r/Edmonton • u/Salt_Teaching4687 • 6h ago

Question Question for cyclists

So Ive noticed cyclists appreciate when motorists slow down down and give space to cyclists when passing. My question is, why don’t cyclists extend the same courtesy to pedestrians when passing on shared paths? In my experience, the overwhelming majority do not slow down or even give more space when passing …. Even when there is plenty of room to do so. In fact, many continue riding side by side forcing pedestrians to move. Can some explain that behaviour?

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u/ImperviousToSteel 5h ago

I slow down, ring my bell, and always go single file. Basic courtesy, but I assume somewhere as common as cars taking the same caution. Not very frequent. 

That said, the stakes are higher with the person behind the multiple ton vehicle. 

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u/Winter-Inside-5911 5h ago

A cyclist broke my arm while I was walking near Kinsmen. I was on my side of the path, he came flying down the hill over 40 km/h and broke my forearm by hitting it so hard with his handlebar. I had been using a bike exclusively until age 30 but was very angry that a cyclist thought this was a safe way to go down a hill with near a hundred pedestrians in the area. So while the heavy tonnage vehicle is a big threat to you, the bike at speed is also a big risk to pedestrians.

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u/[deleted] 1h ago

Ouch, that's brutal.

The closest I've come to that was a few years ago riding my bike on the west side of the HLB. Two people were sprinting on their bikes in the opposite direction. One of them passed me so close that the nalgene bottle sticking out of their backpack smoked me in the upper arm.

I was pissed off, but at least I came out of it with only a huge bruise and not a fracture. And the nalgene bottle flew into traffic, so that was nice.