Share the Road

I think runners should stick to the sidewalk.

Bikes + cars are both vehicles and, IMO, should share the road.  Runners are not.

Runners 'should' stick to the sidewalk, but i often don't. Sidewalks are to uneven and irregular, lots of curbs etc. I'll run in the bike lane, but ALWAYS yield to cyclists who are heading towards me.

x2 I prefer to run on the road, but if there are cyclists coming, I'll move over.

I run in bike lanes (there's no law against it here), against traffic.  If I see a cyclist coming (a rare event around here), I move into the road if there's no car coming (which is most of the time), or onto the sidewalk if there is.  Never had a problem.

If there were constant bike traffic, I'd just run somewhere else.  I hate running on the sidewalk.

Check your local laws regarding sidewalk use. Here in GA, runners/walkers MUST use the sidewalk if one is present.

Don't most runners use the road because asphalt is a lot less harmful to your joints than concrete? I can't even remember the last time I ran on a sidewalk. Around here, they are so cracked and uneven, there are too many pedestrians with their heads up their a$$es, walking all over the place, not paying attention or reading WHILE walking, that it's like playing a game of frogger. And sidewalks are too close to driveways and roads, so cars pull up past the sidewalk before looking both ways- I find it much safer to be on the road. I never even realized cyclists took issue with that! If I see a cyclist, I either hop onto the sidewalk, or into the grass, since I can see the cars coming and he can't. We usually wave

x 2

It's a sad state we live in when drivers can't stand to be slowed down for 10-20 seconds. MUST.GET.MCDONALDS.NOW!

What she said.

If there is a perfectly good sidewalk, it should be used. Too many times I see a nice, smooth sidewalk... and a runner in the street. Does not compute.

I usually/always run on the sidewalk, even if the sidewalk looks like a tectonic plate has shifted directly underneath it**.  The streets are so narrow and curvy here that it is just too dangerous for pedestrians, bikes, and cars to ALL attempt to share the road.  Sure, it slows me down a bit, but if I wanted to set PRs every time I trained, I would just run on a track all the time.

There is one road here in Pittsburgh that is the poster child for flaws in the execution of "sharing the road."  It's right next to a bike/run path, but most cyclists who are capable of going >10 mph use the road, as do many runners.  I frequently ride and drive that road, and it's a terrifying experience no matter what mode of transport I am using that day.  The runners are a constant threat, whether they are running with or against traffic.  They refuse to move over at all for cyclists or cars, so on my bike, I often end up panic-stopping to avoid the choice between hitting a runner or getting squashed by a bus or semi.  (The runners can just jump up onto the sidewalk or the path, so I don't know what their issue is.)  The worst was the time I was driving through the blind curve and almost decorated my hood with a woman who was running in the same direction as traffic, in the middle of the lane, with a perfectly good and empty sidewalk directly next to her.   If I had not been driving really slowly at the time (5 mph under the speed limit), I certainly would have hit her.

I think that the road is for vehicles, and that it is hard enough for cyclists and drivers to share the road without throwing pedestrians into the mix.  I don't care how fast you are, you still can't run as fast as a bike or car can travel.  If the road was wide enough to fit a lane for cars, a lane for bikes, and a lane for runners, then that would be one thing.  But bike lanes are usually so much narrower than car lanes that really only one bike going in single-file can fit in the bike lane in the first place -- when a runner goes in the bike lane, it means that a bike can no longer fit in the bike lane without going into the road.  If your joints are so terrible that the asphalt vs. concrete difference really matters that much to you, then maybe you should go trail running or practice on the track or a treadmill.

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** the one exception -- I will run on a rail trail for bikes and runners, no cars allowed. 

Edited by kat_astrophe 2009-06-18 11:01 AM