selfish pedestrians on shared use paths

Riding on a local tarmac shared use path, not that wide but wide enough for bikes to pass other bikes or peds. A largish group coming the other way, one person on a mobility scooter 4 or 5 on foot and a couple of dogs filling the whole path. Path is straight, they can see me from several hundred metres away, yet its not until we’re very close that they make any attempt to.make any space,one chap steps to the side on the grass, but a lady stays alongside the scooter until at the very last moment she steps aside. At which point, just as I’m passing them having already slowed down a lot one of the dogs runs across in front of me and I have to stop and dismount to avoid running it over.

So I suggest to them “can I not just have half the path?” The response to which was a load of self justifying rubbish suggesting I was in the wrong. Highlights included:
“you were going to fast” well clearly as I had to come to a complete stop this was totally irrelevant, but I asked the chap how fast he thought I was going, to which the response was “20mph” so I said “on this?” pointing to my unicycle! (admittedly faster than most unicycles but my absolute max is about 17, and I was only actually doing 10 or 11 into a headwind).
” who is this path for, pedestrians” my reply. “shared use for walkers and cyclists” to which he pointed to the ground and asked where the signs were, so I suggested he checked the signpost at the end (there are actually a lot of bike route signpost they’d already passed).
“it’s a dog it does what it likes” when I pointed out that you’re supposed to have dogs under control he said it was, so I asked if he’d controlled it to run in front of me.

I’m afraid that after all that with 3 of them all going at me I lost it a bit and didn’t handle it all that well though I’d been pretty calm early on, and clearly they weren’t paying any attention to my replies – the chap repeated his suggestion that it wasn’t a bike path because there were no signs painted on the ground. Looking back its clear that they were deliberately obstructing me because they thought I wasn’t supposed to ride there.

Flame away. What did I do wrong?

You can do 17mph on a unicycle?!

you met some people, that’s what you did wrong

This is one of my favourite bugbears. I often use a shared use path to get out to the Peaks through local parks. The path is clearly marked with bike signs and a solid white line and only occupies a quarter to a third of the whole path at most. Yet there is always somebody wandering about in the cycle path , or their dog is but on the end of one of those retractable leads. I always slow and smile politely but still get abuse for wanting to proceed on my side of the path .
Blarrrgh!

Perhaps stop and let them pass, with a cheery Hello and a smile. Works for me.

Squirt them with your joke squirty flower then maybe throw a bucketful of glitter paper at them? Were you in full makeup or just in shoes, nose and wig?

PJ266 you win, I had a little bet with myself that would be the first reply! Yes I can, set a new pb for 500m today of 1:10 which is just under 16mph average (not on that path)

FOG the thing is this is an extremely rare thing for me riding a unicycle, most people do get their dogs out of the way

I think you have to accept that most humans are really not that intelligent and cannot be rationally reasoned with. They act selfishly and irrationally because they are too stupid to do otherwise.

Sadly, the one thing humans are really good at is tricking themselves into thinking they are cleverer than they really are. Plenty of examples to choose from.

I was down at Hastings last weekend. The seafront has a bike lane that is between 1/4 and 1/6 of the total available width. Quite a few people decided they should walk in the bike lane, especially one group of chunkies. I just put it down to them being eigits but at least there is space to ride round them.

You were on a unicycle.
You were looking for attention and got it.
Go home and be happy. 😡

I was down at Hastings last weekend. The seafront has a bike lane that is between 1/4 and 1/6 of the total available width. Quite a few people decided they should walk in the bike lane, especially one group of chunkies. I just put it down to them being eigits but at least there is space to ride round them.

I don’t moan at folk in the lane, as it means people would focus on me being only in the lane. Use the whole lot.

It always amazes me how quick people are to complain about cyclists on the pavement but then they walk right down the middle of a shared use foot/cyclepath and seem surprised to encounter cyclists.

You were looking for attention and got it.

Says the man on the single speed.

Yeah at least I have more gears than him

We made the mistake of trying to cycle along the Prom last week (half term). It may be shared use, but I reckon the pedestrians had the Critical Mass!! The tram lines can sometimes make a suitable alternative route.

Quite a high %age of people are self centred and don’t consider others (IMO of course).

Offroad trails in the sticks FTW.

singlespeedstu is a fake nevers rides one these days!

people don’t expect to be challenged for their behaviour by other members of the public these days so when they are they automatically become defensive.
it’s not pedestrians, it’s just people.

Did you ask them where the picture of the cars are on roads, or pedestrians on pavements?

😳 at Rich.

Singlespeeds ain’t flouro yellow shorts enough for me these days. 😛
TBF Rich I did manage to dig one out of the garage to attend SSUK…

I commute on a shared use path alongside a university.

Shared use, students, how bad can it be?

The intellectual elite who are going on to rule the world are, on the whole, as thick as shit.

It’s Chimps vs Chimp. Their ego’s vs yours. You’ll never win, because they don’t realise what they’re doing, and cannot control their reactions. Remind yourself in the future that you can’t expect them to move for you, and you won’t be disappointed when they don’t. We’ve all been there, and then when the air clears and dust settles, all pails into insignificance and you chuckle to yourself that they are in fact ignorant, and you are better than them.

Or just start windmilling and speed up, and video it on a go-pro for us all to watch!

It’s a shared use path…….just chill a bit.
I expect pedestrians to cross in front and dogs to run across at the last moment; I see as many inconsiderate cyclists on shared use paths as I do pedestrians.

somewhere on mobilityscootertrackworld theres a post that starts

all unicyclists are *****

Try the Thames path. 8 pedestrians wide and still they won’t move over no matter how polite I am. The thread title is bang on.

I commute on a shared use path alongside a university.

Shared use, students, how bad can it be?

The intellectual elite who are going on to rule the world are, on the whole, as thick as shit.

What he said.^^

I also can never decide what to do if pedestrians are walking in the cycle lane. If I move onto the foot path section to go round them they always seem to lurch across into my path as I get close and then tut at me as I am now on the walking section… If you head straight at them you appear like some angry militant type cyclist and a bit of a twunt. Can’t win either way even if it’s them causing re issue to begin with.

I pacify myself these days, repeating “They don’t realise it’s a cycle path” in my head as I approach. So I slow down, give a cheery ‘good morning’ and get on with my life. Same on canal towpaths. Life’s too short.

Any dog off a lead is fair game, mind you.

Perhaps stop and let them pass, with a cheery Hello and a smile. Works for me.

Any chance you could bring your joyful off line persona to the forum ? We only seem to get the really grumpy version 😥
Nothing you can do I had a similar where I cycled towards them for 500 m at a massive 4 moh with young kids on tow and they still blocked the entire path when i reached them. Still my fault apparently

If you learn one thing from STW it is surely that no matter how wrong and unreasonable a person is they will do only two things
1. Fail to see this]
2. Argue it to death.

I therefore choose to mutter swear words under my breath whilst doing nothing. It snot like they will ever listen pr be persuaded by reason is it.

On the shared Sustrans route I commute on, it’s usually Dog walkers with their 80ft dog leads taking up all of the path. I usually get daggers or chunnering from them? Makes me chuckle, as you get moaned at if you are on the roads paid for by “road tax” or if you use the designated paths. People are idiots!!!

And why is it that pedestrian groups always split in the middle and leave not quite enough room through the centre?

And why is it that pedestrian groups always split in the middle and leave not quite enough room through the centre?

So you can double high 5 as you go through!!

And why is it that pedestrian groups always split in the middle and leave not quite enough room through the centre?

it’s either that, or mavis pulls arthurs arm to get him to step to one side and they end up doing the swapping sides of the path dance.

Any dog off a lead is fair game, mind you.

dog off lead not under control, or dogs on stupid extenda-leads, are fair game. I’ll do my bit to avoid an accident* but sorry if it’s a shared use path, or a nature reserve, the dog owner is at fault if it gets twatted, not me for riding at a sensible speed.

and yes I did ride off that time where the dog’s** paws went under my front wheel, but fortunately not right under, only under the edge.

* is accident the right word if an owner’s dog is not under control and runs in to me?
**curly haired white mongrel

I was under the impression that pedestrians always have the right of way on a shared use path – is that not correct?

is that not correct?

it is not correct.

Taken from an article on bikehub.co.uk –

Many cycle lanes can now be found on footways, with signage and markings telling cyclists and pedestrians the route is for ‘shared use’. Cyclists must not assume this means they have right of way on the cycle ‘half’ of the shared-use facility. According to this Code of Conduct from the Department of Transport, cyclists should “always respect pedestrians even if they stray onto the cycling side (if there is one); they are entitled to do so. Always thank people who move out of your way.”

Eve if that is the case and they have the right to prevent you from passing, they’re still selfish if they do that (as per the title) and a dog which runs in front of you is still not in control.

Though when they come out with stuff about going too fast when you’re only doing 10mph (when approaching, I’d slowed to ~5 when I was going past them) despite being completely incapable of judging what speed I was doing and that bikes aren’t allowed despite all the bike route signs they’ve passed then they’re clearly just stupid. I do wonder whether he looked at the sign further up as I suggested and realised he was wrong…

Here is where that advice comes from and it is “suggested”
Really WTF is the point giving us a cycle lane painting pedestrians on one side and cycles on the other if they can just use both?

FWIW I would imagine almost everyone is ignorant of this fact – I certainly was

The following key messages are suggested as the basis for a code of conduct notice for cyclists. The code could be posted at points of entry and at intervals along the route. This will be especially useful when the facility is new.

If a feature segregating cyclists from pedestrians is present, keep to the cyclist’s side. This will be indicated on blue and white road signs and by cycle logos on the surface.
Ride on the left hand side of the area available to you. If you need to overtake another cyclist, give a gentle ring on your bell or say ‘Excuse me’.
When coming up behind pedestrians, always pass them at a safe distance, and slowly enough so that you could avoid them if they made a sudden change in direction.
Remember that some pedestrians may be hard of hearing or visually impaired and hence might not be aware of you. If in doubt, give a gentle ring on your bell or say ‘Excuse me’.
Always respect pedestrians even if they stray onto the cycling side (if there is one); they are entitled to do so. Always thank people who move out of your way.
Ride at a sensible speed for the situation and ensure you can stop in time. As a general rule, if you want to cycle quickly, say in excess of 18 mph/30 kph, then you should be riding on the road.
Use lights at night.
In pedestrianised areas, only ride your cycle if there aren’t too many pedestrians about; otherwise dismount and push it. When visiting shops etc, park your cycle so that people will not trip over it; use formal cycle parking if available.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090902220008/http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/archive/2004/ltnwc/annexdcodeofconductnoticefor1688

Dog walkers with their 80ft dog leads taking up all of the path.

I once experienced this on the road. Guy on mobile phone, looking the other way, paying no attention whatsoever. Dog at opposite side of the road. Extendible lead stretched across the centre! Quiet country lane, but still…they were both stood on the opposite verges.

Shared paths though. Some people are ignorant. But also, some people are just unaware. And why should they be? They’re out for a walk, enjoying the outdoors. It’s not a road. It’s not a cycle path. It’s a shared path. For people riding bikes, dawdling, walking dogs, or doing whatever it is they care to do. They’re frustrating places to ride at times, but I think you just have to accept them and slow down….stop if you have to. Say hello and continue on your way.

I did almost say something once mind. When I was forced to stop as a group of about 10 joggers approached across a viaduct, 10 abreast…. I thought that was taking the piss a bit.

Normal distribution says around half the people you meet will be below average intelligence. Even the intelligent ones can be ignorant…

The Dunning Kruger effect says there’s no point debating people’s mistakes with them… read up on it 🙂

+ tbf, shared use paths are rubbish infrastructure with conflict designed in. They’re rarely signed or marked out well enough for non-cyclists to have a scooby where they’re supposed to walk.

IMO you’re better off just holding your tongue in these situations, your day will be better for it

at Junkyard on page 1….