Browse Common Topics

Topic Index Accessible trails Adjacent LandownersAdvertising Advocacy American Trails Magazine Art on the Trails Awards & Recognition Benefits of Trails BibliographiesBook Reviews Bike/Walk facilities Bridges & structures Canadian Trails Care for our trails Community trail systems Congress — contacts Consultants Cool trail solutions Designing trails Economics and Business Editorials and Opinions Environmental issues Federal Agencies Federal Funding Programs Funding and Fundraising Greenways and Riverways Health and Trails Horses & equestrian trails International trails Jobs Kids and youth Land & Water Conserv. Fund Long-Distance Trails Maintenance of Trails Management of Trails Memorials & obituaries Multiple Use National Recreation Trails National Scenic/Historic Trails National Trails Symposium Nat"l Trails Training Partnership Off-Highway Vehicles Organizations — National Organizations — by State Paving & surfacing Planning — Statewide Trails Products for Trails Rails to Trails Recreational Trails Program Safe Trails Forum TEA & Enhancements State Trail Programs Studies of Trail Use Tools for Trails Training Opportunities Universal Trail Assessment Process Urban trails Volunteers Water trails Webinar series Wildlife and trails

Section 508 Navigation

Search our Website

 On this page:

Facilities | User Safety | Management | In The News | Liability | Training

 

 More Management Resources

• Management of trails
• Trail maintenance
• Adjacent landowners
• Federal agencies
• Transportation funding
• Safety and liability

Making trails and greenways safer: resources on liability, insurance, and legal issues; trail maintenance and management for better user experience; crime and accident reporting; safety for trail users; a forum for discussion of these issues. Also see the maintenance topics index for more on management.

 

• Road and Trail Intersection Safety from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Parks & Trails New York
• Advancing Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety: A Primer for Highway Safety Professionals (pdf 2.4 mb)
• Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System (PEDSAFE) may be of assistance in trail/road crossings
• Trail Intersection Design Guidelines (Florida)
• Pedestrian/Bicyclist Warning Devices and Signs at Highway-Rail and Pathway-Rail Grade Crossings from FHWA (pdf 4.3 mb)
• Where rails cross trails: the safety solution: Grade crossing of a trail in Baldwin, FL uses typical highway railroad crossing; by Craig Della Penna
• Rails-with-Trails: A Preliminary Assessment of Safety and Grade Crossings, November 2005 (pdf 1.4 mb)
• Resident’s Guide for Creating Safe and Walkable Communities, FHWA (pdf 3.9 mb)
• Characteristics of Emerging Road and Trail Users and Their Safety (pdf 80 kb)
• How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (pdf 3.1 mb)
• Balancing Safe and Secure Design Requirements: The Case for Bollards
• Signs with directions, distances, and information to help trail users find their way: photo gallery
• Trail builders: Beware of damaging underground facilities

• Power of the Line: Shared-Use Path Conflict Reduction using painted center lines on paved trails
• Photo gallery of Fencing and warning signs for trailside construction
• Managing Volunteer Risk on the Appalachian Trail (pdf of PowerPoint 3.4 mb)
• Recreational Path Intersection Safety: using the Cross Alert System
• Trail Lights in Grand Forks, North Dakota: they'll tell you— they've seen the light
• Bollards contribute to safety and security on the Sacramento River Trail
• Better park design can prevent crime
• Operations, Maintenance, and Stewardship 101
• Parks and the geography of fear: using GIS analysis
• Dogs Gone Wild: Managing Dogs in Open Space Reserves (pdf of PowerPoint 2.1 mb)
• Increase in dog waste growing into big problem on trails
• More articles and resources on managing and maintaining trails and greenways

• Safety in the National Forests: What to do if you encounter a marijuana cultivation site
• Boulder officials warn trail users to steer clear of snapping turtles
• Two bikers and one runner have been mauled on Anchorage trail the last three summers
• Alaskan Trail Where Bear Attack Occurred to be Closed for Summer
• California Department of Parks and Recreation Seeks Trail Conflict/Safety Data and Documents
• Nashville parks enforce bicycle speed limit as walkers, cyclists clash
• Vermont proposes "assumption of risk" legislation
• Kicked off trails: Utah County bans boarders for safety reasons, from the Deseret News
• Golf and greenways coexist, with some debate and fencing, in Nashville
• Spring snowmelt poses hiking risks: hikers die crossing makeshift log bridge
• Atlanta woman killed while bicycling on Silver Comet Trail (pdf 108kb)
• All about the Safe Trails Forum
• Denver Metro Area Multi-Use Trail Safety Forum
• Trail Safety Forum Notes, April 2006
• We invite you to submit your ideas and experiences with safety, crime, liability, and related issues to American Trails.

• Archived webinar: Why Resolve Conflict When You Can Prevent It?
• Wyoming develops Youth Outreach Program for ATV safety education
• The ATV RiderCourse teaches safe and responsible use of All-Terrain Vehicles
• "Defensive Horse Safety" Training Course available online
• All-Terrain Vehicle Safety Institute implements a national program of ATV safety education
• The Safe Riders! Snowmobile Safety Awareness Program
• Mountain Bike Search and Rescue Training Manual from IMBA's National Mountain Bike Patrol program (pdf 1 mb)

 

 

• Sidewalks and Shared-Use Paths: Safety, Security, and Maintenance
• Planning for the security of trail users: examples from trail plans
• Upper Tampa Bay Trail adopts 9-1-1 Numbering Program using decals
• Improving Multi-Use Recreational Trail Safety through a Coordinated 911 Sign Project
• Public Safety: 911 Trail Address Location Solutions (pdf of PowerPoint 1.3 mb)
• Anchorage "Trail Watch" makes trails safer for users
• Suggestions on improving safety for horseback riders and other trail users
• Sharing Our Trails: A Guide to Trail Safety and Enjoyment
• Trail Grooming Awareness: what you should know about groomers on the trail, from IASA (pdf 252 kb)
• Thru-Hiker's Medical Guide by Stewart Anderson, MD
• Staying safe during a storm in the backcountry, from Washington Trails Association
• Fatal Bicycle Collision on Denver Area Trail
• Riders and hikers encouraged to "Use Trails, Not Rails"
• Trail Incident Report form from Michigan Mountain Bike Association and National Mountain Bike Patrol (pdf 20 kb)
• ATC Backcountry Sanitation Manual covers human waste management in the backcountry (pdf 1.6mb)

• Lightning and Weather: What Every Trail Rider Needs to Know (pdf of presentation 2.1 mb)
• Harrowing Experiences on the Trail (Part3): Surviving a Chain Saw Accident, by Roger Bell
• Harrowing Experiences on the Trail (Part2): A near death fall, by Roger Bell
• Harrowing Experiences on the Trail (Part 1): Bees and Cliffs, by Roger Bell
• Review: Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite, reviewed by Lynn Arave, Deseret Morning News
• Review: Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome)

• Analysis of Limited Liability Recreation Use Statutes in Northern Forest States: New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine (pdf 252 kb)
• CA: California code 831.5 allows nonprofit land trusts to be shielded from liability (still current in 2011; pdf 1.1 mb)
• CT: Liability of owner of land available to public for recreation (Sec. 52-557g)
• ND: Brochure explaining Limited Landowner Liability on Recreation Lands
• OR: Oregon's Recreational Use Statute and the Private Landowner
• Limiting government liability for "hazardous recreational activities"
• Managing Risk in Volunteer Trail Organizations (pdf of ppt 6.2 mb)
• New insurance program available for OHV clubs and parks
• Hawaii Trail hazards and physical assessment
• Hawaii Risk management principles for trails and outdoor recreation
• Hawaii Trail Surveys and Risk Management Summaries
• Hawaii Design and Placement of Warning Signs on Improved Public Lands
• Risk management and insurance takes planning by Doug Wyseman Goals of a Risk Management Program for trails
• Protection From Liability: Promoting The Use And Development Of Recreational Trails
• Equine Law and Horsemanship Safety: A resource for horsemen, lawyers and law students
• Designing a Risk Management Program for Mountain Biking
• Rail-Trails and Liability: Trail-Related Liability Issues & Risk Management Techniques (pdf 932 kb)
• Rail Trail liability and risk assessment issues
• American Whitewater's Liability Toolbox covers recreational use of private lands near the nation’s rivers and streams
• Legal and liability issues for Safe Routes to School
• 10 tips for Safe Routes to School programs and Liability
• Sample easements, licenses, and other agreements for trail rights-of-way
• Sample liabililty release: Blue Ridge Trail Riders (pdf 28 kb

• Characteristics of Emerging Road and Trail Users and Their Safety (pdf 80 mb)
• Trail survey of law enforcement agencies and officers (pdf 104 kb)
• Safety of Pedestrian and Bicycle Travel in Minnesota: Inventory, Analysis and Prospectus (pdf 2.4 mb)
• Bicycling and Walking Attitudes Survey (FL): bicycling facilities and safety
• Rail trails and safe communities (pdf 593 kb)

 

o you find the resources on our website valuable? Then please join American Trails today to support the work we do to keep you on the cutting-edge!

Join online now!

Print Friendly

 

Bibliography
Quotations
Glossary
Acronyms
Tools
Cool trail solutions
Trailbuilding
Wildlife and trails
Planning
Maintenance
Volunteers
Products & services

Stay up to date on legislative issues for trails, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.