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-   -   Interesting MMP Observation (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/interesting-mmp-observation-346796/)

CynthiaAnn 01-14-2024 09:19 AM

It's a MULTI-modal path
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 2290798)
I disagree with your first paragraph. How did you pass your drivers test?

It's a MULTI-modal path. Pedestrians are allowed on the path as much as you are. If there is no oncoming traffic, the polite thing to do is to go around them so they don't have to step into the grass.

Santiagogirl 01-14-2024 09:21 AM

I walk some on multimodal paths adjacent to car traffic. I am thankful that both men & women are usually very courteous & pull out of the lane well before they get to me (even if I have moved off the path). Most exceptions have been very elderly women. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt that their vision & reaction time may be subpar, but shudder to think that they are still driving any vehicle. I have been injured when I slipped and fell trying to yield the path to a cart (which was also in process of giving me more room), whose driver kindly stopped to make sure I was okay. Due to steep grades & curbs, as well as moisture & landscaping adjacent to the multimodal paths, just "stepping off the path" is not always as safe or simple a maneuver as some seem to think. I do try to be aware of auto traffic & leave the path if possible if the situation for a cart driver pulling into a lane of traffic would put them at risk, such as speeding cars or a blind curve. Fortunately car traffic is generally very light where I walk.

MX rider 01-14-2024 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2290801)
Seems like if we ever meet on a trail, I'll have a sore arm, you'll have a broken mirror, I'll have a picture, and you'll have a lot of explaining to do.

Agree! As a runner on the mmp I would do the same.

She's not very smart and uninformed. Pedestrians have the right of way. Motor vehicles are supposed to yield. Been that way as long as I've been driving.

G.R.I.T.S. 01-14-2024 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coffeebean (Post 2290728)
Yup......I'm a woman and will always stay in my lane. I never swing wide on any road unless I'm about to hit an obstacle. Walkers should be the ones who yield to any moving vehicle.

I also never go over the center line when driving an automobile. That is dangerous. I will never understand why drivers move to the left of the center line when a golf cart is coming up on their right in the MMP. There is room for both of you unless you are driving a huge truck with a wide load.

I’m with you, Coffeebean. I think it stems from our roles as Moms trying to teach kids the rules of the road (pun intended). I don’t run over people but will politely stop if necessary so that walkers can safely pass me. Sunset Pointe had a tragic fatal accident involving a cart and a pedestrian walking with traffic in a cart lane beside a sidewalk. Horrible unnecessary loss.

MX rider 01-14-2024 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coffeebean (Post 2290852)
Of course, I will avoid hitting a pedestrian who is in the MMP. I never said I would not. It is just much safer for any pedestrian to get out of the way of any moving vehicle. Seems that is what I was taught by my parents when I was a kid.

The more you comment the deeper the hole you're in. Put down the shovel and stop digging!

As a long time runner, I run the mmp near Mallory CC often. 95% of cart drivers are courteous and give me room, but once in a while they don't. Usually entitled drivers like yourself.

I've been driving for 50 years and pedestrians have always had the right of way! It's just common sense. We learned that in drivers ed. Btw, if your parents taught you to not move over, they taught you wrong.

Topspinmo 01-14-2024 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MX rider (Post 2291069)
Agree! As a runner on the mmp I would do the same.

She's not very smart and uninformed. Pedestrians have the right of way. Motor vehicles are supposed to yield. Been that way as long as I've been driving.


Walkers don’t NOT have total right-way. You just can’t blunder across road where there no cross walk you have to yield to traffic and walk straight across road. You also have to walk along left edge of any road. Several people have been hit and not drivers fault cause someone blunder in front of them not in crosswalks.

Topspinmo 01-14-2024 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G.R.I.T.S. (Post 2291074)
I’m with you, Coffeebean. I think it stems from our roles as Moms trying to teach kids the rules of the road (pun intended). I don’t run over people but will politely stop if necessary so that walkers can safely pass me. Sunset Pointe had a tragic fatal accident involving a cart and a pedestrian walking with traffic in a cart lane beside a sidewalk. Horrible unnecessary loss.

Not dangerous if nothing approaching, but it could be dangerous it you don’t give enough room.

Velvet 01-14-2024 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs S (Post 2291023)
I work in a building where both men and women enter the front doors and the men always say hello or goodbye. The women look straight ahead as if I’m not even there. The men are much nicer and more polite.

Yes, women learn to be defensive. If I said hello and smiled in my northern city, too often it was a taken for an invitation … that I am available for coffeee, dinner etc.

Topspinmo 01-14-2024 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santiagogirl (Post 2291059)
I walk some on multimodal paths adjacent to car traffic. I am thankful that both men & women are usually very courteous & pull out of the lane well before they get to me (even if I have moved off the path). Most exceptions have been very elderly women. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt that their vision & reaction time may be subpar, but shudder to think that they are still driving any vehicle. I have been injured when I slipped and fell trying to yield the path to a cart (which was also in process of giving me more room), whose driver kindly stopped to make sure I was okay. Due to steep grades & curbs, as well as moisture & landscaping adjacent to the multimodal paths, just "stepping off the path" is not always as safe or simple a maneuver as some seem to think. I do try to be aware of auto traffic & leave the path if possible if the situation for a cart driver pulling into a lane of traffic would put them at risk, such as speeding cars or a blind curve. Fortunately car traffic is generally very light where I walk.

A person got killed in his cart leaving diamond lane due to walker walking with flow of traffic. He pulled out diamond lane and know druggie speeding down street hit him cause he didn’t stop in diamond lane. The person walking wrong direction should have been ticketed IMO.

Seems like you walk with your safety in mind.

I would rather fall over than being ran over. IMO that’s chance you take if don’t create space. I’ll leap off path or street if I have to and ready to do so. I’m solely responsible for my safety.

Topspinmo 01-14-2024 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CynthiaAnn (Post 2291057)
It's a MULTI-modal path. Pedestrians are allowed on the path as much as you are. If there is no oncoming traffic, the polite thing to do is to go around them so they don't have to step into the grass.


Need read rules on walking on roads, streets and private roads. MMP is road. As long as they are walking on left edge so they can see traffic coming and be able to move for their own safety. Dead right is still dead.

Bill14564 01-14-2024 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Topspinmo (Post 2291084)
Walkers don’t NOT have total right-way. You just can’t blunder across road where there no cross walk you have to yield to traffic and walk straight across road. You also have to walk along left edge of any road. Several people have been hit and not drivers fault cause someone blunder in front of them not in crosswalks.

And if the pedestrians don't follow the rules, does that give the driver free rein to run the pedestrian down? Of course not. Whether the pedestrian is doing the right thing or not, the driver is required to take care not to hit them.

Topspinmo 01-14-2024 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ropnrose (Post 2291025)
I take exception to your statement that "women hold their lane". I'm a woman that routinely drives on the MMP. Not only do I move over for a walker, I also slow down. When passing a bicycle, I slow down and give them the minimum 3' (usually more) wide clearance.

Good for you!

One hundred men (fill in blank) will test today, but only three will make the green berets. You are warrior!.

OrangeBlossomBaby 01-14-2024 10:14 AM

When I'm walking on an MMP (which isn't a road, it's an MMP, that's why it's not called an MMR) - I usually walk -with- traffic, not against it. I stay to the far right edge and if I hear the sound of bicycle gears or the whoosh of an EV or the rumble of a motor coming closer I notice first - is there room for them to pass me safely? If so, I just continue as I was. If not, I move off the pavement. If there's a curb, I'll walk on the curb. If it's grass, I'll walk on the grass.

Maybe some day when my hearing aids stop being good enough to let me hear what's coming up behind me, I'll get one of those little tiny mirrors you can attach to your eyeglasses. And then I'll be able to see them coming. For now I'm good to go, because I have something called "situational awareness" which apparently a lot of old people no longer possess - or possibly never had.

Topspinmo 01-14-2024 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2291099)
And if the pedestrians don't follow the rules, does that give the driver free rein to run the pedestrian down? Of course not. Whether the pedestrian is doing the right thing or not, the driver is required to take care not to hit them.

No, but if drive can’t stop and boxed in guess who’s dead right.

Velvet 01-14-2024 10:15 AM

The real problem, that I can see, is that there is no separation on the paths of vehicles (golf carts) from pedestrians. There are very few places elsewhere where this is the case. Because we don’t have the money or the space to build side walks everywhere, we need to suggest safe habits, or “rules” that everyone can follow. Not that people will follow them, but at least it would be a guide for safe behavior. When I first came here, it was assumed that I would just know what to do. I tried walking through a tunnel once and never again. Or where there are walls beside the MMP and you can’t step aside.


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