I hope the cyclist that crashed wasn’t injured too badly and that their ride survived with nothing more than minor cosmetic damage.
Where i ride, we don’t have organized, paved bike trails. We do have hundreds of miles of Rail Trail (a new section opening soon) and on these we have hikers, runners, walkers, horses, cyclists of all skill levels and occasionally a rogue ATV or motorcyclists (illegally). On the rail trails, even with all of those people, i rarely saw conflict. Most everyone was being courteous.
Contrast to that, in my travels, i have had opportunity to ride organized, paved, lanes painted, signs posted and tons of users as well as pedestrians crossing MUPs.
They always had the attempt at great organization (buy the builders/management), but the users mostly seemed oblivious to the “rules of the road.”
We had fun on those paths, but i never felt remotely at ease, and saw way too many close calls and several accidents. It was stressful but also rewarding to push my cycling observation skills to new levels.
However, for the reason you mention, essentially people being people and doing what they want no matter the efforts taken to educate and create a safe environment, i don’t seek places like that to ride.
I’ll ride them, but only as a novelty and with heightened awareness and caution.
Stay safe out there and keep the rubber side down……unless you’re one of those trick riders. In that case, post some videos here. [emoji16]