Not looking before turning on to the road from the sidewalk
Believe it or not, some people routinely start journeys by launching off the pavement into busy roads without checking traffic behind them. I suspect that a lot of these people ride very close to the curb and think that this part of the road will always be safe for them, or that traffic will get out of their way. Sooner or later a car will prove them wrong.
Other people commit this crime without meaning to. They think they've looked, but chose a starting place where they couldn't see the road properly - at least in the fast glance they took - because of a bend, or a tall van placed at the side of the road in a critical spot.
Finally, some people are seduced into not-looking by pavement riding or using a bike path that crosses junctions. They fall into a rhythm and forget to break it when crossing roads at junctions.
Riding against traffic
Let's be fair: sometimes when people do stupid things it's someone else's stupidity that
is at fault. In some parts of America (but nowhere else I've heard of) cyclists are still encouraged to ride facing car traffic, rather than riding with. The theory seems to be that cyclists are more like pedestrians than cars - and this advice is quite good for pedestrians, who can spot especially reckless oncoming horseless carriages and dive out of the way (presumably off cliffs and into rivers, as there was nothing by the side of the road they could walk on
Not riding in a straight line
Drivers need to know where you will be next. So ride predictably, following a path that stays a constant distance from the curb. Even if you see broken glass in front of you, don't swerve unless you know your back is clear.
Riding with a half metre margin between you and the kerb instead skimming will make weaving around glass and potholes easier, by the way - because you will be able to swerve inwards as well as outwards. However, you should still check before swerving inwards if you possibly can - it's always possible that a very stupid cyclist is trying to undertake you their. Still, if you have a choice between definite immediate death and swerving inwards, I'd say that inwards looks good.
Monday, 7 July 2008
Where Accidents Happen - The Big Killers
Fear can be a great a thing. For a start, it probably stopped you from accepting a lot of really stupid dares while you were in school. In adult life it can provides intuitive common sense warnings and sharpens the reflexes at appropriate times.
But useful fear has to be intelligent, knowledgeable fear. Fearing the wrong thing is a good way to get hurt or killed. Most inexperienced cyclists seem to fear being hit by overtaking traffic more than anything else, so they ride as close to the curb as they can. This is bad, because it makes them harder for drivers to see, denies them room for emergency maneuvers, and puts them in an ideal position to be "doored" by drivers and passengers of parked cars.
In fact, being hit from behind while riding on a straight road is one of the rarest types of cycle accident. Combining different studies I've read, I'd say that it accounts for perhaps 1% of moderately serious accidents. (And anyway, curb skimming is rarely the correct technique for avoiding hits from behind - but that's a topic of its own.) By comparison, dooring accounts for 16% of inner city cycling accidents, road surface problems about 20%, and junctions perhaps as much as 40%. Another 10-20% of accidents result from cyclists doing very stupid things, like launching themselves off the sidewalk without seeing if the road is clear. Let's call these classes of accidents The Big Killers.
Another great thing about fear is that it's a terrific aid to concentration. Remembering information that can your life is surprisingly easy - and remembering and practicing one or two simple safety practices is enough to turn each of The Big Killers into a tiny de-clawed pussycat.
So that's what we'll talk about next. Once more, before we go on:
Intersections ~40% of serious accidents
Road surfaces ~ 20%
Dooring ~16%
Bicycle user stupidity ~ 10-20%
Hit from behind while riding straight in daylight ~ virtually never
So if you know how to ride intersections well, effective tactics for potholes, where to ride to reduce the odds of being door, and just don't do anything stupid, that's it - you're virtually immortal on a bicycle. During daytime at least, night riding is a special topic.
Of these subjects riding intersections is the hardest, so I'll probably leave it until last. Instead I'll start with the easiest subject of all - not doing anything stupid.
But useful fear has to be intelligent, knowledgeable fear. Fearing the wrong thing is a good way to get hurt or killed. Most inexperienced cyclists seem to fear being hit by overtaking traffic more than anything else, so they ride as close to the curb as they can. This is bad, because it makes them harder for drivers to see, denies them room for emergency maneuvers, and puts them in an ideal position to be "doored" by drivers and passengers of parked cars.
In fact, being hit from behind while riding on a straight road is one of the rarest types of cycle accident. Combining different studies I've read, I'd say that it accounts for perhaps 1% of moderately serious accidents. (And anyway, curb skimming is rarely the correct technique for avoiding hits from behind - but that's a topic of its own.) By comparison, dooring accounts for 16% of inner city cycling accidents, road surface problems about 20%, and junctions perhaps as much as 40%. Another 10-20% of accidents result from cyclists doing very stupid things, like launching themselves off the sidewalk without seeing if the road is clear. Let's call these classes of accidents The Big Killers.
Another great thing about fear is that it's a terrific aid to concentration. Remembering information that can your life is surprisingly easy - and remembering and practicing one or two simple safety practices is enough to turn each of The Big Killers into a tiny de-clawed pussycat.
So that's what we'll talk about next. Once more, before we go on:
Intersections ~40% of serious accidents
Road surfaces ~ 20%
Dooring ~16%
Bicycle user stupidity ~ 10-20%
Hit from behind while riding straight in daylight ~ virtually never
So if you know how to ride intersections well, effective tactics for potholes, where to ride to reduce the odds of being door, and just don't do anything stupid, that's it - you're virtually immortal on a bicycle. During daytime at least, night riding is a special topic.
Of these subjects riding intersections is the hardest, so I'll probably leave it until last. Instead I'll start with the easiest subject of all - not doing anything stupid.
Hello world!
A long time ago, I was a cycle messenger. Since then I've ridden around bicycles around cities for fun and personal transportation. My reflexes aren't especially good and I'm actually quite clumsy, so after a while friends and occasionally friends of friends would approach me and ask why I was still alive - usually after a close bicycle propelled approach to being otherwise.
Eventually I realized that most of the people I know who use bicycles, especially in cities, are at more risk of death, injury, and being ripped off by bicycle thieves, bicycle sellers, and bicycle manufacturers than they need to be, hence this blog. Because while riding a bicycle is (as you might have guessed) pretty damn simple, it isn't quite as simple as people think. There are odd bits of knowledge that can save your life and others that can save you from making a maintenance mistake that could cost you $500 in new components for your pretty racing bike.
So my purpose in this blog is to pass on those simple rules - which usually no one tells you and you have to learn by years of experience - which can save you from death, injury, and being ripped off. These are things like -
Eventually I realized that most of the people I know who use bicycles, especially in cities, are at more risk of death, injury, and being ripped off by bicycle thieves, bicycle sellers, and bicycle manufacturers than they need to be, hence this blog. Because while riding a bicycle is (as you might have guessed) pretty damn simple, it isn't quite as simple as people think. There are odd bits of knowledge that can save your life and others that can save you from making a maintenance mistake that could cost you $500 in new components for your pretty racing bike.
So my purpose in this blog is to pass on those simple rules - which usually no one tells you and you have to learn by years of experience - which can save you from death, injury, and being ripped off. These are things like -
- Knowing how to use your front brake so that you can make lightning emergency stops yet never risk coming over your bikes handlebars
- How specify an option for your bicycle's chain that will cost you $5 extra but will let you save that $500 bill with hardly any effort
- Where and why most accidents happen and how to avoid them
- Which brakes to buy on a bike if you intend to ride in the rain
- How to choose a fast bike suitable for riding on potholed roads, how to choose a bike that suits a heavier rider, how to get the store you buy your bike at to customize your bike for lower maintenance, how to avoid your bike being stolen...
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