# Quit jogging in the street you neuticle! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 30, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234 "2005-08-30T12:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/1 "2005-08-30T12:15:13Z")
What is the fucking problem with jogging on the sidewalk? At 6:30 a.m. in a suburb north of Chicago there are no hazards on these sidewalks, but you still insist on getting your daily exercise in the street. No pedestrians, no motherfucking lemonade stands, no potholes, no goddamn sidewalk parades, yet I have to steer into the oncoming lane to avoid you because somehow you feel entitled to jog there? Young, old, fit, out of shape, male, female – your selfish, dangerous dumbassedness knows no demographic. What, you pay taxes on those roads therefore you can use them any way you see fit. Choke on it assholes, you usually don’t even squeeze over to the side when a car is coming at you. I know there are bigger problems out there, but hitting you on my way to work would really take a shit all over my week. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/2 "2005-08-30T12:27:17Z")
Neuticle? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/3 "2005-08-30T12:41:27Z")
If the street in question is surfaced with blacktop, the runner may find that blacktop is easier on the joints than a concrete sidewalk, due to the fact that asphalt is softer than concrete. It’s not very noticeable when walking, but it makes a difference over the course of a several mile run. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/4 "2005-08-30T12:41:30Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Neuticle? [Neuticle](http://www.neuticles.com/index1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/5 "2005-08-30T12:46:46Z")
It always puzzled me because I always ran on the sidewalk when I ran. Of course, I have terrible knees. . .hmmm. Thanks **Mooch** for starting the thread. Now I think I may start running in the road. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/6 "2005-08-30T12:50:02Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > [Neuticle](http://www.neuticles.com/index1.html) Neuticles are the dog’s bollocks! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/7 "2005-08-30T13:01:48Z")
**Seeker74** , you have done your part today in the fight against ignorance. Now I shall endeavor to make use of my new vocabulary word in a sentence. (“Whoa, those hailstones are the size of neuticles!”) ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/8 "2005-08-30T13:05:32Z")
Yay! I’ve fought some ignorance! I must say, Dung Beetle-- your location is appropriate for this conversation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/9 "2005-08-30T13:13:40Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Thanks **Mooch** for starting the thread. Now I think I may start running in the road. Oh dammit. 🙂 The joints thing may make sense - why don’t they jog on the grass? Or if their joints are so bad that the asphalt seems so much softer - pick a lower impact type of excercise. We have a rather large lake a few blocks to the east. The way they roll their eyes you would think I was driving on their personal excercise track. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/10 "2005-08-30T13:23:42Z")
> [@Mooch](#): > > Oh dammit. 🙂 > > The joints thing may make sense - why don’t they jog on the grass? Or if their joints are so bad that the asphalt seems so much softer - pick a lower impact type of excercise. We have a rather large lake a few blocks to the east. > > The way they roll their eyes you would think I was driving on their personal excercise track. The grass is often very uneven and you can’t always be sure where a hole is. That said I jog on the sidewalks in the NW suburbs of Chi-town. But good God, could the lady power walkers not wear so much perfume that it makes me choke when I run through the cloud 2 paces behind them? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/11 "2005-08-30T13:29:03Z")
Runner checking in. Don’t do much street running anymore, and I tend to stick to paths. But, in a pinch when no paths are around, I’m running on the side of the road. First, I guess I wouldn’t run on a road narrow enough that a car would have a hard time passing. But, if a road is narrow enough that the runner on the side is actually an issue, I would guess that it isn’t exactly the type of road that you’re supposed to be cruising along at 50 MPH anyway. So, if you have to slow down from 15 to 10 for the three seconds it takes to pass a runner, well that probably accounts for you getting to where you are going 0.2 seconds later. Factor five runners into your commute and allocate the extra second. I run on the side of the road (note that unless the runner is an idiot, he/she is not running in the street, but the side of the road. You know, like where bicycles are supposed to ride also) because there are obstacles on the sidewalk. Try running just a mile on the sidewalk, and you’ll find that you have to swerve into the street a half dozen times anyway. A couple walking hand in hand, an elderly person with a cane, garbage cans, cars blocking the sidewalk, cars pulling into driveways, people with strollers. All of these things block the sidewalk, and cause one to have to swerve into the street. It’s likely easier for you to avoid a runner that you see for a few blocks ahead, than it is to avoid one who has to keep entering the street. Somehow I factor the inconvenience factor to the driver pretty low. Are there dumb runners? Yup. But, to say that joggers as a blanket rule should stay out of the street because of the dumb ones is similar to saying that drivers should stay off the street because of the inconsiderate ones. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/12 "2005-08-30T13:49:22Z")
Ok, you guys make some good points, especially **Fiveyearlurker**. Just to clarify, I am not speeding down streets, and most joggers move over when they see a car - it’s just that this morning there were two “powerwalkers” who were in the middle of the lane (one of whom was just before a bend in the road) and I really don’t want to hit these people. I am not pitting all joggers, or even all street joggers, but goddamit be smart about it. When it’s dark, wear reflective clothing, move over a bit, go on side streets. These people are on Sheridan Road for Christ’s sake! Maybe I should have just pitted these two dumbasses. Didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/13 "2005-08-30T13:50:49Z")
> [@Mooch](#): > > Ok, you guys make some good points, especially **Fiveyearlurker**. Just to clarify, I am not speeding down streets, and most joggers move over when they see a car - it’s just that this morning there were two “powerwalkers” who were in the middle of the lane (one of whom was just before a bend in the road) and I really don’t want to hit these people. > > I am not pitting all joggers, or even all street joggers, but goddamit be smart about it. When it’s dark, wear reflective clothing, move over a bit, go on side streets. These people are on Sheridan Road for Christ’s sake! > > Maybe I should have just pitted these two dumbasses. Didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers. Goddamn it, I was itching for a fight, and you ruined it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/14 "2005-08-30T14:02:29Z")
An earlier [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273115) on this subject. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/15 "2005-08-30T14:13:06Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Goddamn it, I was itching for a fight, and you ruined it for me. I know, I ruined Christmas. Again. 😃 And thanks to all involved for making my first pit thread such a pleasant experience! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/16 "2005-08-30T14:20:28Z")
I find most joggers to be self-absorbed assholes. Not only do they hog the street, they are so intent on maintaining their optimum pace and keeping their heart rate up, most refuse to stop at intersections or yield to cross traffic. They way they run through traffic without even looking, I am amazed there are so many of them left; I would have though Darwinian pressure would have thinned the herd much more by now. I walk my dog at a public multi-use equestrian trail that is also frequented by joggers. The other dog walkers and day hikers are pleasant, talkative sorts who respond when offered a greeting. But the the joggers are in some sort of endorphin-induced trance which prevents them from saying “hi” or acknowledging you if you say hello. And heaven forbid if they should have to deviate from a straight line to avoid a slower walker (on a 10 foot wide path), they brush by as if everyone is in their way. When I come upon a jogger who thinks the public roads are his personal running track, I resist my urge to mangle him under my tires, but I do honk loud and long when I swerve around him. I do get some satisfaction from seeing them dive into the gutter. If you are offended by my generalization, tough shit; maybe you should associate with a better class of people. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/17 "2005-08-30T14:26:44Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > When I come upon a jogger who thinks the public roads are his personal running track, I resist my urge to mangle him under my tires, but I do honk loud and long when I swerve around him. I do get some satisfaction from seeing them dive into the gutter. If you are offended by my generalization, tough shit; maybe you should associate with a better class of people. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to outlive you. Gotta head out on my run now. Gonna run with my arms outstretched darting in and out of traffic while not acknowledging people. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/18 "2005-08-30T14:33:17Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > When I come upon a jogger who thinks the public roads are his personal running track, I resist my urge to mangle him under my tires, but I do honk loud and long when I swerve around him. I do get some satisfaction from seeing them dive into the gutter. If you are offended by my generalization, tough shit; maybe you should associate with a better class of people. Public streets are just that - _public._ That means that provided they are obeying traffic laws, they have just as much right to be in the streets as automobiles, bicycles, motorcycles, and anyone else who wants to use the public street. It sounds as if you’re the self-absorbed asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/19 "2005-08-30T14:58:21Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > Public streets are just that - _public._ That means that provided they are obeying traffic laws, they have just as much right to be in the streets as automobiles, bicycles, motorcycles, and anyone else who wants to use the public street… [Not in New Hampshire](http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-39.htm): > [@](#): > > 265:39 Pedestrians on Roadway. – > I. Where sidewalks are provided it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway. > II. Where a sidewalk is not available, any pedestrian walking along and upon a way shall walk only on a shoulder, as far as practicable from the edge of the roadway. Where neither a sidewalk nor a shoulder is available, any pedestrian walking along and upon a way shall walk as near as practicable to an outside edge of the roadway, and if on a two-way roadway, shall walk only on the left side of the roadway. > III. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any pedestrian upon a roadway shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234/20 "2005-08-30T15:06:55Z")
Fear Itself, I was just about to go looking for the NYS version of those rules. Sidewalks are there for pedestrian traffic, in order to get the pedestrians off of the street where it is safe and drivers don’t have to avoid them. If the sidewalk in your neighborhood isn’t good enough for you, tough shit, find somewhere else to run. The world is not your personal track where you can run wherever you feel like. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quit-jogging-in-the-street-you-neuticle/319234.md?page=2)