From rmg3@access5.digex.net Thu Oct 22 12:29:03 EDT 1998

  Already noted is the law of greatest tonnage.  

  A few other rules:

At an intersection:
  Cars and bikes will not stop.
  If they stop, the driver will not look in your direction.
  If they look in your direction, they will not notice you.
    (they're looking for cars, by the law of greatest tonnage)

On a straight:
  Cars and bikes will not notice you.
  If they do notice you, they'll veer _towards_ you.  (Much observed,
    including a car that crossed the lane divider to come towards me.)
  There is always a side street or entrance where you don't notice it.  
    See the laws of the intersection.


Dog/Children/Walker rules:
  A group of walkers (i.e., any number greater than 1) will space themselves
    so as to cover as much of the path as possible.
  If they notice you, they will move towards your route.
  Children will turn around, get directly in front of you, and then stop dead.
  Dogs will be oblivious to your existence until you are right next to
    them, in mid air, at which time they'll lunge.
  Dog owners will either have the leash in hand, but unconnected to the
    dog (the talisman leash) or,
  Dog owners will have leash on dog, but owner and dog will be on opposite
    sides of the path.
  If owner and dog are not on opposite sides of path to begin with,
    they will separate on hearing you approach.  (Incentive for running
    quietly!)
   

  I'm sure the worthies of the group have additional laws to contribute.
Because of the car laws, I don't worry much about which side of the road
I'm on (towards or away from traffic).  What I _do_ check is which side
of the road has the greatest room for me to head for cover.  If the sides
are comparable, only then do I pay attention to the 'run on the left'
rule.  Similarly about making myself visible.  Most of my running clothes
are light colored, but it doesn't seem a point to pursue too hard as the
main feature of being visible is to attract cars towards me.

  Of course these rules (aside from walkers occupying the greatest possible
stretch of the path) are not absolute, or even (in many cases) terribly
accurate.  

-- 
Robert Grumbine rmg3@access.digex.net http://www.access.digex.net/~rmg3/
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much 
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they 
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences