When biking or walking for fun, exercise or commuting to work or school, the old saying “two’s company and three’s a crowd” holds true. Don’t hog the width of the sidewalk or trail. Single file is better on a narrow pathway.
With warmer weather drawing more of us outdoors, readers are mentioning — and we’re witnessing — rude or potentially dangerous practices on popular surfaces such as the Sammamish River Trail. Some pedestrians or bicyclists travel three or four abreast, making it impossible for others to pass. And some bikers ride too fast, forcing walkers off the trail.
Most of the Sammamish River Trail falls under the jurisdiction of the King County Sheriff’s Office, noted Jim Bove, community outreach facilitator for the Redmond Police Department. But on city or county property, there are actual bicycle traffic laws designed to keep everyone safe.
“Within the city of Redmond, if a bicycle is being ridden on the sidewalk, then they have the same rights and responsibilities as a pedestrian,” said Bove. “If they are riding on the road, then they have the same rights and responsibilities as a motorized vehicle and are subject to the same citations. This includes speed limits, stop signs, signaling, etc. As for trails, there are usually speed limits posted.”
Doug Williams, media relations coordinator for King County Natural Resources and Parks said that 15 mph speed limits do apply to bicyclists on the Sammamish River Trail.
In the past, Sheriff’s deputies have patrolled the trails on bikes but “it takes a lot of budget to do that and is it the best use of our sheriffs’ time?,” Williams explained.
However, “I’ve also seen walkers and joggers going four-to-five abreast,” he remarked. “The trail belongs to everyone. We’re trying to get the word out.”
Both Bove and Williams said trail users who feel threatened should not hesitate to contact law enforcement agencies, using 911 if they feel they are in imminent danger or a non-emergency number if they want to report a less urgent situation.
“If we don’t witness it, then it’s more than likely we aren’t going to give a ticket, but it doesn’t mean we can’t make contact with them,” said Bove. “If they call 911 when it happens, then they need to be specific about where this occurred. If it’s on a trail, they need to be certain to tell the dispatcher where they are, so they are sent to the correct dispatch center.”
Williams said the county would like to keep track of where and when conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists are occurring: “We do want to hear about it so we can put some attention to it, help us all to be more mindful of rules and self-enforcement.”
Organizations such as the Cascade Bicycle Club are good partners of King County, Williams stated, because of their efforts to ensure responsible bicycling.
According to Julie Salathe, education director for Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation, “We have several community-based education programs that help address the problem of aggressive bicyclists on the Sammamish River Trail and trails in general. Two years ago, we worked with King County Parks to publish a book ‘Safe Bicycling in King County’ that was given out by our Bicycle Ambassadors and King County Parks Ambassadors.”
That booklet can be viewed online at http://www.cbcef.org/bike-materials.html.
“In addition, we train our ride leaders in trail safety and trail behavior. We suggest that larger ride groups do not use the trail, cyclists should ride single file when on the trail and should call out when passing pedestrians or other users,” said Salathe.
Williams concluded, “Be a good trail user. It seems so obvious, commonsense. But people sometimes forget that they’re sharing the trail with thousands of others on a nice, sunny day.”
