Toms article got me rethinking something I was thinking about last night while I was running. What is more dangerous cycling or running? You hear stories about cyclist getting killed a lot more often that runners. Is it because you run against traffic & cycle with it? While running last night I was approaching a corner & a car came around very fast, I simply stepped off the side of the road into the grass/ dirt area on the side of the road & the car zoomed by. If I was on a bike heading in the same direction I could have very well been clipped by this car.
I understand the idea of cycling with traffic in terms of impact during a collision, but wouldn’t there likely be less collisions if you could see what drivers where doing & take evasive action.
I know this is a tangent subject to the incident in Tom’s article, but do you think there would be significantly less (but more severe) accidents if cyclist went against traffic?
I’m not suggesting we all switch sides of the rode, just a thought I had yesterday…
When you ride against traffic the car has very little choice when it passes you. When riding with traffic a car can slow down & pick his spot to pass you. This is a moot point because a bicycle is considered a vehicle and is subject to all the rules of the road just like any other vehicle. Of course, if somebody wants to ride against traffic they’ll probably be doing it with out a helmet, with their I-pod blasting & telling you that it’s their right as an American to do so. Then it’s a case of natural selection, weeding out the stupid people.
Also, consider that if you are riding 25mph riding against the traffic and a car going 35mph hits you - this would be the equivalent of you being hit at a standstill while the car was going 60mph. However, if the same accident occurs and you are riding with traffic, its similar to you at a standstill while a car going 10mph hits you. Big difference. Of course this is somewhat oversimplified but fairly accurate nonetheless.
My running injuries ( plantar fasciitis, various kinds of knee pain, most of my back problems) have all been chronic/ overuse/ lousy biomechanics. My cycling injuries have almost all been traumatic (over the handlebars/broken pelvis mth biking, crashed and went down ravine breaking ribs etc). All in all I prefer the broken bones. If you look at stastics for deaths it’s definitely (and sadly) cycling that accounts for more fatalities though- .
C’mon - what about swimming? Lot’s of injuries. I remember this really bad case of swimmers’s ear once. And then there’s the burning of chlorine in your eyes, and how unmanagable it makes your hair. Not to mention wetsuit chaffing. OUCH!
The biggest problem riding against traffic is that you are traveling in some cases as fast as a car but coming from a direction and position in their visual field that drivers do not expect and when you don’t expect to see something you generally don’t see it even if it should seemingly be obvious.
The vast majority of bike deaths are kids, and secondarily people doing stupid things like riding the wrong way, running lights, etc.
Cycling is far more dangerous, but even after last year I think the mountain lion banquet toll is still higher for runners and I think I would rather be hit by a car.
Another reason why not to ride against traffic is that your net speed with respect to cars is much faster. If you are going 20 MPH and the car is going 40 MPH, then the two of you are closing at a rate of 60 MPH. If you are going in the same direction, then the car is closing on you at a rate of 20 MPH, which gives it a lot more time to react.
Running is safer because you can run on sidewalks, trails or very far over on the shoulder where it’s hard for a car to hit you. But, cars can be only a few inches away from you on the bike.
Every cyclist should obey every rule of the road, just like they do in a car. Until this happens some people will never accept bikes as motor vehicles on our roads. I’ll bet you/we cuss out every car that breaks the law, well those same people are cussing you breaking the law while on your bike!! I always obey every rule of the road. Remember, at least in the states I’ve ridden in, a cyclist can pass a car on EITHER side as long as its done safely. This is a biggy, that a car can’t do!
As a driver of a car, they do NOT expect another vehicle to be coming at them in their lane of travel (ie: the bike coming the wrong way). The closing speed is such that they do not understand how quickly they will pass you and hense will do something very dumb as you approach, ie: turn in front of you, weave, etc. Statistics state that most cyclists are hit by cars turning in front of them, ie: the car making a left turn across your path. Learn to turn the same way as the car and you can avoid lots of these accidents. I do this aleast 2-3 times per week on my rides. Thank God there is always a driveway or roadway to the right (or they wouldn’t be turning either) to turn into to avoid getting hit. They do not axpect you to be traveling 25 mph and they’ll misjudge the time they have to turn and when they reakize they made a booboo its too late.
BTW - theres’ a big difference between a “person on a bike” and a “cyclist”. As far as I know most fall into the “person on a bike” category as far as accidents are concerned. I’m not saying cyclists don’t get hit, I’ve been hit and saw a friend in front of me get hit. But, the majority of people hit are kids, not riding a striaght line as we do training, and lots of others, (in my area at least) are homeless and/or poor that travel all over the roads the wrong way, at night without lights, down median strips, across traffic on red lights, etc.
Obey the rules of the road and you’ll be MUCH saver. RIDE PREDICTABLE!!!
I only see about 3 stop signs on my rides. I do a quick track stand and then go. I live in St Augustine, we see about 5 million visitors in our small historic town each year. Trust me…I stop!!
Also, consider that if you are riding 25mph riding against the traffic and a car going 35mph hits you - this would be the equivalent of you being hit at a standstill while the car was going 60mph.
I think that’s incorrect, because momentum must be conserved. Assuming you weigh 185lbs with your bike and the car weighs 3000lbs, and you lodge yourself in the windshield instead of bouncing off, it would be the equivalent of being hit at a standstill by a car going 31.52 mph.
You could hit the car fast enough to bring it to a dead stop, but then you’d have to go 567.72mph.
Edit: messed up conversion of bike speed from mph to m/s.
