Bicycle/Jogging Trail Etiquette

My past posts concerning cycling have all had to do with bikes on the road, but many cyclists spend most of their time on trails. There is a certain etiquette that is expected of all users of a bike trail, whether on two wheels, more wheels, or no wheels. (By bike trail, I mean a paved trail intended for use by the public for walking, biking, jogging, roller skating, etc. Rails-to-trails projects are good examples of what I mean. I do not mean mountain bike trails--I have no knowledge of the etiquette on those trails.)

A long time ago, trail users were few and everyone just "knew" the etiquette or picked it up by watching others. These days, trails are much more popular (this is a good thing), but no one ever teaches people trail etiquette. The following are just a few of the rules. If you think of some that I've left out, please feel free to add them in the comments section.

1. Keep right. This is the most fundamental rule of trail etiquette. It doesn't matter if you're riding a bike, jogging, or out for a Sunday stroll. You should keep to the right half of the trail. Trails (usually) have no center line, but neither do some roads and on those roads, cars are also expected to keep right. It's the same thing. It is, in fact, mildly rude to be jogging up the left side of the trail and forcing those going the other direction to go around you, yet I encounter many people doing just that every time I ride a trail. I used to run regularly on trails--that's how I learned trail etiquette, so I know it's the same for everyone. Keep right!
   
2. Pass left. If everyone is keeping to the right then obviously you need to pass on the left, correct? Apparently not; I have been within a foot of the right-hand side of a trail and had another cyclist actually leave the trail to pass me on the right. He gave no warning that he was passing (see below) and blew by at high speed. There was plenty of room on the left for him to pass since we were the only two on that section of the trail.
   
   A corollary to this one is that you need to look behind you before moving left to pass. For all you know, someone else is about to pass you on the left and if you move out in front of them there could be a nasty crash.
   
3. Give warning before passing. You need to warn others before you pass them, whether it's a shouted warning (I usually yell, "Bike on the left!"), a bell, a horn, or some other audible warning, you need to make some sound. Not doing so is not only extremely rude, it's downright dangerous. People on trails have a tendency to suddenly change direction without warning--you never know when something on the left side of the trail will get a pedestrian's attention; they could turn right in front of you without warning.
   
   You need to give your warning early enough that those you are overtaking can react by (hopefully) acknowledging the warning and/or moving out of the way. Scaring the daylights out of some poor old woman out walking her dog by yelling from a foot behind her and blowing by before she has a chance to let the words sink in is not cool.
   
   Since you're giving warning early, the sound has to be loud enough to be heard more than a foot away from you. I've heard people mutter "bike passing" before passing someone, but I could barely hear them and I was only a couple of feet away; the people they were passing never had a chance.
   
4. Turn the volume down on headphones. This rule used to be "don't wear headphones", but headphones while working out (or even just walking somewhere) are so prevalent now that the rule has to be modified. If you are wearing headphones, turn the volume down to a level that allows you to hear what's going on around you. This isn't a matter of me not wanting to hear your music; I'm only going to be next to you for a moment, so I don't care about that. This is a matter of you wanting to hear my warning that I'm going to pass. It does no good for me to give a warning if you can't hear it. I don't know how many times I've called out a warning and then scared the daylights out of someone as I passed them because they had headphones on, so had no idea I was there. I try to give people with headphones a wide berth, both to avoid scaring them and because I don't know if they heard me, so might just turn right in front of me.
   
5. Don't block the trail. If you stop to talk to someone, both of you step off the side of the trail if possible. If it's not possible to step off the trail, then stand as close to the side of the trail as possible so as to leave enough room on the trail for people to comfortably pass both ways. When you do stop (for whatever reason) look back first and make sure that you're not going to get rear ended by someone who wasn't ready for you to stop.
   
   Last fall, I came across a person who was changing a flat tire right in the middle of the trail. It was late evening, the sun was going down, and the light was failing under the trees. This person was not only being rude by blocking the entire trail, but was putting themselves and others in danger by being in the way in a poor visibility situation. Luckily, it was a chilly evening, so there weren't a lot of other trail users, but please think before squatting down in the middle of a trail. Change a tire at the side of the trail--off the side, if possible.
   
   One more form of trail-blockage is the person with a dog on a long leash. The person is politely walking along the right-hand edge of the trail, but their dog is exploring the bushes off the left side of the trail. In between is a nearly invisible leash. I've never done it or seen it, but I know someone who ran into a leash while passing someone because they never saw it. This resulted in damage to the bike; injury to the rider; injury to the person holding the leash (sprained wrist); and a dog that was frightened by the jerk on his leash, ran off while everyone was focused on the injured people, and wasn't found for close to an hour. Again, please think, folks. Keep your dog on a leash and keep that leash short enough that he/she isn't blocking the trail.
   
6. Dogs must be on a leash. Dogs are even more unpredictable than humans. A normally well-behaved dog may be startled by a jogger or bicyclist and chase them and/or bite them. Even a dog that's behaving itself might suddenly be distracted by a movement and dart across the trail in front of somebody. I see people walking dogs without leashes on trails all the time. I've even seen one man walk his dog to the trail with a leash, then take the leash off and let the dog run all over the trail. This is illegal, dangerous, and rude.

That's what I came up with off the top of my head. As I said above, feel free to add more trail etiquette rules in the comments.

Five Bicycling Safety Myths Dispelled

I wouldn't be fulfilling my stated purpose for this blog without discussion of bicycle safety, both from the bicyclist's viewpoint and from the viewpoint of drivers who are sharing the rode with cyclists. This entry focuses on the bicyclist and the many things that people do when riding because they think it's safe or legal when, in fact, it is unsafe or illegal (frequently both).

1. Myth: It is safer to ride on the sidewalk than on the street.
   
   Fact: A cyclist on a sidewalk is almost twice as likely to get hit by a car than one riding in the street. (source: BicyclingLife.com--see table 5; note also in table 4 how much each risk goes up when riding on the sidewalk. Also, while not stating how much more likely to get hit on the sidewalk than the street, BicycleSafe.com points out many scenarios in which the best way to avoid a certain type of accident is to not be riding on the sidewalk in the first place.)
   
   Why:  Most adult cyclists are also drivers, so I ask you to look at it from the driver's point of view for a moment; when you are pulling out of a driveway, are you expecting a bicycle on the sidewalk or are you looking for vehicle traffic out in the street? Most of us will look briefly for pedestrians on the sidewalk, but we are not expecting faster moving bicycles, so we don't look far enough up and down the sidewalk to see them. The driveway out of my building is blind on the right for any vehicle shorter than a large SUV thanks to a tall hedge. I always stop at the edge of the sidewalk and peer over and through the hedge to look for pedestrians, but I would probably not be able to see a bicycle that way--most bikes are moving too quickly for a person's eyes to focus on them quickly through gaps in the hedge. Besides, I've watched many cars come out of that driveway without even pausing at the sidewalk. A pedestrian might be able to stop instantly and/or jump back out of the way of a car at that point, but a bicycle is far less maneuverable.
   
   The other consideration here is that in many places, riding on the sidewalk is illegal. (I admit that until today I thought that was the case everywhere, but while doing my research, I discovered otherwise.) Those communities where it is not expressly illegal to ride on the sidewalk are unlikely to endorse it, either, as it can open them up to lawsuits.
   
   Legal where you are or not, riding on a sidewalk is dangerous. If you insist on doing so anyway, please follow the http://www.commutebybike.com/2008/07/09/top-5-rules-for-riding-on-the-sidewalk/ as presented by CommuteByBike.com.
2. Myth: It is safer to ride facing traffic so you can see cars coming (and they won't hit you from behind).
   
   Fact: You are nearly four times as likely to get hit by a car when riding facing traffic than when riding with traffic. (source: BicyclingLife.com--see table 4) Nearly a quarter of all car-bicycle collisions are the result of the bicycle riding against traffic. (Before arguing that this shows it's more dangerous to ride with the traffic, keep in mind that only 8% of cyclists ride against traffic, so those 8% of the cyclists are causing 25% of the accidents.)
   
   Why: Once again, I ask you to put yourself in the driver's seat of a car pulling onto a road from a driveway or side road. If you're turning right, are you looking for traffic coming from your right? If you said 'yes' then you are either a very strange person or a liar. Most people will glance to the right to make sure the road is clear before turning (but while already moving, and much too late to stop for a bicycle riding at them), but up to that point, they look to where the traffic is expected to be coming from: the left. If you're riding the wrong way down a one way street then even someone turning left isn't going to look your way since they don't expect traffic to be coming from that direction.
   
   You may think that you're okay because you are always very careful to make sure that drivers pulling onto the road see you before you cross in front of them. That's very prudent, but they are not the only danger as a result of riding the wrong direction. I witnessed a very near car-bicycle accident a couple of weeks ago in which the cyclist was riding on the left side of a two way street and the driver was traveling in the same direction on the right side of the street. How did they nearly collide? The driver waited until there was a break in oncoming traffic and made a perfectly legal left turn into a driveway. The cyclist just happened to be just about to go across that driveway at the time; there was no reason why the driver should have expected traffic coming from behind her to be an issue as she made that turn. In this case, the cyclist was barely able to go around behind the car, but many cyclists in that situation are not so lucky.
   
   Many people will ride facing traffic to avoid getting hit from behind by a car. The fact is that this is by far the least likely car-bike collision to occur (only 3.8% of collisions are of this type source: BicyclingLife.com), and when it does, it is almost always at night and the bicycle has no lights or reflectors and the rider is not wearing any reflective gear. Don't ride at night with no lights or reflective gear and you are almost certain never to be hit from behind by a car.
   
   One final thought that I confess hadn't occurred to me before today but that I found on BicycleSafe.com while doing my research. Suppose you are riding 10 mph and the traffic is moving at 30 mph. If a car hits you from behind then the speed of impact is 30 - 10 = 20 mph. If you are facing traffic, so hit a car head on, then the speed of impact is 30 + 10 = 40 mph. That's twice as fast. So even if you did get hit from behind (exceedingly unlikely though it is), you're still better off.
   
   Bicycling with traffic while following the rules of the road (see below) is, in fact, safer than many other common activities, including driving a car. A list of activities and the likelihood of an accident while participating in each is given in BicyclingLife's Modern Bicycle Myths.
3. Myth: Bicycles don't need to stop at red lights or stop signs (or are allowed to cross on "all way walk" signals).
   
   Fact: Bicycles are required to follow the same rules of the road as any motor vehicle and then some. (source: livestrong.com)
   
   Why: Bicycles are vehicles and, as such, are required to follow the rules of the road. This is not only the law, but following the rules of the road makes your behavior predictable and, therefore, safer for you and the motorists around you. As far as "all way walk" signals go; they are intended to allow pedestrians to walk across the street safely. Bicyclists are not pedestrians unless they walk their bicycle--if you walk across then you can go with a walk signal. Otherwise, you wait with the cars.
4. Myth: Bicycles must keep as far right as possible at all times when traveling on a road.
   
   Fact: Bicycles must keep right as long as it is safe to do so and doing so doesn't violate other rules of the road.
   
   Why: Requiring bicyclists to stay as far right as possible would require them to ride through all kinds of crap on the road, including broken glass, collected silt, fallen tree branches, and parked cars. Obviously, a bike must be allowed to move left to get around these obstacles.
   
   Speaking of parked cars, when passing them, a cyclist should not ride as close to them as possible. This is remarkably dangerous, as you cannot always see if someone is in one of those parked cars and may throw their door open without warning. Always maintain a safe distance from parked cars; this is generally at least 3 feet (which, incidentally, is the amount of space that cars are required to give a bicycle when passing them; but that's a topic for another day).
   
   Another reason for not staying right is following traffic laws. If I am turning left at an intersection where a left turn lane is provided, I must use said left turn lane. It is not only the legal way to do it; it is also the safest. If I'm out in the left turn lane then everyone knows I'm turning left--not even a crazy bicyclist would accidentally move into the left turn lane when planning to go straight, would they? Likewise, if there is a right turn lane and I plan to go straight, it would very dangerous for me to keep to the right of the turn lane and try to go straight through the intersection (see below). It's much safer to move out into a lane where the traffic is expected to go straight.
5. Myth: It is okay for a bicycle to pass cars on the right when they are stopped at a traffic light or stop sign.
   
   Fact: This is a good way to get yourself killed when a car suddenly pulls over or turns right.
   
   Why: One last time, I ask you to put yourself in the driver's seat. You're planning on turning right, so you're waiting for break in cross traffic (or a green light) to do so. Where is your attention? It is on the cross traffic and/or the traffic signal. It is not on the shoulder to your right. When you get a break or green light, you are going to look down the road you're turning onto and make the turn; you're still not expecting traffic to be passing you on your right at this point.
   
   This behavior is one of the scariest that I see in otherwise careful riders all the time, especially on routes that they are familiar with. They "know" the traffic pattern, so are sure that they will be safe passing this line of cars. All it takes is one car that doesn't follow the general pattern and it's all over. The only way to keep yourself safe from right-turning cars or cars pulling over to the side of the road is this: don't ever pass a car on the right. Ever.
   
   I admit that I didn't always follow this rule myself, figuring that if I had a bike lane then I was able to pass cars if they were backed up from an intersection. When I was 24. I was doing just that when one of the cars suddenly pulled into the bike lane and stopped to let a passenger out just inches in front of my wheel. I hit the back bumper hard enough to completely reshape the fork on my bike, flipped over the handlebars, and, luckily, bounced off the trunk of the car and relatively softly onto the street beside them. There were many witnesses who provided me with contact info and the driver clearly felt absolutely horrible, continually telling me that he hadn't ever seen me and he was so sorry. I believed him, but I also (at the time) felt that I had been in the right and that the accident was entirely the driver's fault. Looking back on it now, I realize that, while I may have been in the right according to the letter of the law, the accident was as much my fault as the driver's. This all happened, by the way, in the very bicycle friendly town of Eugene, OR, right next to a university campus. If it could happen in a place as bicycle aware as Eugene, especially less than a block for the University of Oregon, it could happen anywhere.
   
   The long and short of it is that a cyclist should always assume that the drivers can't see him/her and that they are going to make an unpredictable move. This may sound paranoid, but I know it has saved me from numerous serious accidents, some of which might well have killed me.

There are many more common myths out there, but these to me seem like the biggest. Please feel free to share more with me. I'll leave you with a link to BicycleSafe's excellent article on how not to get hit by cars.

"Why don't you find someplace safe to ride?"

My ride to work from New Haven to Wallingford is a little under 18 miles long. I could make it in 14.5 miles, but that would mean riding straight up the Hartford Turnpike, which is safe enough for about half of the ride, but means riding in heavy-ish traffic on a two lane road with no shoulder for the other half. I choose not to take that route unless I'm running late. With me, safety is my top priority.

For this reason, I take a less direct route that puts me on a bike trail for the first 9-10 miles, then a back road for a couple of more before dealing with traffic for a bit. I then again leave the direct route to ride through a suburban neighborhood before once again joining a main road for the last dash to the office. (Unfortunately, the office is located in a business park which isn't even pedestrian friendly, let alone bicycle friendly.)

Here's a map of the route. (The big pushpins are put there by the app I use on my phone to track my progress. Feel free to ignore them.)

View in a larger map

 

I am very careful when riding in the traffic-heavy parts of the route to follow all laws, including waiting for traffic lights and not going straight through from a right-turn only lane--it's not only the law; it's the safest way to ride. I also wear one of those day-glow yellow jerseys while commuting to be extra-special sure that drivers can see me without difficulty.

I tell you all of this so you'll understand the surprise I felt when the following happened while I was riding to work sometime last week.

 All went very well on that morning's ride. It was a beautiful morning, the ride along the trail was very pleasant, and I was even noting that most of the drivers were treating me with more respect that is frequently the case, taking the time not to turn right just in front of me, for example. I was feeling pretty good about the whole morning when I reached the final major intersection of my ride:

 This picture (borrowed from Google Maps) shows the intersection in question. (Click on the image for a full-size view.) I approach from the bottom and continue straight through to the top, taking the right turn shown at top-center. (You can't tell here, but that is a very steep climb--luckily, my office is just a little further up the hill than the building pictured, so I don't have to climb far.)

I approached the intersection just as the light was turning against me, which is not my favorite situation. To allow the cars turning right to be able to use the lane without worrying about me, I use the center lane. I stopped just ahead of the stop line so that traffic behind me could stop on the sensors and change the light for me. As it happens on that day, there were just two cars behind me. When the light turned green, I did what I always do; started to cross until I was safely out of the way of right turners and then moved right to let the cars pass before entering the narrower part of the road on the other side of the intersection. Since there were only two cars behind me, this went very well and I didn't even have to merge with any traffic as I came back into the lane to start my run for the final climb. When I was about a quarter of the way up the block to the turn, an old woman (60s, I would guess) waiting to go the other way (so I wasn't in her way or anything) rolled her window down and yelled, "Why don't you find someplace safe to ride?"

I was shocked and had no response as I passed by and turned to climb the hill. I did do some cursing under my breath, wondering what the heck her problem was. Part of me wishes I'd just stopped and educated her a bit, though that would have been stupid and exceedingly dangerous.

Regardless, the real issue is here is one of ignorance and lack of respect. This woman had no idea how far I'd ridden and to what lengths I'd gone to ride someplace safe to the best of my ability. By riding, I'm taking a car off the road, which actually makes her drive better since that's one less car clogging up the busy roads in the area. I would love to ride only in "safe" places, but I don't see them making the area bicycle-friendly in the near future. Most people treat me with respect when they see that, unlike many cyclists, I follow the laws and do my best to get out of the way of traffic whenever possible.

This woman's lack of respect was inexcusable; I have every much of a right to use the road as she did. Bicycles have been using the roads since before there were automobiles, so there's no reason why automobiles should be the only vehicles allowed on the road. Please keep that in mind.