I ran over a dog

[Matthew_T]

It was unavoidable and I cannot see what I could have done differently.

I was cycling along a shared use path which is as wide as a lane and a half. It was Saturday morning and there were a few people out. I was approaching a group of 3 people (woman, man, and child on scooter), who had 3 dogs between them (all small pugs), 2 black and one white.
I tooted my horn with plenty of time and the man moved to the left of the path and the woman and child moved to the right. There was one black dog on the left and the other two on the right. All of the dogs were not on leads.
As I approached, I was doing about 10mph as I was aware of the dogs. Just as I started passing the people, the white dog starts to walk across the path. I tried to steer to the left and braked to avoid it, but it didnt see me and I ended up colliding with it at about 5 mph. The collision wasnt hard but the bike's weight was on the side of the poor dog.

My front wheel hit its side and it yelled out the most heartbreaking yelp I have ever heard. It then ran over to its owners and I stopped immediately.
The owners picked it up and made sure it was okay. I didnt say anything at the time because I was just in shock and didnt want to cause an arguement.

I eventually asked if it was alright and the man said that it wasnt my fault and that they should have grabbed hold of it. I apologised for hitting it then checked my bike out (chain had come off).
The owners then walked away without really saying much (I expected them to start blaming me).

I then carried on my journey but felt terrible about hitting it, but in the same mind felt that it was the owners fault for not having the dog on a lead.
There have been multiple arguements in the local paper about cyclists on shared use paths and dog walkers but I think this has really raised the point that allowing your dog to just roam free on the shared use path isnt really the right thing to do.

I was sorry for hitting the dog but it should have been on a lead, or at least the owners should have done a better job of grabbing it.

 

[Nigeyy]

Matt, sorry to hear that. But it really is a dog owners responsibility to have control of their dogs -though granted if you are speeding or are needlessly aggressive blame can then be shared. Everyone has an idea as to how fast you go past dog walkers though; got to be honest, I go less than 10mph.

Strangely, this sort of thing happened to me last week -out running though, and came across a couple walking about 4 dogs. They all went one side of the trail, and I went the other -only for one of the dogs to dart out -and I trod full weight on one or more of its paws, causing it to yelp. I almost fell over, caught my balance, then carried on. I figured I didn't want to stop to argue my case, but since I'm not exactly <cough> a fast runner, I do think the onus was on them to control their dog.

Just one of those things. Sometimes things happen -and ultimately dog owners have to look after their pets in a reasonable and responsible way (as we should reasonably and responsibly cycle).

 

[4F]

Yep agree with Nigeyy, not your fault. I am a dog owner and mine would always be on a short lead in that situation.

 

[Crankarm]

Barking! Another shaggy dog story from Matt_T. Well at least you pawsed for thought on this one.

A few dogs have got in the way of my bike and I have struck them (at speeds less than 10mph) no harm done, but the owners have not been as benign as the ones in your story. Lots of dogs roaming loose on and around Jesus Green. A lot of the owners are nasty pieces of work - foul abuse and trying to assault me when it is they who are at fault for NOT keeping their mutts on a lead. Generally they walk their dogs as far as the first sh1t then turn and head for home.

 

[Norm]

It was unavoidable and I cannot see what I could have done differently .

From what you've described, Matthew, I don't think it was unavoidable and there does appear to be something (mentioned above) which you could have done differently. Incidents are nearly always avoidable and thinking about what could have been done differently is one of the keys to self-improvement.

I hope that it doesn't come across as patronising or condescending but, if you think again about it with the benefit of a night to detach from the emotions, is there anything you now think could have been done differently?

 

[Sandra6]

Dogs are the bane of my cycling life at the moment.
I use a shared path, with lots of dog walkers on it, and in the situation you describe I would've slowed right down to an almost stop unless all dogs and child were clearly under control for me to pass.
Fortunately I've always managed to come to a full stop when a dog has gone in front of my bike, but accidents do happen and I wouldn't beat myself up about it if I were you, just think about slowing down a tad more in future.

 

[Hip Priest]

These things happen. No harm done and both parties seemed to deal with the incident amicably.

 

[Saluki]

I've done that myself, twice on the same ride with the same dog! Older chap jogging with his JRT off lead. We dinged our bells a couple of times but jogging bloke had his iPod in and loud too (we could hear the tinny sound from his earphones as we passed him). I unclipped as his dog was zigging and zagging and slowed right down to walking pace (jogging man was actually catching us up again) and then I rode into his dog. I apologised, bloke a bit grumpy but said that his dog had been run over by a cyclist before.
20 mins later, still on same shared path, we saw blokey & JRT coming towards us (he took the short cut I reckon!) and the same thing happened. I didn't feel so bad that time though.

I don't think you have anything to blame yourself for. I keep my dogs undercontrol when cyclists are passing. Its not exactly a hard thing to do. I blame the owners fair and square.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I make a habit of never going between a dog and its owner, or through the centre of a pack of dogs, so if in your situation seeing 2 dogs on one side and 1 on the other, I would not have gone between them, period (and that applied before being attacked by a pack of dogs whilst cycling.)

It does mean that I often have to slow right down, and sometimes stop, it is one reason why i prefer not to use shared paths at all, and also avoid cycle paths with a walk way alongside. The other thing I always do is have my hands covering the brakes so as to reduce the time needed to stop if necessary and also be prepared to yell at the dog - they are amazingly good at getting out of the way and often yelling at them has stopped me hitting them by forcing the dog to take avoiding action. I have never had an angry owner as a result of me yelling at the dog to avoid a collision, usually as I am coming to a complete stop.

I will also tactfully point out to people that splitting down the middle is not always that helpful either, especially when a child is involved. The child may go one way, which way will the dog/dogs go - who is it going to protect by default (usual pack behaviour). All to the same side is a much better option especially when young children and/or pets are involved - they will go to the same side by default. This concept does not work with teenagers by the way, who have developed enough to think independantly but not enough to think the concept all the way through to the point of which side will the pet go to.

 

[addictfreak]

This is the main reason I never use shared paths.

 

[Manonabike]

It was unavoidable and I cannot see what I could have done differently.

I was cycling along a shared use path which is as wide as a lane and a half. It was Saturday morning and there were a few people out. I was approaching a group of 3 people (woman, man, and child on scooter), who had 3 dogs between them (all small pugs), 2 black and one white.
I tooted my horn with plenty of time and the man moved to the left of the path and the woman and child moved to the right. There was one black dog on the left and the other two on the right. All of the dogs were not on leads.
As I approached, I was doing about 10mph as I was aware of the dogs. Just as I started passing the people, the white dog starts to walk across the path. I tried to steer to the left and braked to avoid it, but it didnt see me and I ended up colliding with it at about 5 mph. The collision wasnt hard but the bike's weight was on the side of the poor dog.

My front wheel hit its side and it yelled out the most heartbreaking yelp I have ever heard. It then ran over to its owners and I stopped immediately.
The owners picked it up and made sure it was okay. I didnt say anything at the time because I was just in shock and didnt want to cause an arguement.

I eventually asked if it was alright and the man said that it wasnt my fault and that they should have grabbed hold of it. I apologised for hitting it then checked my bike out (chain had come off).
The owners then walked away without really saying much (I expected them to start blaming me).

I then carried on my journey but felt terrible about hitting it, but in the same mind felt that it was the owners fault for not having the dog on a lead.
There have been multiple arguements in the local paper about cyclists on shared use paths and dog walkers but I think this has really raised the point that allowing your dog to just roam free on the shared use path isnt really the right thing to do.

I was sorry for hitting the dog but it should have been on a lead, or at least the owners should have done a better job of grabbing it.

There has already been some criticism..... I'm not experienced enough to see what allegedly you could have done better. Had it been me the only thing I would have done differently is slowing down a bit more, maybe 5mph so easier to stop in an emergency.

I know the feeling of riding away from an accident.... it's really bad. I had an accident over a year ago and I didn't feel like riding for a while.

Still amazes me to see cyclists riding like lunatics in situations where a child, a dog, or anything can cross your path and there would not be even time to slow down. They must do it for the thrill of riding dangerously, what else?

 

[AndyPeace]

I love dogs, they have such great personalities, but without doubt they are the second biggest bane of shared paths, the first being teenagers Most of the shared path I use is on open spaces so dog owners can see me coming a good distance away. If they don't know me they almost always call there dogs over to them and engage them in something... a treat, throwing a ball the opposite direction to my travel, giving their loved one a bit of fuss, and the like. There's the odd time I've had to stop, like when there's a gathering of pet owners chatting and they haven't clocked where there dog is... probobly the most anoying and dangerous is the man on his mobile phone with his dog on an extendable lead, he never hears my bell or bike... I have to slow to a crawl, sounding my bell like I'm Fireman Sam!

 

[Davidsw8]

Matthew

I don't think you should feel bad about this. Easier said than done I know, I actually killed a squirrel that darted out from a bush across a cycle path a few years ago and I felt awful about it. Well, until the following week when (along the same stretch) another squirrel tried the same trick, I managed to miss it but broke too hard and ended up coming off my bike and slashing my knee open.

Sometimes, evasive action can cause more harm than good.

I would say though, that hindsight is a wonderful thing and maybe if you're coming up close to an animal, slow right down to a crawl till you're clear of it.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

There is actually a cycle path in Perth where someone has turned into a Strava section. Total idiot as it encourages people to fly along it. There are lots of dog walkers and joggers on this route.
Dogs can be so unpredictable when a bike nears them that i would suggest slowing down to 5mph (as suggested above) until safely passed. This includes dogs on leads as some leads are longer than they look, or are retractable.
Most of the dogs mentioned above are small but if you hit a large dog i would suggest you will be hitting the horizontal pretty quick and chance damaging the bike and yourself.
Glad the pooch and yourself are both okay. As Norm hints at though, every experience is part of a learning curve for us all.

 

[Alien8]

This is the main reason I never use shared paths.

Because you are worried Matthew might run you over?