[OSM-talk] Proliferation of path vs. footway

[John Smith]

--- On Mon, 10/8/09, Martin Simon <grenzdebil at gmail.com> wrote:

> makes, at least in Germany, a big (legal) difference...

That isn't the case in other places, in some states of Australia you are allowed to cycle on foot paths, but the primary purpose is for pedestrians and they have right of way over cyclists.

In other areas there are cycle paths and pedestrians are allowed but they aren't the primary users intended to use the way and cyclists mostly use them. So yes there would be information lost by simplifying things in the way you describe.

> Information loss, no difference, no problem. :-)

That might be true for Germany, but it isn't for other parts of the world.