How do they know there’s a 3 year old until the kid sits in the trail? This is the point you keep fleeing from. Bike riders might not see your kid until it’s too late. That’s why the parent needs to be aware and not the kid turn into a road hazard.
Like I already said. Assume you and your kid are invisible. Assume a rider will not stop. Assume a rider will not swerve. If you make those 3 assumptions and you realize that means the kid would not be safe MOVE the damn kid to where they’re safe.
Because it’s not just bikes out. There’s also walkers doing just as crappy a job controlling their dog as you are your kid. Maybe horse riders that suck too. Not mention wild animals that could pose a direct threat or be distracting any and all of the above.
It’s not a walk in the mall. It’s a multi-use trail out in the wild. Don’t act like it’s a walk in mall. And don’t let your kid be a road hazard. Cause a 3 year old will lose that fight with literally everything out there. And then you’re watching your kid die. And sure whoever hit was probably legally in the wrong. Kid’s still dead.
Which is why you control your kid.
Lol...you probably blame the woman for getting raped.
Final answer.
I used to walk and bike on a local “rail trail”. The path wasn’t all that wide but was very popular and often crowded on weekends and on nice summer late weekday afternoons with a large canopy of trees and a winding path in some areas, with walkers of all fitness types and speeds, families with kids in strollers, and bike riders like me who wanted a leisurely ride and the bike riders who wanted to go faster.
Most people followed the curtesy that if you were slower, you moved to the far right of the path and let faster walkers and bikers have the right of way. If you needed to pass slower “traffic” whether walking or biking, you checked behind and beside you to make sure it was safe to do so and you were not cutting someone off.
But I can say a few times people in front of moved in front of me without checking if someone was coming up behind them.
But I also saw very slow walkers and people with very little kids, in and out of strollers occupying the very center of the path without a care in the world who was around them.
This caused the faster walkers and bikers to go into the “slow” area on the right side of the path to get around them and I saw some near collisions, especially with bikes and especially around curves who didn’t see the people in the middle of the path until the very last minute.
If your toddler climbs out of their stroller and gets away from you and sits down in the middle of the path and you cannot take charge of the situation or know that your very tired and cranky toddler wasn’t up for this forced march and decides to have a temper tantrum and sit in the middle of the path, it shouldn’t be a surprised that it would piss some people off.
Was the biker in the right? To me it doesn’t seem he was. But I can understand the frustration.