I went out for a couple of hours on the Forth & Clde canal towpath today. It was busy with both walkers and cyclists. It was difficult to decide who was worse. Cyclists on the right side of the path or walkers on the left. Wouldn’t it be good if some organisation put out definitive guidance on the matter?

I grew up in the countryside and we were always taught to face on-coming traffic when walking on roads with no footpath. This seems to me to be the sensible way to use shared spaces like canal tow-paths. It means cyclists know that walkers can see them approaching. Walkers can stay to the right when they see cyclists coming towards them and the person on the bike can manouever around them. If cyclists are approaching from behind, then sounding a bell and knowing the person on foot will move to their right makes things so much easier. I have often rang my bell and not known until the last moment which way the pedestrian is going to move. Runners seem to do it automatically, maybe because they are using shared paths more or maybe there’s a code for runners they all read.

Cyclists need to realise that if they are passing a walker on their side of the path and there’s another cyclist coming towards them they should give way. I lose count of the number of times I have had to brake to avoid either colliding with someone on a bike or hitting a pedestrian.

Time for me to do a bit of research and find out if there is anything written anywhere.

UPDATE

These seem to be the clearest bits of advice available at present

Sustrans and Highway Code