that’s what I’d do!
April 19, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Kim
I would read it the same way you do, but I would then ignore it an walk on the right side of the path if you seem to be the only one heeding the sign. I jog on a very busy bike path and always hug the right side as tight as I can so the bikers and faster runners have plenty of room to pass on my left.
April 19, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Colleen C
Umm I have NO clue whatsoever. I’m with prettylittlereckless. I always walk/jog on the right and bikers go around me.
April 19, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Ivy
That is one of the dumbest signs I have ever seen. I agree with prettylittlereckless and Kim. When everyone walks/bikes on the right, it works. No games of chicken.
April 19, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Laura
I’m with everyone above. If you’re walking on the right, they will pass you on the left.
This sign is VERY confusing and weird. I’d be tempted to take it down.
I think it might be intending to have the pedestrians walk near the canter, to the left of their lane? But even that is strange. Generally quicker traffic is to the left?
April 19, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Sarah S @RunningOnWords
Bikers are dicks. I shouldn’t make sweeping generalizations and all that, but I run on a trail and the bikers always act like runners are horrible human beings for being anywhere near the trail. You would think they would be politer considering the way the are treated in traffic by motorists.
Anyways, we were always told to walk or run on the left so that you can see them coming. That way if they choose to try to kill you, you at least know they are there.
April 19, 2011 at 1:49 pm
A Super Girl
You should treat the path like a 2 lane road, so you should walk on the right. If bikers are coming at you, they should be to your left (and also biking on the right from their perspective). As a previous commenter said, you could also hug the right portion of the right side just in case a bike comes from behind you and wants to pass. And if for some reason you are walking on the right and a bike is both approaching you from behind and coming at you in the “oncoming lane”, you would stay where you are and the two bikes would have to fight out for right of way. In that case, the bike behind you would have to remain behind you until the bike coming at you moved out of the way and then they could pass you on the left, just like cars.
That sign is lame and confusing
April 19, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Life of a Doctor's Wife
I was always taught to walk on the side of the road that had drivers coming AT you. So, on the left side of the road. That way, you could see the people coming and have the chance to get out of the way if they didn’t see you.
If you are walking on the right side, with drivers coming from BEHIND you, they could potentially not see you, and you wouldn’t be able to see them, so it’s more dangerous.
So I think this sign is saying, walk on the left, so that you can see bikers coming.
April 19, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Melinda
That sign is not really very clear and it doesn’t make since in the USA where we drive on the right side of the road. I think that should also apply to paths like this too. Maybe whoever make the sign was from Europe.
April 19, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Sassafras
Ahhh yes. I understand it to mean you walk on the left side but as far as who is supposed to move when oncoming traffic is coming, I have no idea! I would think, considering you have a stroller, the person with more mobility would move and I would agree that would be a bike. You are in RI, however, and since I am hop, skip and a jump from the boarder I can say this: RI drivers are terrible and it just might apply to the bike path as well.
April 19, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Sarah
That is a dumb sign. And I have no words of wisdom about its meaning. All I can say is I run into the same problem when I try to take my daughter out on the trail. The bikers come at us like they are trying to hit us. I just try to stay out of their way.
April 19, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Rebecca
Omigosh, I hate confusing things like this! I have no idea what it means. I always stay to the right when I’m on the bike trail by me, but the sign makes you think otherwise. Who knows?!?
April 19, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Heather
Apparently you aren’t the only one who is confused… (and I can’t say I blame you!) so I took to the Googles and found this:
Confusion arises because the posted signs and painted icons that instruct walkers to “walk in the left lane, facing bicyclists” don’t spell out the rest of the rule, which is that walkers are to stay to the left, close to the grass edge, and make way for oncoming bicyclists.
http://www.projo.com/lifebeat/content/wk-bikepathnew_05-08-08_9FA2DC7_v13.252ca41.html
April 19, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Barbara
I totally agree with you…. You are abiding by the sign.. it’s the bikers that need to obey the laws too….
April 19, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Kari
I can’t speak to your personal path, but as a cyclist here in Ohio, I can tell you how we generally do it. The walkers are to stay on the right side (their right, no matter what direction they are walking) and the cyclists pass on the left. When they approach a walker from behind, a good cyclist will say “on your left” and then go around. An annoying cyclist will ring a bell and a rude cyclist will just zoom on by. I”m not sure what that sign in referring to b/c it’s the opposite of how we do it but…we generally say walkers and slow people on the right, runners, rollerbladers, and cyclists pass on the left.
April 19, 2011 at 6:26 pm
zoey
i would stay to the far left and face the bikers so you can see them and dodge them if need be. otherwise you are putting yourself out there to be hit from behind.
they need to clarify the rules for EVERYONE, not just pedestrians. who can you contact about it?
April 19, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Erin
I think you are in the right (har) in your interpretation of the sign, and I think Zoey is correct that the sign intends for you to stay to the left so you can see bikers coming and move to the right; that way people coming up behind you will pass you on your left.
However, this really doesn’t make sense as here in the US we drive on the right side of the road and pass on the left. I think Kari’s point that someone coming up behind you will typically give you warning that they’re passing you makes a lot more sense than that sign does.
April 19, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Alison
Where does that park think it is? England?
I’ve always, always walked on the right. You drive on the right, you walk on the right. In malls, down staircases, in the hallway…isn’t that how it always is?
I’m not surprised that bikers are giving you dirty looks. I’d be mad too if someone was walking on the wrong side of the road! Someone needs to change those park rules–I don’t see what the problem would be if you just walked on the right like everyone else. Bikes could pass you safely on the left.
April 20, 2011 at 12:54 am
Maranda
They need a different more specific sign.
April 21, 2011 at 3:53 am
endyluo2026
Can use other symbols to say…
April 21, 2011 at 5:02 am
miss a
We have those type signs everywhere, but they simply say ‘walk on the left’, without the clarification that means FACING cyclists. But I also live in Australia where we drive on the left… so people here stick to the left EVERYWHERE. Even in shopping centres…
April 21, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Sara
I would walk/jog/run on the left. I feel as though it is the biker’s responsibility to move over for you, just as they would if they were driving a car and you were running on the road. Personally I have no desire to make a person go SPLAT! or be responsible for the bodily harm of another person if I can help it.
I was always taught to run facing traffic for safety reasons. I do this even if I’m running on a sidewalk, simply because I want to see what is hurtling towards me (or popping a curb and hurtling towards me). When I ride my bike, I ride with traffic on the road and rarely (if ever) on the sidewalk (I usually ride on the sidewalk if the traffic terrifies me and then I try to walk my bike or I ding my little bell to alert runners/joggers/walkers). I would always respect people who are walking and move out of their way, even if it slows me down. Car > bike > person.
April 22, 2011 at 9:03 am
Anastasia
Wow. No idea. I always figured that EVERYONE stays on the right. Kind of like driving.
April 25, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Lindsey
I know you are abiding by the sign. But, the sign totally pisses me off and I think it would be less dangerous for you and O to walk on the right. Also, i am SURE the bikers are not reading the sign (bikers seem to be generally annoyed at walkers/strollers being anywhere near them). Anyway, I vote to stay to the right and avoid a head-on collision.
April 26, 2011 at 4:49 am
sugarmouse
no arguments, it is a completely misleading sign. i guess whichever way the cyclists come, i’d quickly move over to face them(??)
actually, i have no idea. i’d most probably be the one muttering “ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod” while holding my breath in the case of spying an oncoming cyclist from afar and either break into an awkward run/walk or just stay as plastered as i possibly can to the side of the road where it’s clear.
lol.