I’m sorry, I thought you were asking for my opinion.
Ok. Then we’ll deal with opinion. Would you be of the opinion that the proverbial woman in a short skirt also shares the blame for being raped? If not, how is this scenario different?
Shhhhh. Don’t stand between someone’s passion and their righteous indignation with little things like the truth.
It’s a matter of expected danger. A woman in a short skirt cannot expect to be in danger just by the way she’s dressed or–for the most part–where she is whereas a jogger can expect to be in danger by just being in the street.
I should note that the law in some juristdictions, such as the District of Columbia, says that a pedestrian struck by a vehicle while in the street shares the blame with the driver of the vehicle.
I logged well over 2000 miles running last year. I would estimate about 25% of that was along roads. I’ve done similar amounts over the past ten years, and I’ve had only one near miss with a car (who ran a stop sign) ever; actually, that wasn’t even that near a miss… Other than that, absolutely nothing that would be considered any sort of danger by cars. I don’t feel that there is any danger if you’re smart.
Now, if you want to ban dumb people from running on the streets, I’ll subscribe to your newsletter as long as we can agree that dumb drivers should be banned as well.
Of course, you’re in an area well known for its heavy traffic. Other than bicycle couriers, when’s the last time anyone on Manhattan streets could do more than 10 MPH? 
I’m splitting my time between NYC and SF, soon to be 100% in SF. But, I’ve noticed that this is more of an issue on the east coast that the west coast. Joggers and bikers and cars and rollerbladers seem to coexist more peacefully in the bay area than I’ve been used to being a New Yorker.
Fiveyearlurker, no I am not implying that runners or walkers are any more self-absorbed than anyone else.
I’m merely joining in the rant that there are sometimes clueless putzes out there that Get In My Way.
Carry on.
Oh, believe me, start a rant on clueless putzes getting in the way and I’m there.
First, we’ll start with the fact that the sidewalk should have a fast lane and a slow lane…
There’s a neuticle on my cuticle
Knock it off
There’s a neuticle on my cuticle
Knock it off
There’s a neuticle on my cuticle
To a dog it’s sorta beautiful
There’s a neuticle on my cuticle
Knock it off
I, for one, wouldn’t want to piss off anyone who could potentially help dig me out from an earthquake. 
A few years ago Runner’s World magazine ran an article rating running surfaces, and revealed that asphalt is actually eight times softer than concrete. A compelling reason to run on asphalt whenever possible, in my opinion.
My guess is that a lot more drivers than runners are self-absorbed assholes. But Joe Sixpack doesn’t seem to have as much angry resentment towards drivers as towards runners.
Runners are fit. You’re not. Don’t hate them for it.
Even when I was running where there were sidewalks, I always ran on the road. I always ran on the road facing traffic. The only time I would switch sides is if there was a blind turn so that somebody coming towards me wouldn’t see me. The important thing is to be visible. We’ll get back to that in a second.
Whenever a car comes, I scrunch over to the side of the road as far as I can, and, If I know that there are cars coming in both directions, I’ll step off the road, if possible.
I run that way, because that’s the way I’ve read I’m supposed to run.
Running on the sidewalk is simply dangerous, and to be avoided. The reason is visibility. There are typically trees and parked cars and things like that between the sidewalk and the road. Along the sidewalk, there are things like driveways, and through streets. If you are running on the sidewalk you aren’t so easily seen, and cars turning into driveways and such can cream you. Cars coming out of driveways and alleys also can’t see you.
However, if you are in the street, you are visible to the cars making the turns, so they can avoid you. You also have a head’s up on cars coming out of driveways.
Now, in some places I have been, there are jogging paths, or places with no driveways, few alleys and cross-streets, and few trees or other impediments to vision. In such places I run on the sidewalk/path. In other venues I am on the street.
I run on the roads every day. I can probably count on two hands the number of times I’ve encountered dangerous or hostile drivers, and, I’ve been jogging on the roads a long time. Almost everybody is nice and considerate. But, in many years of running, I’ve had things thrown at me by passing motorists once or twice, I’ve had stupid kids swerve at me as a joke, and I’ve had a couple of oblivious drivers almost hit me. I have also been hit by a truck, and knocked twenty feet into a cornfield.
It is a sad fact that there is that certain type of person who, put behind the wheel of a large vehicle capable of going fast and doing a lot of damage, gets filled with hostile urges towards people minding there own business who have every bit as much right to share the road as they do.
But, in all my years of running, I have maybe once or twice had somebody either because they thought it was funny, or out of hostility, beep there horn at me as they went screaming by.
It ain’t funny. When you do that to somebody, they jump out of their skin, that’s for sure. In a startle reaction, though, there’s no telling which direction they may jump. You can get somebody hurt or killed like that.
Btw, the truck that hit me, beeped at me, right before it did. The driver wasn’t trying to be funny. He was trying to warn me. Coming the other way was a car well over into his lane. I happened to jump in the right direction, and I only got punted 20 feet and covered with a great black bruise that wept blood for two days.
One thing’s for sure, you beep at me just for fun to send me jumping, I will memorize your plate, I will report you to the police. They Will take it seriously. It’s an incredibly dangerous, stupid and unkind thing to do.
Yeah, in my state they take it seriously, you will get a ticket for jogging in the roadway.
Dude, was your dog killed a roving pack of joggers or something? Your ire at such an innocuous group of people is a bit over the top.
Thank you Scylla for your post. The sidewalk is safe if you are walking. It has the unfortunate effect, however, of making for considerably more intersections with street traffic. Every single driveway becomes an intersection. Drivers are not looking for individuals on the sidewalk, and so the sidewalk jogger becomes effectively invisible.
The reasons to run on asphalt ARE compelling, and it is neither unsafe to do so (if you are smart and obey the rules of the road) nor unduly inconvenient to motorists. What the fuck is with the sense of entitlement that drivers have? A jogger on the street shares blame with the motorist? WTF? Sorry, but unless that jogger is doing fucking jumping jacks in the middle of the road on a blind curve, or steps out into traffic without looking (such behaviors being examples of Fucking Stupid Things to Do), then this is bullshit. The driver of a 3,000 pound vehicle going 40 miles per hour carries the burden of responsibility for safety, NOT the 150 pound fucking jogger! Running on the road is not, and should not be considered reckless endangerment of the self. It is our fucking right as citizens to expect equal access and fair use of public facilities, including public roads. There are differences in the means and rules for use by pedestrian as opposed to vehicle traffic, but these do not in any way diminish the right to use the roads:
- Pedestrians face vehicular traffic (cars, bicycles, horses, etc) moving in the opposite direction. This is because the slow speed of pedestrians does not significantly affect the closing speed between them and vehicular traffic (they are effectively stationary), and allows them the ability to see traffic and judge whether or not they must suddenly dodge (pedestrians have the advantage of considerably greater maneuverability).
2: Pedestrians do not change their direction of travel as part of the flow of vehicular traffic, which makes use of destination positioning and queuing along the same direction as the flow of vehicular traffic. Pedestrians instead change direction by moving perpendicularly to the flow of vehicular traffic (again, in part because their relative speed to vehicular traffic is effectively zero) and crossing the flow.
3: Pedestrians are obligated to use available sidewalks or other facilities provided for pedestrian traffic, so long as it is practicable to do so. Examples of factors involved in the practicability of sidewalk use are safety and available safe. It is unsafe for a fast-moving jogger to be on a crowded sidewalk - probably less safe than it is to be in the street.
Look, it’s really not that hard. To a very large extent, pedestrian and vehicular traffic should be segregated, but putting pedestrian traffic on the opposite side of the street accomplishes that. The animosity towards others making legal use of the public roadway is both misguided and unbecoming.
It is illegal in many states.
All of the laws that I see seem to follow Grelby s number 3 above. I’m estimating that I’ve done over 10,000 miles along roads in many different states, and yet I’ve never gotten as much as a warning from the police. Either I’m well camoflauged or I’m not doing anything illegal.
If you can’t avoid a 2 foot wide jogger on a road without acting like an asshole, then I submit that it is possible that you are not skilled enough as a driver to have a license.
Are the trees lining the road giving you trouble too? The way they smugly sit there? What are they planning?
So what you are saying is, since you haven’t been caught, it’s not illegal? Apparently, you think joggers are above the law. Pretty much confirms my rant.
While I’m at it, let me respond to Grelby’s #3
This presumes that joggers must jog, no matter what. If it is unsafe to jog on the sidewalks, and illegal to jog in the streets, guess what mallethead? * **Don’t Run!!! ** * Your whole premise is based on the assumption that you must run, you have a god-given right to run, and you are going to run, no matter how it impacts people around you. Once again, you have confirmed my feelings about joggers. There are some who are considerate, but the vast majority are arrogant, selfish elitists.