Use the sidewalk!

[draftermatt]

The road that I work off of has 5 lanes. 2 traveling south, 2 traveling north, and 1 center lane for turning.

On the north bound side it's all residential, and therefore there is a sidewalk along that entire stretch of road.

The south side is all commercial, and therefore no sidewalk.

This morning there was fog. Fog so heavy Scooby Doo would have cut it with a knife and ate it.

Fog so heavy I saw a guy from London and he said "crikey it's foggy here old chap"

So imagine my surprise when I went to change into the right lane in anticipation of my turning into work and I almost ran into two women out for a jog.

Who in their right mind, when you know it's foggy (and 6:45 AM so kind of dark yet) would rather run on the freaking road opposing traffic (at least they got that correct) than on the nice sidewalk right across the street?

[mikoyan29]

People around here like to walk on the streets after a nice snowfall and occasionally in the dark.....I understand why because the sidewalks are usually snow covered...but still.....

[LillFilly]

I see that a lot. Especially people on motorized mobility carts, they go ALL OVER the road!!! I've seen entire lanes of traffic held-up. They have every right to travel, but that's even more dangerous to them then to the Drivers.

[Andara Bledin]

Why joggers jog on the road and not the sidewalk: they like their knees.

Well, a little bit, since jogging, in and of itself, is a punishing form of exercise. But jogging on asphalt is far more forgiving to your knees than jogging on sidewalk. Cement has no give.

As for the mobility scooters, there's a good chance your local municipality has banned them from the sidewalks. I don't know, because I haven't checked, but I've seen really stupid laws like that in other places. Hell, the Segway failed partially due to the fact that pretty much every place you could use one went and banned them because they couldn't figure out how to legislate for a 2-wheeled motorized vehicle where the wheels were parallel and not in line. My old boss used to have a Segway, and he was really upset when he wasn't allowed to ride it anywhere. Of course, he also didn't have the coordination, but that's another matter. Oh, and in the training course you had to take to get one (he sent me in his stead), I was zipping around with no hands in minutes.

^-.-^

[artifical sweetner]

at first i thought you meant you wound up on the sidewalk and that was some hilarious imagery

[LillFilly]

The police in the area I live use Segways for patrols, so I'm not sure what the laws are. I just know the sidewalks are very decent, and many of the roads crap, but nobody uses the sidewalks.

Some people seem to find it funny to see just HOW far into the road they can walk until the traffic has to start swerving around them.

[Salted Grump]

I'm old-fashioned. In a situation like that (which has happened to me, more often than I like, no less) I pull out the airhorn from the glove box, Stick it out the Window, and give them a four-second Blast.

By the time they hit the ground after going about twelve feet vertical, they need new undergarments to get rid of the unpleasantly soggy feeling. Yes, I'm an asshole, but people should use common sense.

[protege]

Reminds me of the idiots in the more "interesting" sections of town. Tell me again...just *why* are they walking in the middle of the street?

[MadMike]

Why joggers jog on the road and not the sidewalk: they like their knees.

Well, a little bit, since jogging, in and of itself, is a punishing form of exercise. But jogging on asphalt is far more forgiving to your knees than jogging on sidewalk. Cement has no give.

OK, I guess that could be a valid reason for the joggers, but in my development I see a lot of people who are just out walking their dog, or even just walking, and they're out in the road. My son and I think maybe the sidewalks are invisible to idiots.

[Kogarashi]

I see similar stuff around here too.

On the one hand are the people who decided that "Walking in roadway prohibited" means "Except you. You're special. Go ahead and walk down the only available driving lane on this street. The drivers won't mind. Please ignore the sidewalk on the other side of the street from construction."

On the other hand are the people who just like to meander down the middle of perfectly clear streets with no construction and a nice, wide sidewalk on either side. Bonus points for doing it in the dark in dark clothing. Jackpot if it's a member of the very large African-American population in town (even their skin blends in!). I almost hit one of the Jackpot Meanderers one night, and the only thing that saved them was the faint glow from their lit cigarette. Yes, they were invisible despite the streetlamps and my headlights.

[JLRodgers]

People walk on the road instead of sidewalk around me a lot -- but for a very good reason: about 75% of the streets have no sidewalks, and the 25% that do are in such bad shape that people in wheelchairs can't use them, and people walking have to go for a "hike" when walking. Jogging's almost always on the streets for that reason. (talking the sidewalks have up to a foot step "up" when walking, and potholes up to a foot deep as well!).

But at least people here are smart -- if it's foggy, they're not on the roads.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I thought "crikey" was Australian...

I'd rather risk my knees than my life...or, you know, find a more appropriate place to run.

[draftermatt]

Why joggers jog on the road and not the sidewalk: they like their knees.

I understand (I work for a concrete company and I jog) but when the weather is nasty and you're running on a road where the speed limit is 40 MPH...

I dunno, my mother always told me if I was outside and it was foggy or dark to wear bright colors (one of the joggers in this neighborhood wears a miner's hat with a light and bright orange clothes) or stay on the sidewalk. If she caught me out in the street with dark colors on I got my butt whipped.

[Andara Bledin]

On the other hand are the people who just like to meander down the middle of perfectly clear streets with no construction and a nice, wide sidewalk on either side. Bonus points for doing it in the dark in dark clothing. Jackpot if it's a member of the very large African-American population in town (even their skin blends in!). I almost hit one of the Jackpot Meanderers one night, and the only thing that saved them was the faint glow from their lit cigarette. Yes, they were invisible despite the streetlamps and my headlights.

We get a ton of those around here. They like to cross the rather busy street about 100 feet from the signal (what the hell is up with people who can't be arsed to walk themselves to the signal to avoid people running them down?), and they're almost always wearing dark colors with dark skin, and not a thing on them to let people know they're there.

Nekojin nearly hit one of these idiots a couple weeks back. It was about midnight, it was dark out, and this guy is sauntering his way across our busy street. All Nekojin could see was the lack of reflection from the bots dots that the guy was in front of. That was my clue, too, but once I knew something was there, I managed to get a decent fix on his outline. Thankfully, the moron ambled his way out of our lane before we got there, so there was no crisis.

^-.-^