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How to Not Get Hit by Cars

bicyclesafe.com

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Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#101

Post by kqr »

dotancohen wrote: post #98

Car driver here, not a bicyclist. I don't see your side of the story, and probably never will unless I kill one of you. Don't want me to hit you? Make yourself visible and courteous. Put on a bright jacket, bright helmet, or something else bright. And use a steady (not flashing) red light in the back and a steady (not flashing) white light aimed at the ground in the front. If you use flashing lights I cannot tell how…

In my experience, "you" are much more likely to unsafely squeeze past me if I dip to the side of the road.

When I stay in the centre of the lane, "you" actually prefer to wait for the next lane to be free over smearing me out over the pavement. Thanks!

"You" might be annoyed, but I actually get to come home and see my wife and kids, which matters a lot to me (and surely even more to them). Sorry for being selfish!

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#103

Post by 83457 »

wongarsu wrote: post #84
83457 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are in some areas and/or certain contexts. Adults are not allowed to ride on sidewalks in many areas. I've heard about lights and bell requirements but not sure if that was a law or just listed as recommendations and/or for multi-use paved trails. As with many things in the US, whether these sorts of laws exist is up to each individual state to decide on for themselves. Question. Are the laws you listed just fo…

The laws are for public roads (public in the sense of "you can drive there without driving through a gate of some sort"). The same places where all other traffic laws apply. That includes bike paths, but excludes most hiking paths where you would want to drive a mountain bike. Mountain bikes often don't come with light or a bell, and if you want to use them on public roads you have to spend about $12 to fix that ($2…

Was a confusing way to describe it. I meant road cyclists on surrounding flat and mountain roads. Probably a moot question now given advances in technology making everything lighter and smaller.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#104

Post by paulnpace »

iofiiiiiiiii wrote: post #87
paulnpace wrote: post #72

Here is one that bicyclists really hate: Don't ride on narrow back-county roads where you block the regular flow of traffic. I used to live on one such road and the bicyclists regularly insisted I travel >30 MPH below the speed limit because of a long uphill section that was double yellow due to many curves and hillsides blocking the line of site for passing. Bicyclists would get visibly angry at drivers who were not…

You sure sound like a driver who owns the road. Nobody expects you to pass on a double yellow. You are supposed to slow down as needed to stay behind the cyclist until it is safe to pass.

> You sure sound like a driver who owns the road.

I hear this often, but it doesn't make sense to me. I have one single route to get to any destination, and because one person wants to ride a bicycle on this round, >5 cars will often be lined up behind the bicyclist traveling >30 MPH below the speed limit.

Of course, it's the drivers who feel they own the road in this scenario (even if it's one driver).

This is the transportation system that exists. I didn't create it.

> Nobody expects you to pass on a double yellow.

The bicyclists literally try to wave cars past them when they can see the other side of a corner. You are making an assumption, and that assumption is wrong.

I never did this because the bicyclists care that I leave and have zero accountability for their waving. Twice I had bicyclists do this and cars arrive around the curve during the time that I would have been passing. Literally, the bicyclists were actively trying to create head-on collisions.

Fortunately, most people on that road were very well aware that traffic was both busier than the bicyclists understood and faster due to higher speed limits that the bicyclists were generally oblivious to.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#105

Post by analog31 »

yt-sdb wrote: post #85
Fricken wrote: post #40

I've been commuting by bicycle for nearly 40 years, under a broad array of circumstances, and the article's advice checks out with my own personal rules. Although the vast majority of the crashes and wipeouts I've suffered involved no cars, just me losing control. However, over hundreds of wipeouts accumulated over a lifetime of cycling, I have never hit my head! Wiping out is a skill. A skill best cultivated when on…

For anyone else reading this, hundreds of wipeouts is many standard deviations away from the mean. As a point of comparison, I've been biking for 10+ years and bike commuting for ~5 of those. I've had exactly one wipeout, the first time I wore clip in shoes.

Likewise here, in 20 years of daily bike commuting, all weather, year-round, I've had one crash and a tiny handful of near misses. The crash involved hitting a patch of ice going around a turn, after an unexpected cold snap. I got studded tires for my winter bike right after that.

The friends I've had, who've gotten in crashes, were mostly off-road riders where crashes are expected, or competitive riders.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#106

Post by paulnpace »

wongarsu wrote: post #97
paulnpace wrote: post #72

Here is one that bicyclists really hate: Don't ride on narrow back-county roads where you block the regular flow of traffic. I used to live on one such road and the bicyclists regularly insisted I travel >30 MPH below the speed limit because of a long uphill section that was double yellow due to many curves and hillsides blocking the line of site for passing. Bicyclists would get visibly angry at drivers who were not…

How are the bicyclists both insisting that you travel below the speed limit and getting angry at you not overtaking them? That doesn't add up, I'm more inclined to believe they were road users minding their own business and you were annoyed that the road didn't provide an opportunity to overtake them.

No post body was provided.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#107

Post by avianlyric »

dotancohen wrote: post #98

Car driver here, not a bicyclist. I don't see your side of the story, and probably never will unless I kill one of you. Don't want me to hit you? Make yourself visible and courteous. Put on a bright jacket, bright helmet, or something else bright. And use a steady (not flashing) red light in the back and a steady (not flashing) white light aimed at the ground in the front. If you use flashing lights I cannot tell how…

> You've got a right to use the lane just as much as I do, but be a good citizen and actually let me pass you safely. If you hear me coming up behind you or notice my flashing high beams, please dip to the right a bit so that I can continue past you and leave you safely.

Do you take the same approach to cars? Or do you reserve such aggressive tactics only for vulnerable road users?

As you say, bike user have just as much right to the lane as car users. That means they can use the entire thing, just like car users do. If their rights are equal, why do you expect bikes to squeeze over and force them to share the lane side-by-side with you?

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#108

Post by thematrixturtle »

Findecanor wrote: post #100
polote wrote: post #39

That's not riding a bike which is dangerous it is riding in the same zones as cars as the article points out. May people say we shouldn't trust anyone to carry guns, but we allow anyone to drive a car, that's at least as much dangerous. All the examples of the articles are good, but there are two many to learn and remember. I follow one and only one rule when I ride my bike. Assume you can get killed at every time an…

If I had the power to, I would downvote you because you are blaming the victim, being smug about it, even abusive. If you are riding your bike in the city and the streets are congested enough, there will always be a car close behind you. As there are cars ahead of you, to the right of you and on the street to the left that you would have to look out for. There are limits to how defensively you can ride, and at the en…

Just because they ought to doesn't mean they actually do. The GP is basically advocating the bicycle version of defensive driving, why do you find this "abusive"?

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#109

Post by hodgesrm »

My safety tip based on decades of cycling: think of safety as a game of percentages, like baseball. Stopping in the blind spot of a car is a low percentage maneuver—do it enough times and you’ll get hit. I try to ride in a way that reduces the risk over the long term: picking bike friendly routes, mimimizing travel at night, wearing visible clothing, and generally not surprising motorists.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#110

Post by wkyle »

dotancohen wrote: post #98

Car driver here, not a bicyclist. I don't see your side of the story, and probably never will unless I kill one of you. Don't want me to hit you? Make yourself visible and courteous. Put on a bright jacket, bright helmet, or something else bright. And use a steady (not flashing) red light in the back and a steady (not flashing) white light aimed at the ground in the front. If you use flashing lights I cannot tell how…

A cyclist must be courteous for you not to kill them? The instigator on an unsafe pass is the person passing, not the person getting passed.
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