Multi-modal paths
 

We have family visiting and our daughter and I decided to walk daily. Today we walked from Gilchrist to the Farmers Market in Brownwood. No need to run for a cardio workout. Dodging the Golf Carts was life threatening. Our heart rates were way up there. "Flight or Fright" !!!

It is surprising the stares we got as we were almost run over, again and again. Once we got to Brownwood alive, I called hubby to pick us up.

Please be prepared to "share the road". It's "multi-modal" not Golf Carts exclusively. There were far too many self centered Golf Cart drivers out there today. Scary stuff!

I hope you were walking facing traffic, to many people walking with backs to traffic......very dangerous to walkers and cart drivers.

dotti: This issue has been going on from the inception of this project. Many golf cart operators do not understand or perhaps care that the rules of the road apply. When approaching an obstruction pedestrian, vehicle in their path and facing an on coming vehicle the driver with the obstruction on his side has to stop...But they don't they try to squeeze by.
With pedestrians present golf cart should slow down but again they won't.

I often golf early and have learned that oncoming traffic cars/golf carts blind you with their lights. I also learned that pedestrian can disappear because of overlapping trees. shrubs etc or the angle of the cart path even those with reflectors.

So my advice is do yourself a favor and save your walk for daylight hours nd by all means avoid tunnels when you can.

My biggest complaint from day one here is that the developers made a big mistake of making these pathways multi-modal. They are an accident waiting to happen. Stay safe

The problem is not that people walking are allowed on the MULTI MODAL PATHS, the problem is MIGHT DOESN'T MAKE RIGHT!. In fact IMHO we should all observe the be respectful to the SLOWEST mode and find the brake on our golf carts!!

They might be called "multi-modal" but the resulting reality is that they are golf cart streets.

We never walked in streets with vehicles going 20 mph before we got here, and here, I don't walk in vehicular traffic streets, either.

After walking facing traffic on multimodal paths and seeing how many times 2 oncoming carts meet with no space to go out and around a pedestrian, I walk on sidewalks and not in streets.

Not everything allowed is safe. Also, the pedestrians who walk with their back to oncoming traffic are inviting disaster for themselves and drivers.

I agree. There are a bunch of "rules" and "should do's" but I am not going to be the injured/dead person that had the right of way.

ten years of walking the multi modal paths everyday....2-3 miles.

For the most part, the majority, there is no problem sharing the road.
There have been times when a cart headed straight at me then swerving around to make their point.
There are some who absolutely cannot see untill they are on top of you.
And of course there are a very few who are texting.
There are some who definitely do not belong behind the wheel of anything.

Add them all up and they still are the minority incidents that happen on occasion...not every day.

The single biggest problem in my opinion is there are far too many that have never driven carts before and they think there are only two speeds....stop and pedal to the floor. They have no concept of or want to slow down.

When one walks here in TV the advice is the same for driving on the cart paths or the highway....defensively....

Common sense goes a long way to keeping one safe on the MMPs....let's not let the minority incidents tar most of us who do it right.

You go for it. I'm staying on the sidewalks. Just my personal preference.

Multi-modal paths
 

Multi modal means just that - for use by many - carts, bikes, runners, walkers. I usually use a cart but I always slow down and wave or shout good day to walkers/runners. I was a runner for about 40 years. I'm still a little jealous when I pass one.

I know what it means and YOU know what it means, but apparently there are a whole bunch of people who don't know what it means. I do not want to be flattened by one of them to prove a point. That is just me. You guys that want to prove a point and have the guts to do it . . . I say, go for it! In the meantime, when I am in a cart I will give them the right of way. And when I am not in a cart I will be on the sidewalk well away from them.

Walk facing traffic, if side-by-side move to one behind the other when a cart approaches...wear clothing that is easily visible, be aware that most cart operators are ancient and have poor eyesight and lousy reflexes...if you walk as though others have to be aware of you then you might get nailed...

Strangely enough it's all common sense....some folks have ego issues and seem to dare a driver NOT to see and avoid them...some folks walk with no thought of their surroundings...

My wife and I walk the paths quite often and never, ever have issues...if you remain aware then only a person whose suffering a medical crisis is likely to hit you...that can happen anywhere(like when a person driving has a heart attack and drives into a restaurant...

I agree Wanda, you will be around here longer than some others.

Can anyone tell me why some people insist on walking on the paths in the street when there is a sidewalk available?

We, of course, walked facing traffic. But I will never do it again.

Walking in the neighborhood streets is fine, so much safer. The thing that was so frightening today was the fact that once we were past Hillsborough, there were no options to get off the multi-modal path and onto a residential street.

A better plan would have been to go through Pinellas and Collier, but still you are faced with tunnels and areas where you cannot get off the path due to fences or tall landscaping up against the path.

On a week day it might have been safer, but I simply did not think it through and consider the heavy Cart traffic due to the Farmer's market. It was just so very unsafe.

[QUOTE=NYGUY;989957]I agree Wanda, you will be around here longer than some others.

Can anyone tell me why some people insist on walking on the paths in the street when there is a sidewalk available?[/QUOTE

Right!
If and when and where there is one available. In the places where the MMP is there is usually not a sidewalk. We walk the paths because that is why they are there......your question MAY be appropriate for where ever a sidewalk is available!

I walk the neighborhood streets. Quieter and safer.

Hi sunnyatlast: Exactly. It was poor thinking that created these multi-modal paths. It is obvious what this would have produced forcing vehcile and pedestrian on the same pathway. I understand the shared blame position but it all starts with the poor thinking/design of these pathways

Of course that is a personal choice. However, there are many areas where there aren't any sidewalks available.

Are you aware that the sum total of "sidewalks" in the entirety of TV north of 466 (and including the Historic Side) is apox 1/4 mile long, located in front of the Mulberry Grove Rec Center?

This means that unless you are only going to walk with in your neighborhood, you must walk on either a MMP or a "Diamond" lane.

See above


Their was a recent thread about bias between "south" TV and those living north of 466. I do not think it is a real, conscience decision made by the "southerners" ... but more of a general lack of knowledge that everywhere in TV is not like their little slice of the TV world.

Maybe I should rephrase my original post, which was "You go for it. I am staying on the sidewalks" to "You go for it, I am walking anywhere but the multi modal paths."

I was and am not trying to be a smarty pants. I tried walking on the multi modal paths. It quickly became quite clear to me, as it did to the original OP, that it felt unsafe and uncomfortable. Yes, I have every right to be there, but I personally did not feel safe. I am not one to willingly put myself in situations where I feel unsafe, so I decided to walk somewhere other than the multi-modal path.

I chose the word sidewalk because that is my preference, but I do tend to walk long distances on the individual neighborhood streets without sidewalks as well. I walk about four miles a day. Again, that is MY preference. For those of you that choose to walk on the multi modal paths, I repeat, "Go for it." It is not for me.

Been here eight years in the busiest time of the year and never had this problem. I always see carts slow down for pedestrians. How many folks have been hit over the years? That will tell you if it is a big problem or not.

Totally agree
 

I totally agree, for the safety of both.

Quite often I see walkers on the MM trails walking three abreast with their backs to traffic. Seems they are daring carts to go around them.

Why do some walkers and bicyclists seem to think they can walk/ride abreast, two wide, taking up the majority of a lane. When I walk/ride, which is a lot, I always move to a tandem position with my co-rider/walker when being overtaken or meeting an oncoming vehicle. Yet, there are so many people that seem to want to force the carts over to the other lane as if they want to claim their "right" to be there. Use common sense and give way to the faster, BIGGER golf carts. Bicyclists are especially obnoxious about this. No wonder so many automobile drivers hate bicyclists. I bicycle 4 or 5 times a week, so it's not like I don't understand cycling.

[quote=billethkid;989960]Yes, that was my question...."when there is a sidewalk available"

The reason many automobile drivers hate cyclists is because they don't believe cyclists should be riding on roads. They don't know that cyclists have as much right to the roads as automobiles according to the law.

And just how many automobile drivers have you surveyed to back up your statement?

I have never seen anyone with 3 breasts!

It is very wise to think, and think again and exercise caution no matter how you are using the multi-modal paths.

I don't know HOW they died, but 13 people have died as a result of golf cart accidents here in The Villages in the past five years. Many are permanently disabled as a result of a golf cart accident.

All you nice people reading this....PLEASE Do NOT become a statistic. Golf carts don't protect you like cars do and being hit by a golf cart while walking is not good either.

In Florida, walk against traffic; bicycle with traffic.

You've never been to Tijuana.

I believe that the use of multi-modal paths should not be a competition, but rather a cooperation, a shared use of a limited resource. I also believe in unicorns, good people, and other mythical creatures.

I use it several times a week and at night to go to dinner. I don't see any problems at all.

Wandatime: I admire your sensible choice

villagerjack: Please my intention is not to argue but I have also but i have also seen many zoom right by pedestrian with clear evidence that their foot only rested on the the accelerator and never once on the break. It is especially true when a pedestrian is on their side just ahead of them and a golf cart on the other side is approaching them . rules of the road indicate tat these drivers have an obligation to stop and wait for the oncoming vehicle to go by before they proceed around a pedestrian
That has been my experience these past 8 years

There aren't enough sidewalks to get around everywhere.

Sometimes you have to walk on the multi modal paths. I just think it's the drivers of the golf carts who are either rude or singlemindedly driving are the problem

Ya can't win. A few months ago on Bueno Vista, I followed a couple on bikes thru a section that had a divider between north and south lanes and was honked at by the cart behind me several times and told I was an as%#€|| for not passing them in that section.

How many folks were hurt while traversing the Multi Model paths on foot? Any?

Right of way
 

I've been told automobiles always have the right of way over golf carts. Does this apply to street legal golf carts. I might add it is impossible to know a street legal one from one that is not but is wearing 'homestate' license plates. And are street legal golf carts allowed on MMP's and or diamond lanes?