If I'm on a trail and I hear a cyclist's bell, should I get out of the way?

Globe and Mail

7 hours ago

If I'm walking on a multi-use path and I hear a bell from a cyclist approaching from behind, what am I supposed to do? Usually, the bikes are coming really fast. Often, it will be two bikes riding side by side. It seems like they expect me to leap out of the way (especially when they ring the bell incessantly) even if I'm on the rightmost side of the trail.
I find it's getting worse now with so many people on e-bikes – especially people around my age (I'm in my 60s). My guess is some of them haven't cycled in years and think like entitled drivers. – Erin, Ontario
Despite what some cyclists think, ringing a bell doesn't mean 'Scram, pedestrians!'
If you're walking or running on a trail, cyclists should warn you that they're coming, but you don't have to get out of their way, experts said.
'You may want to move if you can to stay safe, but it's not a legal requirement,' said Sean Shapiro, a traffic safety consultant and former Toronto traffic cop. 'If I'm walking with my kids and I hear a bell, I'm going to look but I'm not going to leap, because I could leap into the cyclist's path and cause a collision.'
In Ontario, the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) requires cyclists, like drivers, to have 'a bell, gong or horn' and use it 'whenever is reasonably necessary to notify pedestrians' or face a $110 fine.
That bell is just supposed to let you know that a cyclist is there, but you still generally have the right of way, Shapiro said.
'You're a pedestrian – it's a pedestrian path or sidewalk," he said. 'Everyone else is visiting.'
While the HTA generally doesn't apply on paths and trails, municipalities have their own bylaws around multi-use paths. Toronto's, for instance, includes a 20-kilometre-an-hour speed limit and a requirement to yield to pedestrians.
While the law varies by province and city, pedestrians usually have the right of way.
But cyclists should, generally, be yielding to pedestrians on trails even when it's not specifically required by local laws, said Patrick Brown, a Toronto-based personal injury lawyer who handles cycling-related cases.
'Shared respect should be maintained on all shared trails,' he said. 'Cyclists have an added responsibility to pedestrians because they are heavier, faster and (can) cause serious injury to a pedestrian if struck.'
Civil discourse?
If you're seriously injured by a cyclist while you were walking or running, you could sue them for damages, Brown said.
'[The court] would look at whether or not the cyclist's actions were reasonable in the circumstance,' he said.
Damages, including pain and suffering, loss of income and care costs awarded by a court could be 'a very substantial amount,' he said.
If the cyclist has home insurance, which includes personal liability insurance, it will cover the damages.
'But if you didn't have home insurance, and a lot of people don't, especially in the city, that's a problem because you would be responsible for paying it,' he said, adding that if the collision is fatal and the cyclist is at fault, the amount of money could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While incidents of pedestrians being seriously injured and killed by cyclists are relatively rare – especially compared to the number of cyclists and pedestrians seriously injured and killed by cars – they do happen, Brown said.
But a pedestrian could also be found at fault, civilly, in a collision if, for instance, they ran out onto a trail in front of a bike without looking first and the bike had no way to stop in time, he said.
'If you [try to avoid them] but peel off the trail into a ditch and fracture your neck, that pedestrian could be civilly responsible for what happened to you' as a cyclist, Brown said. 'And that has happened, too.'
But if cyclists are coming up on somebody already on the trail, they should be slowing down and be ready to either stop or to go off the trail, if possible, to pass slowly, he said.
That's because pedestrians may not hear you, they may not be able to move out of your way or, especially if they're with small kids, they could move unpredictably.
'If you're driving a car in a school zone, you better slow down and you better be wary that kids could run out in front of your car and you better drive accordingly,' he said. 'It's the exact same thing with cyclists. You're riding through trails in park areas [with] families having picnics. So you should be going at a very low speed [so]… when the unexpected happens, you'll be able to brake and avoid it.'
That's especially true for e-bikes, which are heavier and need more distance to stop, he said.
Generally, then, it's smartest for walkers and runners to keep calm and carry on when they hear that bell, Brown said.
'If you step out to the left or you step out to the right, how do you know what the bike will do?' he said. 'Just keep going at your same pace and be conscious that there's a bike coming up from behind.'
While it's not a bad idea for pedestrians to stick to the right side of a trail, they don't have to unless there's a local bylaw requiring it (Toronto's doesn't), he said. That's true even when there's a painted centre line on the trail.
'If there's a family taking up a whole path, then the expectation is for the cyclist to slow down and stop until there's an opportunity to go around them or until they move,' he said. 'There's no right at all to barrel through that, even if you think you have the right of way.'
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