Community Commentary:

A general rule of the road says that with intermixed modes of locomotion (cars, bicycles and pedestrians; boats and swimmers, etc.), the faster must watch for, and defer to, the slower. And, in fact, there is a law that prohibits “reckless bicycle riding,” which would encompass traveling at unsafe speed for any given location or conditions.

But, again, the name “Bikeway” has created a problem. It has given some bicycle users a sense of ownership to it, which has led them to ride way too fast; to become enraged at walkers, toddlers, dogs, roller-bladers, or others who drift into “their” lanes; and to put other users and themselves in great danger.

Gaskill says he “use[s] the bike path multiple times each week in pursuit of fitness,” that he would “ride?.?.?.?24 to 30 miles” at a time, and that in an accident with a skateboarder, the collision occurred despite his “hard braking [that] could not stop me in time, even though I had previously slowed to about 10 mph.” All this, if not the accident itself, suggests that Gaskill rides the pathway at speeds that are excessive and unsafe.

Here are ways to greatly reduce the danger on the pathway:

Generally, the bicyclists must slow way down — willfully or otherwise — and the signs should be changed from “Bikeway” to “Pathway” or “Multi-access Path.”

Bicyclists on the pathway must use sound warnings (bells, horns) when nearing someone from behind.

Bicyclists who wish to ride faster than is safe among other pathway users must ride in the street, not on the pathway.

If complaints and/or accidents continue, then the city must force bicyclists using the pathway to stay within safe speeds (possible methods are another discussion), and if they can’t, then, ironically, bicyclists will have to be removed from the pathway altogether.

If the pathway is not made safe — and soon — then, at some time, there will be an accident in which a speeding bicyclist kills a toddler or a dog, or turns a plain ordinary person into a quadriplegic. Then, after the bicyclist (certainly not the slower mover) and the city are successively sued and pay out massive damages, voila, a solution will be found.

?ROBERT PHIPPS is a Burbank resident.