09-12-2016, 03:39 AM
(09-12-2016, 12:36 AM)tomh009 Wrote:(09-11-2016, 10:35 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: It isn't a rule. There isn't a crosswalk at most of the trail crossings, thus, there's no legal requirement for cyclists to dismount.
And if cyclists flying out into roads *was* a problem, which I'm not necessarily agreeing it is (frankly, I don't recall ever hearing about anyone being hit at a trail intersection recently), the sign to put to stop this is a stop sign.
Nobody has ever asked car drivers to get out of their cars and push them across an intersection. Because that would just be ridiculous.
The "cyclists dismount" signs are suggested as a bad practice by the Ontario design guides for many good reasons. I also see them as a complete surrender for bike infrastructure. Basically saying "we can't or won't build safe infrastructure, so you might as well give up."
As my message says, it's just a "please dismount" sign rather than a rule. I am merely speculating on the rationale.
Most people wouldn't be able to physically push a car (any car, let alone a SUV) across the intersection so let's just drop that comparison.
The point is that car infrastructure is expected not to have weird gaps and interruptions. Sometimes finding an exact analogy is difficult or impossible. Obviously, the suggested analogy isn’t actually possible, but on the other hand the idea that bicyclists have to dismount at certain places is nonsensical, which is the point being made.
I might suggest a slightly different analogy: instead of “please dismount”, the car intersection for no discernible reason is gravel or even dirt instead of pavement. That is, there is a gap in the infrastructure that is of significantly lower quality than the rest.
It all comes back to the double standard. There are frequently discussions around whether a new trail will be gravel or pavement. But when was the last time there was a discussion about whether the roads in a new subdivision would be paved? Probably literally the 50s or earlier.
(yes, I know some joggers prefer gravel. This can be accommodated by having a gravel shoulder next to the main path, and is no reason to consider not paving the path itself)