I heartily disagree with the advice and/or rules to walk on the left side against traffic, at least in my own urban context.
I have walked thousands of miles to and from work in the last few years on city sidewalks, and it gradually became clear that nearly every time I have had an incident with a driver was when I was walking on the left side - the biggest single danger I encounter as a pedestrian is from drivers who are leaving a driveway or cross street and looking to their left for oncoming traffic, and do not look to the right for pedestrians who might be coming from the opposite direction of traffic. Fortunately, this is a pretty predictable situation, but I prefer to walk on the right side of the street whenever I can. Walking is not much different from cycling in this regard. James Black Los Angeles, CA On Monday, July 6, 2015 at 5:01:29 AM UTC-7, Steve Palincsar wrote: > > On 07/06/2015 01:26 AM, Peter Adler wrote: > > > When I first complaint about this to my 74-year old mother, who'd been > out of the US for several years, she told me that in her 50s youth, > pedestrians were advised to walk on the pavement against the flow of street > traffic, so that they could see dangerous vehicles in advance. She also > said that it was advised in women's self-defense classes. I certainly don't > remember such advice from my own 70s yoot; does anyone know whether this > advice has resurfaced? > > > It never went away, you just missed it somehow. Some recent examples > found through googling: > > "If no sidewalks exist on the road, it is recommended to walk facing > oncoming traffic on the same side of the road as the oncoming traffic. > Also, you should get as far to the side of the road as possible to provide > additional space between you and oncoming cars." > -- > http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/program-tools/what-side-road-should-i-walk > > "Runners should run against traffic, so they can see the traffic coming > toward then," says Jason Karp, an author of several books on running > including "Running a Marathon for Dummies." Everyone I talked to said > against traffic is the way to go. > > "Run against traffic," Jean Knaack, executive director for the Road > Runners Club of America, told me. "More than anything the reason is safety." > > And an email from Derrell Lyles at the U.S. Department of Transportation > makes it official: "Walk on sidewalks, if available; if no sidewalk, walk > facing traffic." This is the recommendation of the National Highway Traffic > Safety Administration." > > -- > http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-23/health/sc-health-1023-fitness-road-running-20131023_1_traffic-sidewalk-enforcement > > It's not just a good idea, it's also the law in Virginia (and other states > as well): > "§ 46.2-928. Pedestrians not to use roadway except when necessary; > keeping to left. > > "Pedestrians shall not use the roadways for travel, except when necessary > to do so because of the absence of sidewalks which are reasonably suitable > and passable for their use. If they walk on the hard surface, or the main > travelled portion of the roadway, they shall keep to the extreme left side > or edge thereof, or where the shoulders of the highway are of sufficient > width to permit, they may walk on either shoulder thereof. > > "Code 1950, § 46-247; 1950, p. 850; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-234; 1968, c. > 165; 1989, c. 727 ." > -- http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/46.2-928/ > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
