Right of way (was) RE: [at-l] Good trail movies

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

Pedestrians have the right of way in every situation (more or less) even
when it's illegal for the pedestrain to be there (such as on the
Interstate).  Mainly because pedestrians are more fragile than 18 wheelers,
etc., and pedestrians cannot move as far and as fast as even a skater can.
Usually though in the Interstate situation or similar situations, you can
get off with extenuating circumstances if you're "driving".  

One gentleman hit a man several years back.  But it was at night, and the
man was wearing dark clothes and was cutting straight across the Interstate.
Several months later a similar incident happened farther up the Interstate.
The first man got off.  The second man did not because he was driving during
the day.

But even if I know that I have the right of way, unless I'm in a suicidal
mood, I get out of the way.  Lot of good it would do me if I insisted on my
right with a horse or pickup.
-----Original Message-----
From: Leslie Booher [mailto:lwbooher@halifax.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 9:19 PM
To: Shane Steinkamp; Billie H. Cleek; AT-L@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] Good trail movies


If you've irritated the horse people, it's my fault, since I started it.  Do
y'all remember a letter to the editor of Backpacker several years ago where
a guy was on a horse on a trail out west and the hiker wouldn't give way?
The horse jumped off the side of the mountain with the rider on him.  The
rider/writer survived, but the horse didn't.  The hiker just moved on and
left the mess behind him.  Not nice, even if I don't "do" horses.  And I'd
sure give them all the space they wanted to get by  me.  They're bigger than
I am.  For those of you who know nothing about horses, and that includes me,
they can't see anything in the center in front of them; if I understand
correctly, they can see from about 1:30-5:00 and from 10:30 back to 7:00,
thinking of a circle as the face of a clock.  My first backpacking partner
trained hunter/jumpers, and she taught me to stand uphill, off the trail,
and to be still while the horse passed by.  She also taught me, if I were on
a small road with another vehicle passing, to stop and let the other person
do the passing; that way, if there's an accident, it's the moving person's
fault.  Hey, it works for me.  <G>  anklebear

----- Original Message -----
From: Shane Steinkamp <shane@theplacewithnoname.com>
To: Leslie Booher <lwbooher@halifax.com>; Billie H. Cleek
<cleek@cleekhouse.com>; <AT-L@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 10:05 PM
Subject: RE: [at-l] Good trail movies


> > Great, but most of those characters in those
> > movies rode horses.  Now,
> > haven't you been told, if you haven't learned it
> > first hand, that horses and
> > hikers don't do well on the same trail?  <G> anklebear
>
> I've noticed.  It's usually because hikers are irritable,
> and horsemen (and women) are arrogant.
>
> A horseman once hollered at me on a trail because I was
> spooking his horse.  He told me to get off the trail.
> Arrogant bastard.  I hollered back, "If your horse is
> spooked by hikers, why did you bring him to a hiking trail?"
> He hollered, I hollered, he hollered, I waved at him...
> Well, I was irritable...  I didn't bother to get off the
> trail either.  I figured if he wanted to pass, he could go
> around.  Guess that makes me arrogant too...
>
> I later learned that you're supposed to give a horse the
> right of way.  I don't know if that's a written rule, and
> I've still not seen it written anywhere.  I would have
> gladly given him the right of way if he hadn't hollered at
> me, but asked nicely...
>
> I like horses, mind you, and horses like me - but to me,
> riding a horse and riding a motorcycle are little different.
> I don't want to go riding.  I want to go walking.
>
> Now I've probably managed to irritate the horse people
> here...
>
> Shane
>


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