05-01-2020, 11:29 AM
(04-30-2020, 01:03 PM)Rainrider22 Wrote: You are wrong. There are Rules and Regulations set out to follow for a reason. Most rules were not created out of something good. They were created out of necessity because something bad happened. Mitigating risk to others is never a bad thing even if it means you have to walk to the end of a pathway to get to where you want to go.
I find it hard to believe it mitigates any real risk to people though. As Dan has pointed out, people walk from their cars that are parked right beside the fence, so clearly it's a place that people are expected to be walking.
I can accept it mitigates legal risk to the business, but maybe the question is then, why are businesses allowed to do that?
Through zoning in downtown areas we often require that privately owned property be paved like it was an extension of the sidewalk. The 1 Victoria condos are an example of this, where the sidewalk in front of them appears much wider than the actual sidewalk due to part of private property being paved level with the sidewalk. The city wouldn't allow 1 Victoria to install a fence along there, even though it would mitigate 1 Victoria's risk of someone slipping and falling on their property. Why we do allow it on Fairway Rd? Accepting that risk should be a requirement of running a business that is open to the public, adjacent to a trail.
If people walking represents such risk to businesses, but people driving doesn't, maybe the problem is our liability laws. Make the business liable for car collisions on their property, but not for pedestrians walking through it, and suddenly businesses will be eager to ensure people walk to their business rather than drive.