[pct-l] Manslaughter Charge for Bicyclist

[Ross Williams]

"Let me repeat my question, which you did not answer. Considering that all
the cyclists on the PCT today are breaking the law, how much respect for
the trail can we expect from them in the future?"

There is no legal requirement that anyone "respect" the trail. People do
that for very different reasons. I am waiting for you to interject this
same argument into the discussion of smoking marijuana.

The question of whether cyclists can share the trail is a discussion of how
to balance interests.

The fact is that mountain bikes and hikers don't mix well. Mountain bikes
and horses even less well. The problem for hikers is not theoretically and
its practical. Like horses, mountain bikes CAN certainly mix with hikers.
But, to do so safely they have move at hiker-like speeds.  Equestrians
don't generally go galloping along hiking trails. On the other hand, speed
is one of the appeals of mountain biking.

You could make a rule that mountain bikes had to travel at pedestrian speed
on the PCT. But you would have about as much chance of enforcing it as you
would telling people they can't smoke marijuana on the trail.

And that doesn't even address the problem that many horses get skittish at
the sight of someone on a bike. Getting mountain bikers to dismount and
walk their bikes when they are approaching or passing equestrians is an
even bigger challenge.

There are good reasons to have separate trails for cyclists to use. Of
course, tell hikers they can't use the cyclist's trails and you would hear
the same cries of outrage you are hearing from the mountain bikers denied
access to the PCT.