Originally Posted by
Lemond1985
In a nutshell, they're not much different than riding on the sidewalk, with its perils, annoyances, and inherent limitations. If you like riding on sidewalks, you'll LOVE bike paths. Safety-wise, I'll take the shoulder of a freeway any day over a bike path.
Sounds like you need to ride some different bike paths. Most of the ones I ride are nothing even remotely close to riding on a sidewalk.