This time every year we remind our trail visitors to practice basic trail etiquette. Simple things that most of the folks that visit our regional trails already know.
Stuff like:
- Don’t block up more than half of the trail
- Ride/walk on the right, pass on the left
- Be visible in low light so people can see you
- Use a bell or your voice when passing, so people know you’re there
- And most importantly, go slowly – the speed limit on all regional trails is 15 mph
In the past when we’ve gone out and surveyed random people walking, biking, and running on our trails about these rules, over 90% of people surveyed already knew them.
In fact, when we ask school children about basic trail rules, they also know them! So really all our friendly trail visitors need is a little reminder that these rules exist to keep everyone safe.
We designed our current trail safety signs to be just that, a gentle reminder of something most of us already know. We also have a couple of King County’s finest out on the trails rewarding good behavior and helping those that may not remember the rules.
If you see our sheriffs out on the trail, say hi! And if you happen to be exhibiting good trail behavior, you might just get a reward!
A lot of walkers don’t appear to know that they should walk on the right.
We talked to a few walkers about this odd behavior, as the customary way to walk is on the right. What we found was in most cases it was in response to feeling unsafe having cyclists whizzing past them from behind. They’d rather see them coming and be able to move off-trail. But, just to address that particular behavior we had signs made that say “Stay right, pass left”. If you let us know the location of the behavior your witnessing, we’d be able to get a sign out there and see if it can make a difference. Thanks for the feedback!