Floored and flayed by needlessly leadless

[hoopdriver]

That's a rule that is flouted as much as the speed limit is on roads, or the law against texting while driving - those dogs that are on leads are more often than not on those super-long, nearly invisible extendable leads, and many are not on leads at all. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter, avoiding shared use paths is a good policy or, if you do use them, go slow and be aware of the ludicrously permissive mindset of dog-owners and the potential to get tangled up in dog-leads or knocked over by Fido who "only wants to play"

 

[JoshM]

So you saw, and acknowledged to yourself, that Fido presented a risk to you. What action did you take to reduce that risk? Yes, perhaps Fido ought to have been on a lead but if, having seen and understood the risk you failed to take action to reduce the risk to yourself in my opinion you share part of the blame.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Dogs are like children. If you are passing any you have to expect the unexpected.

 

[shirokazan]

That's a rule that is flouted as much as the speed limit is on roads...

Agree with your points completely. I can't imagine that many dog walkers (or anyone else, for that matter) have ever read the Highway Code since passing their driving test (assuming they've done that even).

 

[mjr]

Dogs are like children. If you are passing any you have to expect the unexpected.

Yep. Get the pump or chain and padlock to hand and be ready to brain the hell hound if it goes for you! I don't like dogs but if they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. I've only hit one terrier in all my years, though.

Letting dogs off the lead on cycle tracks or roads is basically being an anti social dick to all other highway users... and yes, using roads is no guarantee you won't meet dog walkers with their unleashed mutts, unless you only ride on ones busy with fast cars.

 

[mjr]

Dogs are like children. If you are passing any you have to expect the unexpected.

I've yet to be bitten or pawed by a child. Children tend to smile at the bell and stay put.

 

[hoopdriver]

That's true! And when I do encounter a child wobbling erratically on his bicycle along the shared path I am always not just careful, for both our sakes, but make a point to be friendly - smile, nod, say hello, whatever, in passing. We were all there once.

 

[NorthernDave]

There was an area in Portsmouth where after a couple of accidents there was a compulsory "dogs on leads" and a ban on the extending leads

Up here the council now enforce that dogs must be on a lead in most public places and within a set distance of a road (25m?)

I say enforce, I actually mean pass a by-law, make a big hoo-ha about it in the local paper that hardly anyone reads, and then not take any meaningful enforcement action, so it's routinely ignored as you've more chance of seeing Lord Lucan astride Shergar than you have of seeing a dog warden...

 

[Slick]

Slowing down will not stop you from falling off or maiming the dog if it decides to run accross your path or into your wheel. Your injury might be less severe but the odds are the dog will be toast at a slow speed. Whichever i guarentee it will be thecyclists fault. The next time you go on a shared path/ greenway have a glance at the signage, 9 out of 10 times it will say no horses (how much horse shoot do you see!) and dogs must be kept on a leash. Oh and that there is a fine for dog fouling.

Peds are just as bad on shared footpaths and dedicated cycle paths for that matter as drivers are on roads.

I think slowing down where there are dogs and pedestrians a perfectly reasonable tactic to deploy and seems to work well in my area. I just feel sometimes it is up to us as cyclists to reduce the risk of a collision, although obviously everyone must play their part.

 

[hoopdriver]

I don't know why anyone assumes dogs come off worst in a cyclist-dog crash. Every time a dog has run in front of the peloton in the Tour de France, the dog invariably trots away unscathed, leaving the riders in a heap of twisted frames and drivetrains.

 

[postman]

You saw the dogs ahead.do what i do on the tow path,ring my bell tell them you are there.Also i am on the tow path for a nice tootle not a race,keeping speed down.My last ride on the tow path i was arriving at the end which is a bridge,so before the bridge as the path bends so nobody on either side knows what is around the corner.I was ringing the bell for a long time,i heard a female voice well i can't see him,then i appeared they were all stood still trying to work out where the bell sound was coming from.Had i just bombed to the finish i would have run into a few and finished in the canal.I use the canal ride as a little tootle and not to set records.

 

[Tin Pot]

You can't reason with dog lovers.

 

[Drago]

A dog in the bush is worth two in the wheel.

 

[Tim Hall]

OP, if we leave aside the blame/fault thing for a moment, it was a bit rubbish that the other rider didn't stop to help mop up the claret.

 

[Tin Pot]

This is an excellent thread if you want to see dog lovers completely lose their shoot:

"Well that was a nice ride spoiled" as a title probably didn't help much. He's cycled over a dog, killed it and not stopped, then chased in a car by the owner.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/S...F1/Well_that_was_a_nice_ride_spoiled_P6062821