Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs...

I was riding my bike along the seawall to return videos today and noticed several people committing a mortal sin. Nope, none of the exciting ones you just thought of, but they were walking on the clearly marked bike path when the pedestrian path is a mere 2 feet away. Perhaps this isn't a big deal for many of you, but it drives me crazy! What is it that makes people so oblivious to signs? Sometimes the directions given by signs seem unnecessary, but it doesn't mean they should be ignored. In this instance, the division of the cycling vs. walking paths is helpful and makes them safer for everyone. On this new part of the seawall it isn't like the signs are occasional faded pictures painted on the pavement. The signs to differentiate the walking path from the bike path are up on every lamppost, clearly stating the difference. The pedestrian pathway is even cobbled so that there is an obvious textural difference. Does this make any difference to some people? Would I be writing this rant if it did?

I dinged my (silly, yellow) bicycle bell (did you know there is a by-law in Vancouver that requires a bell on every bike?) several times as I had to ride around a woman with a 3-foot golf umbrella. Her reaction: walk slightly closer to the pedestrian path, but not cross over to where she should really be. I thought about yelling something sarcastic at her, but I figure people just don't really care. Her huge umbrella probably prevented her from seeing anything not directly in front of her anyway. (My views on inconsiderate umbrella users could fill up another separate rant)

Pedestrians are not the only offenders, as I am well aware. Walking on the foot side of that same path yesterday a cyclist started heading towards us. I was cursing him out-loud and was ready to yell something snarky but he switched over to the cycling path as he got close. Perhaps my swearing was louder than I thought.

Could it be that the signs confuse people? Perhaps the artist's renderings of stick figure walking and stick figure riding bike are too obscure for many of Vancouver's citizens. Maybe the fact that there isn't a sign obviously stating which path roller-bladers should use sent the offenders into a spiral of confusion, rendering them helpless to understand which path they should be on even though they weren't roller-blading themselves. I think I will chose to believe that since there is really no other reasonable excuse.