So a man wrote my running club asking us to stop running on the roads in the neighborhood

What are the city's laws regarding running, walking, cycling in roadways and on sidewalks?

This has happened before in other places. There have even been municipalities that have passed ordinances prohibiting people from running on roads. None of these efforts ever came to anything other than being a nuisance for runners who had to deal with it. The outcome was always as you mention, that public roads are for anyone.

Just a Runner Man wrote:

I expect some of you to agree with him, but what is the legal view on running in roads?

Why would we agree with him? I do about 95% of my running in the roads, that would be incredibly stupid if they try to regulate runners on the roads.

WhitePony wrote:

Why would we agree with him?

Possibly because some of us think that runners should run on the sidewalk. But as an above poster mentioned, this is a matter of local ordinance (and state law).

I am not entirely sure of the laws. We have a lawyer in our group that is looking into it. I was mainly asking for experiences to see what we're looking at here.

The neighborhood where this guy lives is an older, well-established neighborhood with wide streets, sidewalks, etc. I live there, too. I think that is why this makes me so mad.

We are not talking about a private, gated community or even a neighborhood with certain regime rules or ordinances. Just a big old neighborhood where many of us live.

He is worked up because we have a 10k in the neighborhood in 2 weeks and it is in the 12th year. He asked us to move it to the fairgrounds (wtf?) last year and we refused to do so.

I run on the sidewalk wrote:

Possibly because some of us think that runners should run on the sidewalk.

Why?

I see, only the major roads in my town have sidewalks and they are all very uneven, but I understand where you are coming from. Those cities that ban runners, do they also ban walkers from the roads? I am from a smaller town so traffic is not at a level where they would ever have to think about banning runners from the roads.

Maybe there is some missing context, but I will tell you that there is a running group in my town which is known for running three abreast in the road in the early morning hours. Unfortunately one of the women was killed by a driver. Perhaps this is nothing more than a plea for public safety.

I believe that our society should band people from exercising outdoors. Good call. Lets discourage people from working out so that we can drive around in our air conditioned cars unencumbered by those pesky people blocking the streets.

They can go to gyms like civilized people, right?

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Maybe there is some missing context, but I will tell you that there is a running group in my town which is known for running three abreast in the road in the early morning hours. Unfortunately one of the women was killed by a driver. Perhaps this is nothing more than a plea for public safety.

In that case, the sane thing to do would be to lower the speed limit and enforce it. People have a right to use the roads in whatever way they want. Roads are municipal.

...this is a matter of local ordinance (and state law).

Where I grew up the laws regarding skateboarding were on a state/county/city level. The city could enforce any of the three, the county only 2. The state law said one general thing (not in the road), the county was a little more specific (can't recall), and the city was specific down to the size of the retail location (minimum 5,000 sq feet) and the nature of the sidewalk (privately owned and maintained and is directly connected to any entrance or exit of any business within that retail location). Also, the city outlawed riding skateboards in crosswalks but allowed it on public sidewalks.

My point, there's gotta be laws for this. If there aren't I can't see them enforcing something that doesn't exist and maybe someone trying to get a new law passed.

Just my non-lawyer mind's thinking.

Whattttt wrote:

In that case, the sane thing to do would be to lower the speed limit and enforce it. People have a right to use the roads in whatever way they want. Roads are municipal.

Do you believe they should be allowed to run down the middle of the road and impede traffic?

WhitePony wrote:

I see, only the major roads in my town have sidewalks and they are all very uneven, but I understand where you are coming from. Those cities that ban runners, do they also ban walkers from the roads? I am from a smaller town so traffic is not at a level where they would ever have to think about banning runners from the roads.

Makes sense. It definitely depends on the area and it is hard to say whether runners in a particular place should be allowed to run in the road without any firsthand experience with the town. Obviously, no one tries to run on the street in Lower Manhattan. At the other end of the spectrum, running down some rural dirt road that only sees two cars and a tractor per day isn't hurting anything. The vast majority of us are somewhere in between those two extremes and it just depends on the specific characteristics of the area.

WhitePony wrote:

Whattttt wrote:

In that case, the sane thing to do would be to lower the speed limit and enforce it. People have a right to use the roads in whatever way they want. Roads are municipal.

Do you believe they should be allowed to run down the middle of the road and impede traffic?

Or should people be able to drive their cars on sidewalks? Sidewalks are municipal.

I run on the roads a lot but I do not get in the way of traffic. I expect courtesy from drivers and in return I give courtesy to drivers by staying out of their way.

Correct.

And who would run on a road if there were another option? I only run on roads as necessary. Otherwise I use sidewalks, parks, trails, tracks, etc. Of course Im lucky to have a lot of options.

But, if you want or need to run on a road, I suppose you should not be unduly restricted.

Whattttt wrote:

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Maybe there is some missing context, but I will tell you that there is a running group in my town which is known for running three abreast in the road in the early morning hours. Unfortunately one of the women was killed by a driver. Perhaps this is nothing more than a plea for public safety.

In that case, the sane thing to do would be to lower the speed limit and enforce it. People have a right to use the roads in whatever way they want. Roads are municipal.

Or to ticket the runners who are running three abreast in the road. That is not safe regardless of what the speed limit is. In any case, if you insist on your right to run in the road that is fine but you will be the loser in any collision with a car. I'd rather be alive than right. I don't know if this is at all relevant to the situation referenced.

This brings up another question, do you roadrunners run on the right or left side of the road? I run on the left so I can see the cars coming at me.

Pedestrians should always run/walk on the left side of the road.

WhitePony wrote:

Do you believe they should be allowed to run down the middle of the road and impede traffic?

No of course not. I am a sensible runner who actually uses the sidewalk more often than not. If i am in the road, I am hugging the left side and very aware of cars.

My feeling is that runners need to be safe, but the law should be on the side of the pedestrian in most cases, this included.

I think it is silly to make a law essentially saying, "as soon as you jump into your speeding, one-ton pound of hot steel, you are free to endanger others using the roads."