Sammamish Trail needs equal access

I recently led nine Cub Scouts and siblings on a bicycle ride along the Sammamish River Trail. Unfortunately, the manner in which some individuals use the trail led to an accident, while a group of children were left with an unfavorable view of the trail and its users.

Apparently, not all users believe in equal trail access. Despite adults at both end of our group wearing day-glo vests, as we got on our bikes, a pair of cyclists came roaring up from behind and yelled at the young boys to get out of “their”way.

Two miles later, we came upon an elderly woman walking on the shoulder and instructed the boys to go around her. As they did, a cyclist came up from behind and yelled at one boy to “move to the right.” The boy reacted by doing what he’d been commanded to do: move out of the way. He accidently bumped the lady, causing her to fall and strike her face on the pavement. The cyclist raced on and did not stop.

EMTs were called and cared for the injured woman. Although she had some significant bruising to her face and leg, she did not need to be taken to the hospital. One injury that the EMTs couldn’t treat, however, was the 8-year old Scout: he will forever feel responsible for hurting the woman.

I don’t believe that all cyclists are as inconsiderate as the two examples seen in just a few miles on the trail, but I have seen numerous other similar examples on that path recently. With no regulation or separation of different types of users, conflicts will arise if users aren’t considerate or fail to use good judgment.

On the Sammamish Trail, you have children on bikes, people walking, roller bladers, equestrians, and others, all left to watch out for themselves. If some of these users operate at high speeds or in a reckless, inconsiderate fashion, as we saw last Sunday, then more accidents will occur.

I hope that King County, which oversees the trail, will consider separating incompatible users or take steps to reduce the maximum speeds at which some users operate. Having all the users mixed in with bicycles racing at speeds of up to 25 miles hour along on a narrow, constrained surface is merely a recipe for severe injuries, or worse.

Tom Staggs, Redmond