RANT: Seriously, how hard is it to run on the correct side of the road.

At night I often find it safer to run with traffic. If against traffic it puts the headlights too close to me, and I end up blinded more often. The extra distance out of the direct line of the headlights keeps me more aware of my surroundings. This is only on moderately busy roads with wide shoulders though.

On quiet rural roads I tend to just run in the center of the road, and when a car approaches I switch to the side opposite the car.

i chose D2 wrote:

Cyclists ride with traffic because they are traffic.

Yep. And on a bike path, always run against riders. Same principle applies. Cyclists are often talking or caught up in music and many runners have been caught or snagged by a biker coming up in them unaware.

The point is to be in control of yourself so that you can avoid much faster moving traffic. People texting at the wheel and swerving onto shoulders...I'll always run against traffic so I can see them before they hit me.

I think there are legitimate tradeoffs here, and reasonable people can come to different conclusions about what is safest for them. At least for certain ranges of road conditions; I agree that sometimes running against traffic is clearly safer. Anyway, here are what I see as the tradeoffs:

Reasons to run against traffic:

-Better awareness of approaching cars since you have direct line of sight, instead of of relying on hearing/glances behind you/peripheral vision.

-More automatic awareness, i.e. even if you are zoning out you will probably still notice the car in time to jump out of the way, whereas it is more possible to be zoning out and NOT notice the car coming from behind you. Related to the first one, but slightly different.

Reasons to run with traffic:

-Lower relative speeds mean more time to react if a car swerves toward you. You have twice as much time when cars are driving 24 mph, and 1.5x as much when cars are driving 40 mph.

-Lower relative speeds also means fewer cars passing you. Again, at 24 mph only half as many cars will pass you (each at half the speed), and at 40 mph two-thirds as many cars will pass you.

-Lower impact speeds if cars do in fact hit you. I don't think this one effects the debate too much, since if you're getting hit by a car you're already doing it wrong. But it surprised me how much of a difference this makes - if you are running against traffic and get hit by a car driving 30mph, then the energy of the collision is (30+8)^2 / (30-8)^2 = 2.98 times as high as it would be for someone running with traffic.

Like I said in a previous post, I do usually run with traffic. That's largely because most of the running I do is in residential neighborhoods with relatively low driving speeds, not many cars passing per minute, and good visibility/lines of sight. Under those conditions, for me, I am very confident that running with traffic is substantially safer. If I was less alert, or had worse hearing or peripheral vision, or didn't have a deeply ingrained habit of glancing behind me for cars every five seconds or so (more or less frequently depending on rearward visibility and line of sight), etc, then even in these conditions running against traffic might win out. Similarly, if I was running on roads with higher speed limits, heavier traffic, noisier conditions, or poorer lines of sight, these things would also favor running against traffic.

Like I said above, my point is that there are legitimate tradeoffs here. Running with traffic is the best choice sometimes.

Concerned Citizen wrote:

Seriously, how hard is it to run on the correct side of the road. i came upon a group of 3 runners this morning running on the wrong side of the road. I told them as much and they said they knew. Really? It is not a suggestion to run on the correct side of the road, it could save your life. I told them i had been hit by a car doing what they were doing and the police man told me it was against the law. Nothing.

We have to be smart out there people. Run with your left foot against the curb!!

A lot of issues here.

You actually got hit running on the wrong side of the road - how hard was it for you do do it correct in the first place?

How did you have this long conversation while running?

You were either running in opposite directions and had no time for more than one word.

Or they were on the other side of the street and you were talking across traffic.

Also, you don't always run on the left, facing traffic.

If there is a nice shoulder only on one side (and no shoulder on the other side) it would be safer to run on the shoulder even if it is on the right side of the road running with traffic.

[/quote]

Also, you don't always run on the left, facing traffic.

If there is a nice shoulder only on one side (and no shoulder on the other side) it would be safer to run on the shoulder even if it is on the right side of the road running with traffic.[/quote]

Can you prove this statement? Didn't think so. Try again.

While I run facing traffic when there is no sidewalk, why is this whole thing worth a rant? How hard is it to turn your steering wheel a few millimeters one way and then back? Done. Or (horrors) slow down to make a safe pass and arrive at work 3 seconds later. Driving does not imply not having to use your eyes and brain.

left or dead wrote:

Lee Blackmer - died in 1979 - hit by truck coming on him from behind. ALWAYS run on left side of road. You can then see the traffic coming at you.

Why do people not ride their bicycles on the left side of the road then?

Nobody has mentioned how cars turn at intersections.

If you're running on the left side of the street, as you approach an intersection cars will make quick right turns into you and might not see you coming around the corner. You might have trouble seeing them coming, too.

If you're running on the right side of the road, after you cross the intersection it's possible for a car to make a right and hit you from behind, but when you're crossing the street at least you can see if something is coming, and there's a greater chance the car will see you crossing the street in front of it (before it turns the corner and creams you).

I think this holds for running on the sidewalk as well. If you're about to cross on the right hand side of the street, it's easier to see cars about to make a right-hand turn into you than if you're on the left-hand side of the street.

So I think running on the right hand side of the street is generally safer as you approach intersections.

The Realist wrote:

Blah Blah. wrote:

If there are sidewalks it is safer to run on the RIGHT side of the road.

Too many stroller moms walking 3 abreast who think runners should move out of the way of their starbucks fueled playdate.

ya hate that when you're running down the sidewalk and you have four people walking in the same direction in front of you shoulder to shoulder and their is no room for you to get by. They think they own the sidewalk

brosephnoper wrote:

Hi Flagpole (OP)!

No, who is Flagpole? I'm new here, just a slow mid 40s mom. I've only been running for a few years, but even I know to run on the left!

Concerned Citizen wrote:

Seriously, how hard is it to run on the correct side of the road. i came upon a group of 3 runners this morning running on the wrong side of the road. I told them as much and they said they knew. Really? It is not a suggestion to run on the correct side of the road, it could save your life. I told them i had been hit by a car doing what they were doing and the police man told me it was against the law. Nothing.

We have to be smart out there people. Run with your left foot against the curb!!

It is a good rule and I use to follow it when I lead group runs containing novice runners, but when I ran alone or with serious runners, I rarely followed it. In all of my years of running I can only recall one serious runner who actually followed the rule. It is cumbersome in many situations like when it forces you to alter a measured course and/or to run or concrete versus a dirt path. Albeit, I think it is a good rule, especially with the number of distracted drivers these days, but my evening run is one of the few things in life where I get to feel free and natural and to do things my way.

I run on the sidewalk. Not many cars there.

crete wrote:

I run on the sidewalk. Not many cars there.

Serious question to all - which side of street do you run on when there are sidewalks on both sides?