[VApeople]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

I walk my dog on the left. I believe all dogs are trained to walk on the left. As a sidenote, if you’re riding a break, please give me a holler or ring the bell when you come up behind me.

You can do whatever you want, and you should be prepared for others, either walkers or bikers, to do whatever they feel like doing.

When we ride our bikes, my wife usually goes first and slows down and rings her bell when passing others, so we would not be a problem for you and your dog.

When we walk, some bikers whiz past going pretty fast. You should figure out how you plan to deal with bikers like that as well. Maybe keep your dog off the trail to the right as you walk.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

A propos of nothing, it always used to be the rule on ships to walk anticlockwise round the promenade deck, and there would be arrows on the walls indicating this.

The latest cruise ships lack these signs, so a few people tend to walk clockwise, which can cause problems in the narrower sections should you have to pass them there.

Despite having a constant stream of the other 95% coming towards them, they generally won't turn round and join the general flow, and you see them lap after lap.

You can imagine the chaos when Mrs Fox gets out there on her e-bike.

Wow that actually brings back memories of moving in a counter-clockwise circle - at the ice and roller rinks. We always did that. And stayed primarily to our right. If you were on the left, you were either passing, or you were skating "patch" in the center of the ring. On Friday nights everyone would be going around counter-clockwise, faster skaters pass on the left, until the DJ called for everyone to go in reverse.

[PiscisMagnus]

I think the above response by @Bill14564 (Post #3) was comprehensive and written well. It is certainly consistent with my multi-use path use in two large cities over the last 38 years. Before buying a house in TV, I lived in Henderson, NV for 5 years and in Ann Arbor, MI for 33 years. I was on the Bicycle Advisory Committee to the City of Henderson for 1 year. Neither city permitted golf carts on the multi-purpose paved paths. But as far as cyclists/runners/walkers all on the same path, staying to the right and passing on the left was simple to remember and understand, and accidents were rare.

Although I didn't find any specific laws governing Florida multi-use paths on a simple search, I did find a guidance from Bike/Walk Central Florida, a regional advocacy organization for cyclists and pedestrians, whose etiquette guidance for trail use is very familiar to me. They advocate Staying right and Passing left. Forum rules did not allow me to include the URL link, but it is easily found.

So cycling, running, and walking on the right side of multi-modal paths in TV feels very natural to me, even in the presence of golf carts coming from behind. Until there is a formal rule stating I have to walk/run on the left side, I'll stay on the right.

Are there any data from other cities where golf carts share the multi-use path with cyclists and pedestrians (walkers/runners)? It might be worth a look to see whether walking left vs right is the better approach for overall path safety. Hopefully any real decisions or rules about safe path use will be based on data from other municipalities and not on other users' personal fears or opinions about what is "common sense".