[June 09, 2013] The Wisconsin State Journal SOS column Tweet Jun 09, 2013 (The Wisconsin State Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Chris Bancard of Madison admits that "this may represent a change of pace for SOS," and he didn't really need a problem solved, but his questions were timely. Bancard asks, in the interest "of etiquette and safety," whether walkers on Madison's pedestrian/bicycle paths should use the right side or the left. Also, Bancard wants to know: Where many bike paths cross city streets, they do so on a painted crosswalk. Does the presence of the official path and the painted crosswalk mean bicyclists have the right of way, and that cars must stop to allow bicyclists to cross? Or should bikers be stopping for cars, and the crosswalks mark the spot where pedestrians have the right of way per state law? SOS took this as a good excuse to contact Robbie Weber, longtime bicycle enthusiast, advocate and explainer of complicated things. Bancard's topics, she said, are perennials on the local bicycle-users' Internet forums. "Pedestrians and all users should stay on the right on paths, except when passing, and all passing should be on the left regardless of what mode you are using," Weber said. "On paths, pedestrians and bicyclists are equal users," she said. "We expect the faster users to yield to the slower users, just like on the road." If passing, it helps if the faster user (biker, or even fast runner) is polite, jangles a bell or says -- not loudly, please -- "passing on the left." The crosswalk matter, everyone agrees, is complicated. There is a legal answer and a practical answer, and sometimes the two aren't in the same gear. Where a multi-use path meets a road there are often two intersections, as sometimes there is a stop sign for bicycles before the path crosses the sidewalk. So a bicyclist has to yield to pedestrians walking by on the sidewalk first, then both the bicyclist and the pedestrian have equal rights crossing the road, "as long as they are using the crosswalk in a safe manner." For the motorist, the Department of Transportation's Guide for Path/Street Crossings puts it like this: When a driver approaches any legal crosswalk, they must yield to "a pedestrian, or to a person riding a bicycle in a manner which is consistent with the safe use of the crosswalk by pedestrians." (This means that a bicyclist or pedestrian is not making a "sudden movement" into the street.) "So," asks the DOT, "is it the bicyclist or the motorist who has to yield when there are crosswalk markings and the path has stop or yield signs? Wisconsin state laws do not address this ambiguity." Not that comforting, but the DOT adds advice for the motorist: "You should do everything you can to keep from hitting a pedestrian or bicyclist even if they have failed to meet their obligations." That obligation, according to state law, means no pedestrian or bicyclist "shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk, run, or ride into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is difficult for the operator of the vehicle to yield." Clear? OK, just try all that with a dog and a leash attached. Arthur Ross, the city's pedestrian-bicycle coordinator, reminded that signage is still catching up with the times on multi-use paths, so the newest ones include a bicycle and a pedestrian silhouette at the crosswalks. Earlier signs -- not yet replaced -- might have had just one or the other. Motorists might remember the right of way law if they picture the bike-pedestrian crosswalk as another street, another intersection. Nothing, however, negates the rule that the bicycle and the pedestrian have the right of way, Ross said. ___ (c)2013 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at www.wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]