Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cyclist kills pedestrian; does calling “on your left” not work? (Now with Paul B)

Bicyclist blames Pedestrian...

A man on a bike hit an 81-year-old woman walking on the Four Mile Run trail, ARLnow reports, and the woman subsequently died of the injuries. Do we need better consensus on how to alert pedestrians to passing cyclists?

The 62-year-old cyclist was heading down a hill and shouted “on your left” to warn the woman. Instead of either moving right or just being alert, she apparently turned around in a way that moved to the left, while exclaiming “what?” The cyclist then struck her, she fell, and her head hit the ground.

Update: ARLnow is now also reporting that the cyclist rang a bell as well as calling out. (and that means the bicyclist has no culpability says our resident vegan bicyclist)

Whether or not this particular cyclist did something wrong, the first rule always must be that people riding bikes need to be careful around pedestrians. Daniel Hoagland, WABA’s Bicycle Ambassador, wrote in an email:
Pedestrians are unpredictable and vulnerable, which is a bad combination (and doesn’t even get into things like pets and children and the mobility-impaired), and bicyclists should be prepared to slow down to whatever speed is necessary to ensure that they can react safely to whatever a pedestrian does.

No, it doesn't work all the time because lots of people walk on bike trails and have zero situational awareness. So if you're passing them and they don't see you, you need to be able to stop or avoid them. Just like skiing, it's the uphill skier's responsibility to avoid a collision with someone who has their back turned.

Interesting that as a pedestrian I assume I should be the one responsible for me because everything else is bigger than me.

As a rider I get sick and tired of having to do stupid things to avoid bikes and people that should yield the ROW to the larger object.

Common sense never prevails.

Does that mean we can hit cyclists as long as we honk our horns first and/or yell?

She's 81 years old. How far and how fast left could she have moved once she heard "on your left" and the bell?

Why was the cyclist trying to "buzz the tower" so to speak on this old lady?

LOL !

I remember an incident where a cyclist hit an older woman- ?Colorado. Four of them believed they should be able to walk 4 abreast and not have to move over for the mountain bikers. The place was ""for them"".

I've had bicyclists nearly run right into me on several occasions while walking my dog. Usually, it was just a narrow escape by my quick action.

Spandex nazis make good targets- - - -just yell and/or honk first!

This. “Usually” the downhill traveler has the right-of-way. Not always but most commonly.

With all the runners/walkers with earbuds in anyway listening to music. I bet a bunch wouldn't hear anyone yelling "left"

Walk softly and carry a pike.

What if one has hearing issues?

My buddy just stomps on his diesel and leaves them in a bunch of black smoke. They hog the roads up here, runners too, they won't even attempt to step off the road.

There's that too but his saying "on the left" and ringing the bell doesn't absolve him of being negligent in trying to pass her within 2 sheets of paper and thus hitting her.

Just because I honk my horn, doesn't mean I can merge, traffic be damned.

If they swerve out in front of you when you do, you won't be held responsible assuming that that you are driving responsibly.

I ride a bicycle a lot, but I despise these types who go as fast as possible on public trails trying to be a Strava hero. I ride a rails to trails bike-walking trail at times. I would never hit a walker because I don't ride like an aggressive [bleep] cyclist on those trails.

Typical 81 yr old when “on your left” is yelled

“….huh!! Duhhh….where am I, why I am here….I’m no Jack Kennedy, I like ice cream, our La Salle ran great….


By then….. it’s




A lot of micro processes have to occur in the oldster’s cob webbed synapses

The 62 YO selfish azzhole should have braked to walk around the 81 YO woman. He killed her. Hope the womans family civil sues the pedalist.

This one is very easy for me. When I pass a pedestrian on my bicycle, and I have to do it within close proximity, I pass with minimum speed disparity. I never yell "ON YOUR LEFT." Many don't know what it means. It will confuse or startle some. I will say "I am easing around your left." I most often exchange cordialities as I pass.

LOTS of pedestrians have buds. Pedestrians in parks and on paths tend to have very low situational awareness. They are often in la-la land and in sightseeing mode. Armed with that knowledge, it is incumbent upon me to expect unpredictable behavior. The best mitigating measure for me is passing with minimal speed disparity and communicating when possible.

I have seen pedestrians do remarkably absent minded stuff. Headphones on, walking with the flow of bicycles on a 10 foot wide path, wheel around and do a 180 without so much as a glance over the shoulder. Pedestrians cutting across paths without looking. Pedestrians with dogs on leashes taking up the entire path. One day I watches as an apparently homeless guy was walking on the levee path batture at an angle toward the path. Across the path in the direction he was walking was a street. I suspected he was going to connect to that street. I also saw a guy and gal cyclist riding on the levee path from the pedestrians blind side at a speed that would have them arriving at the same place at the same time. My wife and I were riding behind them. I could see it developing. Had I been the other cyclists, I would have slowed. They didn't and the pedestrian walked right into the path without looking.

Pedestrians do stupid stuff. Cyclists do stupid stuff. Motorists do stupid stuff. Situational awareness and a defensive posture are helpful.