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lizzyb · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:24 pm Post subject:

Now before we get started let me first say that this is a rant but in the end I am hoping to be enlightened

See, I live in a nice-ish residential area where the sidewalks are ashphalt not concrete so that little children and anybody relying on wheels to get around can use without being on the road (with the exception of bicycles....they have to be on the road or else a fine can be given for riding on sidewalks). the street I live on is a bit of a main drag, not the sort of road you let your kids play ball hockey on......speed limit is 50km/hr. Now it is my assumption that it is the same TYPE of ashphalt used on the sidewalks as it is on our street. With this assumption I am absolutely DUMBFOUNDED over the fact that people will choose to run in the street as opposed to the sidewalk since it is the same material, it would be the same 'feel' I would assume. (This is where enlightenment would be appreciated if I am indeed wrong). Today while coming home from Cosco, driving down my street, I find two men running side by side down my street. There are cars parked on the opposite side of the roadway and therefor narrowing the roadway already....these two a$$holes wouldn't even get in line when they saw a car approaching.......Now we get this often enough on my street....and it is not to say that our sidewalks are teaming with hoards of people either that one would need to take to the road that is made of the same compound as the sidewalks in the neighbourhood.....and it literally frosts my girlie bits to see because I am of the belief that they can easily run on the sidewalk in this neighbourhood if training for a certain marathon and you want to train on the same compound as your event......now IF my sidewalks were made of concrete we wouldn't be having this discussion at all.....I'd nod my head and give them the peace sign as I always do for any obvious enthusiast....as I am not totally ignorant either, but to me ashphalt sidewalks and ashphalt roadway are no different so to me I feel that these people are just being arrogant SOB's...

Anyone care to comment or enlighten me? Very Happy

sweetsunny21 · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:40 pm Post subject:

I have no enlightening words... but I think it is great that someone else gets irritated with things like that too!

Valens · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:12 pm Post subject:

I agree with you. I have the same anger towards all the bike riders sharing these narrow, winding roads with a lot of blind turns. This is New England, not Colorado, where they had the foresight to build roads with spacious bike paths. I don't like when runners and bikers share the roads in single-file. The arrogance of biking/running/walking 2 or three people wide frosts my a$$. I blast my horn at them. I think they must have the same mentality as all the teenage boys who think they're "in control" of the crotch-rockets that they recklessly drive. I worked with one of those young guys. He was a very intelligent person, but arrogantly reckless. He died on that motorcycle (pretty much scraped up off the road) and killed his passenger too. We couldn't beat the common sense into him. I definitely crossed the line trying.

Safety has to come first. I don't want to be involved in a car/bicycle/pedestrian accident. They might be willing to risk their lives for their sport, but they shouldn't have the right to risk my involvement. I think it should be against the law. Our roads weren't designed and built to be safely shared with bike riders ... or pedestrians.

Stonehenge68 · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:22 am Post subject:

the only time i understand the 'running in the street' is during the winter months when the street is sanded and salted and sidewalks aren't. we get packs of runners two or more wide even in our downtown area because of our YMCA being downtown and they give you a dirty look when you drive past them!

on weekends i won't even drive thru our downtown area-between the tourists acting like they have the right to cross streets wherever and whenever they please, #### the streetlights, and on Sundays the city allows the 'Churchies' as I call them to park on both sides of the street because we have a dozen churches in a four block area and no parking lots... it's a nightmare.

guitargrl325 · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:38 am Post subject:

as i runner, i wanted to chime into this discussion. where i live the sidewalks are concrete which is murder on your joints, feet, shins, ect. so through neighborhoods, i'll run on the side of the street. however, i'm very aware of cars and when cars come I will move over into the grass so they don't have to pull around me, and if i'm running with someone else, we'll def. get single file on the side of the road. what those guys did was rude and unacceptable and gives runners a bad name!:angry:

lizzyb · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:17 am Post subject:

guitargrl325 wrote:

as i runner, i wanted to chime into this discussion. where i live the sidewalks are concrete which is murder on your joints, feet, shins, ect. so through neighborhoods, i'll run on the side of the street. however, i'm very aware of cars and when cars come I will move over into the grass so they don't have to pull around me, and if i'm running with someone else, we'll def. get single file on the side of the road. what those guys did was rude and unacceptable and gives runners a bad name!:angry:

Oh I was hoping some of the serious runners on the board would chime in so, yes thank you!! Very Happy

I totally get the concrete sidewalk being hard on the joints etc....I agree and have no problem with runners choosing the road instead, or as Stonehenge hit upon the treacherous sidewalk conditions in the winter months. But WHAT IS the deal with with running on the ashphalt street when sidewalks are ashphalt anyways?!?! Is there a more 'technical' reason for this of is, am I missing some bigger picture here or it just pure arrogance and obnoxious behavior on the runner's part?! (no offence intended to anyone who may be running on the streets when they indeed have anshphalt sidewalk to use, just don't be doing it my neighbourhood, lol!) :bleh: Very Happy

Valens: A couple of years ago, there was a case of a group of cyclists doing just as you described.....they did not get into line, was in a pack and not inside of the bicycle lane either and a vigilant driver of a pickup truck was so enraged by this that he actually hit a cyclist on purpose!! He got 3yrs I think for the offence....the cyclist didn't get anything for NOT being inside his own lane. I was aghast because deep down you sort of feel like hitting them when they do this, however NEVER act upon it.....just fun to fantasize about it in the heat of the moment : Wink

: I'd really like to see these people get fines for wreckless endangerment of their OWN lives.....I mean after all, if a vehicle were to hit a runner or a cyclist.....the driver of the vehicle will most likely not be physically injured, allbeit probably very psychologically injured.....the runners and cyclists and rollerbladers, skateboarders #### let's even add those darned motoroized wheelchairs that people seem to insist upon using on busy roadways (a deathwish IMO :ghostface: ) woud most definitely suffer some sort of grievous bodily harm and possibly even be fatal injuries.......don't people care about their own personal safety......again, Valens your co-worker is/was a prime example.....

Cyclists (some) want all the respects of a motorized vehicle yet when considered a vehicle do not respect the rule of the road.....if I as a driver were to swerve in and out of my lane without signalling my intentions I would get ticketted for careless driving......a cyclist? Nothing.....and if we honk our horns at them, they give US the finger like we are the ones in the wrong.....go figure!!

Valens · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:26 am Post subject:

lizzyb - Yup, that's it ... the psychological damage. I've heard of people committing suicide by jumping in front of a train or a large truck or bus. It's (understandably) supposed to be he11 on the drivers of the train/truck/bus. They were dragged into a horrific situation through no fault of their own, but no amount of rationalization will quiet the cold-sweat-nightmares, the flashbacks, or the "What could have I done differently?" self doubts. Then there's going through the rest of your life knowing you "killed someone". I think there should be designated roads that are safe to share with runners/bikers/scooters.

In my last year of nursing school, one of my classmates was walking along the side of a road with her two children, aged 7 & 5. They were hit by a car. My classmate had several bones broken (ribs, legs, arm) and was paralyzed from the neck down. The older girl's leg (and arm?) was broken in several places. The 5 year old was not physically injured. The car was driven by a 17 year old who hit & run. I can't imagine a more horrific and heartbreaking scene.

About 20 years ago, my sister's co-worker was an avid bike rider. He was hit by a car and very severely injured. I don't remember the details. Several bones were broken. He was in intensive care. He may have been paralyzed.

I get that people want to use fun sports to stay healthy, but I don't think narrow, windy roads with blind turns are safe enough to share. It means inconvenience of having to travel to roads that can be safely shared for sports, but I think the inconvenience is worth saving lives.

Valens · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:35 pm Post subject:

I admire that this man had the discipline to fit in a workout before work, but far too many of these roads just aren't designed to be shared with cars. The laws need to change. This tragedy shouldn't be allowed to repeat over and over again.

courant.com/community/farmington/hc-web-farmington-pedestrian-1105nov05,0,1867395.story

Pedestrian In Farmington Dies After Being Struck By Car

The Hartford Courant

12:07 PM EST, November 4, 2009

FARMINGTON —

A pedestrian struck by a car on Brickyard road this morning died at Hartford Hospital, police said.

Police are withholding the person's name until his next of kin are notified.

Police, medics and firefighters responded to the accident about 7:41 a.m. near Eastview Drive.

Authorities immediately called for a Life Star helicopter to transport the injured person, identified by police as adult male. A land zone for the helicopter was set up near Farmington Motor Sports.

A regional accident reconstruction team is investigating the accident. Brickyard Road was closed from Route 4 to Route 167 for a few hours, but has since opened, police said.

Police are asking any witnesses to the accident to call police at 860-675-2400.

—David Owens

Anne-Marie · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:06 am Post subject:

Awww that is terrible.

As a runner (*koff*koff*) IF it were safe to do so I would run on the road IF there were no sidewalks or there were lots of people/hazards on the sidewalks. When I run outside I usually run on car-free bike/pedestrian paths, and because the sidewalks are usually concrete tile and there are always people, their dogs, ducks, what-have-you, I run on the bike part. Unless I can see that there is more bike traffic, then I hop out of the way. Because I am aware that other people also have a right to enjoy the same public space as me.

The only other reason I could possibly put forth for what you originally saw lizzyb, is that roads usually slant a bit towards the sides and so if you had run on the road earlier, you would want to run with the opposite leg now 'lower' to avoid an imbalance in stress on the knee-joint (could eventually lead to patellla-femoral syndrome). But not during 1 run. And no excuse for side-by-side if there is traffic. And NEVER would I run on the road with traffic allowed to travel at 50km/hr!!! One little mistake and BAM. Like they say, SAFETY FIRST!!

indigobunting · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:18 pm Post subject:

We don't have sidewalks here so I have no choice but to use the road. I for one would like to complain about drivers and how THEY make the situation unsafe. When a car is coming I move as far over as possible. Still, the car will drive completely down the wrong side of the road, right at oncoming traffic, making someone have to slam on their brakes, even though there was WAY more than enough room.

I get really angry when people wish runners/bikers be banned from certain places. I work from home and almost never drive (maybe once a week), yet I pay just as much for the roads as everyone else. Also, if people actually obeyed traffic laws there would be much less of an issue. Furthermore, there may be a lot more reasons for people to run or bike where they do. They may be doing it for transportation (I run to and from the store from time to time). They may not have a means of transportation to get to another place to run, or have the time to drive to and from another location to run. There are reasons why a lot of places may not be good for running or biking. Dogs is a huge one here. I can ONLY run on main roads because on side roads people let their dogs loose, and I have been attacked several times. The surface may be too uneven, or may not be like what the race they are training for is like. They may need to avoid hills, or train on hills on purpose.

There are stories of athletes being hit by cars, but come on. It's not even close to common. Far more people are killed by drunk drivers, people texting while driving, or whatever. I have been running on the roads since I was 7 years old, which is 24 years. I have seen so many drivers almost kill themselves or other drivers because they do idiot things unrelated to me being on the road. I have never had an issue.

As for people running or biking 3 abreast, that is not a good idea. I understand why they do it. It is pretty much impossible to have a conversation with someone you are running or biking with unless they are right beside you. If you can't hear them because they are behind you, what's the point? My husband and I walk our dog down the road 3 abreast (us and the dog) but as soon as we see someone coming our direction we move.

I just want to say, try not to make too many judgments. It's extremely disheartening when you're out there trying to make something of yourself, already struggling, and have someone yell or honk at you.

One last thing I want to add is that honking at an athlete is NOT helpful. Do you realize that the person's heart rate is already very elevated? If they are a jumpy person, do you realize what you might be doing to their heart rate? I actually have a neurological disorder that causes me to be very jumpy. I have had heart palpitations from being honked at before. Obviously no one would know that about me, but don't honk at people who already have an elevated heart rate. THAT is not safe.