[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Carlsondm

I jump off the sidewalk to avoid the bug swarms or nearby snakes or if the sidewalk is not on the side of the road to make my next turn. I also distance run/walk with my Garmin and use the road or shoulder when possible to keep my joint cushions. Runners/ race walkers usually weigh the alternatives and choose the safest option. I am interested in how these ‘walking rules’ are enforced.

Like all rules, laws, and regulations are recommendations unless LEO present with regulations and laws. Rules are well if I want to or not.

[donassaid]

The problem when trying to decide which side of a MMP to walk on is that you should ALWAYS walk on the outside of a curve in the path because many of the curves are hidden by bushes and plants. Pedestrians should always walk on the sidewalk and not in the road. So sick of those who walk Southbound on Canal St. in the early morning, walking in the street expecting golf carts to slow, stop or go around them even when there is car traffic.

[GypsyRN]

Originally Posted by EdFNJ

Agreed but unfortunately those rules/laws wouldn't apply to the MMP's as they aren't public roadways covered under those laws. If you are from the UK it seems you sometimes get confused. We see that just about every morning and that is what some guy actually told us.

What??? It's basic common sense, but ALAS that is so much lacking in TV.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

IF focusing on hard vs. soft, you should have been running on the grass.

Hey! You damn kids get off my lawn!
😂😂😂

[Tbrazie]

see above.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by Tbrazie

Sorry about your joints but walking in the road is illegal if there is a sidwalk

Absolutely correct, and I'd bet there are dozens of things you, me and many others do that are just as high on the "illegal priority list" as walking on the street. Ever drive your car over the speedlimit (c'mon be honest now)? Ever drive your golf cart over 20MPH? Ever watch a video you didn't legally obtain? Ever JAYWALK ? Ever take a pencil home from where you work? Ever forget to signal on a turn? Ever carry a sharpie marker while you are out of your home? (illegal in Florida). Ever litter either accidentally or on purpose? All just as high up on the "illegal priority list" as walking in the street. Sometimes the lawbreaking is just worth the jail time !

I guess we're all lawbreakers at one time or another in our lives. Doesn't make it legally right but still.......

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Why would anyone be confused about walking and facing the traffic flow other than ignorance, or foolhardiness?
It is pretty much the rule in most countries.

It’s logical!!!!! Face the traffic so you don’t accidentally weave into the, otherwise unseen traffic behind you! I wanna see what’s coming folks!

[Michread]

When I am a bicycling, I take up my whole lane when I think it’s too dangerous for a golf car to pass me.

Too many times the golf cart tries to pass my bike when it’s way too dangerous! SLOW down and wait! Otherwise take your car, please.

It’s a MMP NOT a golf cart path. What gives golf carts the right of way? Just because they can go faster doesn’t means golf carts have the right of way.

[jdulej]

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed

It’s logical!!!!! Face the traffic so you don’t accidentally weave into the, otherwise unseen traffic behind you! I wanna see what’s coming folks!

This was mentioned in an earlier post, but I'll repeat it here anyway - there are many sharp MMP turns where the landscaping is such that you simply cannot see what might be coming at you, and whatever might be coming at you cannot see you. On top of that, the plantings are right up to the edge of the pavement, making diving out of the way difficult. An example: the MMP heading to Brownwood, just after crossing Hillsborough. The path makes a hard right followed by a hard left. If you are walking on the left (against the traffic) at that hard left and a cart meets you at that turn, you are going to lose badly.
My point? The safest side to walk on is not always as obvious as it seems.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by EdFNJ

Absolutely correct, and I'd bet there are dozens of things you, me and many others do that are just as high on the "illegal priority list" as walking on the street. Ever drive your car over the speedlimit (c'mon be honest now)? Ever drive your golf cart over 20MPH? Ever watch a video you didn't legally obtain? Ever JAYWALK ? Ever take a pencil home from where you work? Ever forget to signal on a turn? Ever carry a sharpie marker while you are out of your home? (illegal in Florida). Ever litter either accidentally or on purpose? All just as high up on the "illegal priority list" as walking in the street. Sometimes the lawbreaking is just worth the jail time !

I guess we're all lawbreakers at one time or another in our lives. Doesn't make it legally right but still.......

All true. However, you are highly unlikely to get hit by a 600 pound cart or a 5,000 pound SUV because you are in a space from which the LAW prohibits you when you take a pencil home.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

All true. However, you are highly unlikely to get hit by a 600 pound cart or a 5,000 pound SUV because you are in a space from which the LAW prohibits you when you take a pencil home.

Well, due to the fact we demand freeeeeeeeeeedom from the tyranny that controls our own health and well being with silly rules that would be the runners/walkers choice if violating the "walking on the street when there is a sidewalk nearby" laws would lead to their own death or dismemberment. Sure, it's also selfish not caring how one's breaking the "walking on the street when there is a sidewalk nearby" law might affect the cart driver trying to avoid hitting you and getting killed in a flip over accident but why should that matter since all that matters is letting people do what they want that would affect their own bodies without regard for the life and safety of others driving golf carts.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

I know Golfing Eagles found this humorous and worthy of Darwinism, but the truth is known in long distance runner or walker circles.

Years of the cumulative impact motion on the joints from walking and running exercise take their toll on joints, meniscus, tendons, and the rest of the muscular exoskeleton. The cumulative impact is mitigated by asphalt (road) versus concrete (sidewalk). An exception to this would be some of the UK roads where they use the rock that we use to surround railroad tracks. The rock is leveled but floated to the surface, so in effect you are running more on granite than on asphalt in Dublin.

Long term and long distance exercises are better served by exercising on the "softer" asphalt over time. Dirt is better, but the inherent unevenness and pebbly protrusions can negatively impact one's ankles, knees, toes, etc.

So yes, the walker is better off on the softer road than the harder concrete. A short and occasional walk to Publix will probably have no quantifiable difference, but if you regularly run or walk 25-50 miles per week, then yes, there would be a difference worth pursuing.

FWIW.

Running and walking is child’s play. Try many many years of skiing moguls, often frozen icy moguls in Vermont. Talk about a way to trash a set of knees! The right one was replaced almost 11 years ago and the left one is bone on bone and desperately needs to be replaced. Boy, all those years of banging the bumps sure was fun, but if I knew then what I know now, I might have skied an occasional groomed trail : ( Thats why I swim laps now, best way to get a great exercise without the knees bearing any weight.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Michread

When I am a bicycling, I take up my whole lane when I think it’s too dangerous for a golf car to pass me.

Too many times the golf cart tries to pass my bike when it’s way too dangerous! SLOW down and wait! Otherwise take your car, please.

It’s a MMP NOT a golf cart path. What gives golf carts the right of way? Just because they can go faster doesn’t means golf carts have the right of way.

But I had the right of way, he said from the hospital bed. Be smart and defer to the law of physics. A 600 pound golf cart going 20 MPH versus a bicycle? If I was riding the bike, I wouldn’t be playing chicken with the the golf cart!

[mlmarr1]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

But along those lines a pet peeve of mine: 316.130 sec 3 states that no pedestrian shall walk along any paved roadway when a sidewalk is readily available. So, MMP's are not covered, but "jumping" off the sidewalk into the road is ILLEGAL and can be CITED by LEO. That means you DO NOT GET TO JUMP IN FRONT of a 600 lb. golf cart going 20, nor a 5,000 lb. SUV going 30+ because you are deathly afraid of getting COVID from passing withing 6 feet of another for 1/2 of a second.

[Happydaz]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

But I had the right of way, he said from the hospital bed. Be smart and defer to the law of physics. A 600 pound golf cart going 20 MPH versus a bicycle? If I was riding the bike, I wouldn’t be playing chicken with the the golf cart!

The bigger vehicle rules, I guess. The walker should not play chicken with a bicyclist. The bicyclist should not play chicken with a golf cart. A golf cart should not play chicken with a car. A car should not play chicken with a truck. How people can drive a car on 441, 301, or I 75 with all the truck traffic is beyond me. They must have a death wish. Bottom line, we should all be careful to watch out for the slower, smaller vehicles and people. A little courtesy goes a long way. Do we really need to cut each other off just because we have a bigger vehicle? Can’t we just slow down? This is a retirement community isn’t it? I try to slow down for others, sometimes I miscalculate and have to catch myself before I jeopardize the safety of a golf carter, walker, or bicyclist and have to hit the brakes to slow down. The biggest vehicle shouldn’t bully smaller ones. Could you imagine what the roads would be like if professional truckers cut people off? Sure it can happen, but overall trucks treat the rest of us much better than we treat them.