Everytime I tell my wife or friends of the tragic cycling accident, they tell me “be careful.”
I was thinking about this…What does it mean to be careful? I would think that most cycling deaths are caused by idiot drivers as opposed to reckless cyclists. If this is the case, then what precautions should I be taking to minimize the risks imposed by crazy drivers?
And for the record, I own and ride a computrainer, so please refrain from the smartass answers like use a trainer or don’t ride on the roads.
Riding defensively… assume that the parked car’s door will open, assume that the car in front of you will turn without signalling, assume that you will get run over on an access road…
I was hit by a careless driver last April and had a fractured fibula. I am back on the bike and have been riding more with groups such as my local cycling and triathlon clubs. I do ride by myself - but I am more wary than ever. Of course, accidents with other cyclists do happen on group rides but the lone rider against a car is a far more dangerious situation.
Good advice. Assume every driver, pedestrian, dog walker, tourist on a bike on the bridge, etc. will be unpredictable and always have an eye out and ready for them to do something.
Anticipate stupid moves.
Use your eyes, voice and hands to signal your intent and what you think they might be doing (no, not that middle finger). For example, if I see a car coming up on the right out of a driveway or intersection, I will wave a “no” at them, and shout if necessary, so they know that I see them. Or when I have to ride past the freeway on ramp, I move out into the lane a bit and put my left hand out to signal that I am taking this space so move in behind if you want to turn right onto the freeway access.
Went for a ride today in a State Park. Very little traffic there. Well on my way to the golf course section I was forced off the road into a curb by an asshole having some fun showing off to the other goon in the passanger seat. One thing is this road there is no exit out. But…the two idiots decide they were going to continue with their plans of playing golf. I asked a State employee to call the Park Police. I wanted to make a report on this guy playing a game trying to kill or injure me. The word I got back from the employee was that the Park Police were presently at another Park and there would be a while wait. So…here come the two goons with their golf carts like nothing happened. I said to the driver…thanks for squeezing me off the side of the road. The response was I wish I hit you. Anyway with a remark like this I called this “Fhead” an asshole. Now the guy wants to fight. I will not fall into this trap by busting his face for him in front of a crowd that was forming so I got back on my softride and headed home…fumming.
I get home and immediately go to my tool box looking for an ice pick. I came this close to going back to this assholes car and flatting all his tires and scraping two long lines on both sides of his car. But, my son asked me what was wrong and I decided it wasn’t worth lowering myself to this assholes level. I didn’t want to set the wrong example for my son who is 21. To say the least I calmed down and said riding outside these days is such a risk. Boy their are some jerks out there.
Filing a police report wouldn’t result in anything unless I was hit. I should have crashed into his car and took his insurance to the cleaners…Some people really suck.
Man, I hear you. It’s sad how there’s a double-standard for cyclists. If those idiots were having fun waving a gun at you, the police would be all over them. But they were in a two ton vehicle threatening to run you over, which in the eyes of many police officers, is a minor offense (or no offense at all). I wonder how many cyclists have to die before this kind of crap is taken seriously.
I agressively defend my right to be on the road. I do this primarily by riding far enough away from the curb. I ride so the centreline of my bike is positioned on the line of where a car door would open to. That way I only have to do a very minor swerve to get out of the way. That’s for cars where I can see there is no driver in the car. Where there IS a driver visible in the car, I move out towards the middle of the road a bit further.
With no cars parked, I will go no closer than about 2 feet from the curb. That’s about equal to the twice the distance of flat part of concrete attached to the upstand part of the curb. That’s a minimum and I usually ride even further from the curb. Being that far out into the road forces drivers to actively drive around me, and only pass when it is safe to do so. Too close to the curb and drivers think they can squuuuueeeeeeze past by driving dangerously close.
I wear high visibility clothing though not necessarily flouro colours. Most cycling stuff is pretty good in the garish colours dept so that’s an easy one. Dark colours don’t get worn by me very often.
At night (I commute to work in the dark quite often) I ride well lit routes and I’m lit up like a Christmas Tree, as well as having garments with reflecto stips all around. People say I look a bit stupid. I reckon alive and stupid is fine with me.
To further improve safety, I follow the road rules. I don’t ride on and off the sidewalk, I don’t run red lights. I don’t cross the road on pedestrian crossings etc. I follow the rules. That stops car drivers from getting pissed off at me and not give me (and other cyclists) the respect we deserve and are entitled to. I also ride predictably, keeping a straight line, not wavering all over the place etc. I signal my turns and so on.
That’s what I do to be careful. Not that hard really.
Use your eyes, voice and hands to signal your intent and what you think they might be doing (no, not that middle finger).
Absolutely. This is smart advice whether you’re driving, cycling, running, swimming, boating, walking – anytime you are in a situation where someone else’s lack of attention while moving or controlling a moving vehicle can put you at risk. Countless examples show up in a normal day. I tell my kids when we’re driving (especially on freeways) or riding bikes that you can’t count on the other person paying attention, so you have to do it for both you and them.
I do most of my rides on a rail-trail, no cars. When I do ride on the roads, I use a mirror. Not sure how much it helps, but I sure do feel safer knowing what’s coming behind me.
**Everytime I tell my wife or friends of the tragic cycling accident, they tell me “be careful.” **
Ride on the lowest traffic roads (even if it means no one will see you train).
Ride defensively.
Remember you are the lowest on the food chain.
Be as visible as possible.
Don’t do anything intentionally that will piss off someone in a car.
Only ride in high visible areas
Don’t ride early AM’s on weekends when DUI’s could still be on the road.
Don’t ride in the city during lunch rush or 5PM gettin’ off work time.
I don’t know that it’s always the driver’s fault, just b/c the cyclist get the worst of it. I have to assume (and based on what I have seen), a decent amount of cyclist contribute to accidents.
Buy a bar-end rear view mirror, put it on your bike and leave it there. Take it off only for races. You know the sensation of someone or something being behind you even though you can’t hear them? Your instincts are usually correct. The same thing applies to the road. Check that mirror often.
I’d have to say that cyclists themselves can be pretty reckless themselves. How many times have you raced a yellow light? ROlled right through a stop sign? Gone barrelling downhill into a blind corner at 50km/h? Ever see those crash tests of cars? Think about it, those cars are sometimes only going 15mph; but there’s a lot more material to cushion the blow.
I wear a helmet, I don’t ride at night (friend’s mom got a liver from a boy our age who got hit by a car cycling at night; I figure its something I can’t push my luck on) and I ride with my safety in mind. If that means I should stay as far right as possible I do. If it means I need to ride 50cm away from cars and sort of in the middle of the lane, I WILL.
I’d have to say that I would have been pasted to the pavement several times over if I weren’t “careful” and quick on the brakes. Idiot drivers, usually on cell phones…
I disagree with this one.
Yes, that sounds crazy… but for riding in a city, sometimes going through a red light is the smart thing to do.
This does not mean racing through a red light without looking, hoping that no one is coming. It means that, when you’re stopped at the light, and it’s clear the other way, you’re a lot safer than if you wait until the light turns and then just hope that no one decides to cut you off/slam into you by turning right.
I think that being aware, and considerate (especially of pedestrians), being visible, and not being too aggressive, are much more important than the actual traffic laws. And if I wind up getting a ticket for that, that’s ok.
In rural areas, the situation is different.
Oh, and there are plenty of laws that should be followed: not riding the wrong way or on the wrong side; not riding on the sidewalk (dangerous and inconsiderate); not riding right smack in the middle of the road…
“Yes, that sounds crazy… but for riding in a city, sometimes going through a red light is the smart thing to do.”
You may be correct that it’s safer. However, I think that in most (if not all) jurisdictions, it would still be illegal. I have never seen bicycle laws that explicitly permit a cyclist to proceed through a red light (or a stop sign, for that matter).
The most dangerous thing, IMO, is narrow twisty roads with high speed traffic and cars coming up behind you. They may not see you, or they may not be very good at judging where the left side of their car ends (I had two cars scraped in parking lots this year!), or they may just be assholes and see how close they can come to you. I think there are places where it would be safer to ride on the left towards traffic. These would be roads with a shoulder, and no perpendicular intersections or left turns. Kearny Villa Road is a perfect example. Had this Marine been facing traffic, he could have avoided it. Yes, yes, yes, I know all about the danger of this in most urban settings and being where you are not expected to be. But I’m talking about areas where you should not be mixing with traffic at all, except maybe merging traffic from the right. I think there are rural roads and shoulders for limited access roads where this would be the safer way to go. I realize it isn’t the thing to do at this time and I ma not advising it, but thinking outside the box, there may be places it would be better, you’d have a better chance of defending yourself.
I could never follow the advice of hanging out into the lane and forcing cars to go around in the opposite lane. Doesn’t do much good to assert yourself if the car coming behind you can’t move out of the way in time. A big truck comes around a blind corner and there you are out in the lane, and maybe another car is coming the other way…do you think the truck is going to go for the head-on collision with the on-coming car or run into you? bye-bye.