Cycling can be so dangerous!

[mjr]

When I commented that it wold be wise to look where you’re going I was told ‘you can’t be looking at the road in front of you all the time! 😱 My question would be ‘why not’?

Sometimes you need to look to the side or behind to give way, or spot others not giving way. You try to do this after you've seen there is no hazard ahead but sometimes you miss something, more likely on unlit roads at night...

 

[pjd57]

We can't guarantee our safety, cycling or walking or even driving.
All we can do is take care.
This time of the year , I try to give myself a bit more time for journeys on my bike so I can ease up long before every corner and when necessary alter my route.
Any hint of frost , I tend to walk out my own street to the main roads which have been gritted and generally stick to bus routes.

 

[Milzy]

Some plank in a black Audi set off with a frozen windshield this morning & he eventually pulled over. Idiot.

 

[MarkF]

I am winding down my working life as a hospital porter, 5 years this month. It's incredible the stories you hear from people who woke up, got dressed and set about a normal day, only to end up in hosptial injured. Yet despite spending maybe 75% of my time in A&E, I've yet to meet a fellow cyclist.......................

 

[classic33]

I am winding down my working life as a hospital porter, 5 years this month. It's incredible the stories you hear from people who woke up, got dressed and set about a normal day, only to end up in hosptial injured. Yet despite spending maybe 75% of my time in A&E, I've yet to meet a fellow cyclist.......................

Which A&E?

 

[8mph]

Someone in a car gave me such a wide berth recently that I felt compelled to acknowledge them with a raised palm and a smile. The driver was busy making the same gesture when a Land Rover came around the corner doing 60 and they narrowly missed each other. Oops!

 

[Phil Fouracre]

Sometimes you need to look to the side or behind to give way, or spot others not giving way. You try to do this after you've seen there is no hazard ahead but sometimes you miss something, more likely on unlit roads at night...

Totally agree - when I say look where you’re going I don’t mean stare at the road in front, as seemed to be assumed, but, scan all around continuously! If you can’t realistically process what you see, slow down - the same as you would/should do when driving!

 

[gavroche]

Update on the lad's accident is not good. He is still in a coma. Will keep you posted.

 

[mjr]

Totally agree - when I say look where you’re going I don’t mean stare at the road in front, as seemed to be assumed, but, scan all around continuously! If you can’t realistically process what you see, slow down - the same as you would/should do when driving!

Yes, but you tend to miss things when you haven't realised that you can't process what you're seeing fast enough - that's how you make mistakes and no amount of "look where you're going" solves it. Getting away with the mistakes and learning from the experience helps, but not everyone gets away with the mistakes. Let's not be too harsh on them.

Update on the lad's accident is not good. He is still in a coma. Will keep you posted.

Thanks for the updates. Still best wishes.

 

[screenman]

Like any hazard, the danger is minimised if you ride according to the conditions. You'll more likely find diesel on bends where vehicles brake than you will on a straight flat stretch of road. The trouble is there are a lot of kamikaze merchants on two wheels who go as fast as they can all the time with no thought about their ability to steer or slow down without losing control. Road cyclists are probably worse than motorcyclists in this respect. I see loads of idiots dressed up in all the gear tearing around flat out who are going to have a really nasty high speed accident if they hit anything slippery.

Where in the country do you see these people as I encounter none like that in these parts.

 

[fossyant]

I am winding down my working life as a hospital porter, 5 years this month. It's incredible the stories you hear from people who woke up, got dressed and set about a normal day, only to end up in hosptial injured. Yet despite spending maybe 75% of my time in A&E, I've yet to meet a fellow cyclist.......................

I bypassed my last visit to A&E - straight to Resus ! Express service straight through !

 

[DCBassman]

I bypassed my last visit to A&E - straight to Resus ! Express service straight through !

but not the way you'd prefer to do it, I'm sure!

 

[MarkF]

Which A&E?

Bradford, the only time I venture in the wacky place it is to work..........

So, about 35/45 patients per day, we'll call it 40, x 5 (week) = 200, x 45 weeks per annum = 9000, x 5 years is 45000 injured people and I've yet to meet an injured cyclist!

 

[si_c]

All activities carry some degree of risk but most of the time we rationalise it away entirely such that we don't wear plastic hats when walking.

Most people are really bad at accurately assessing the real level of risk we grossly over or under estimate it. Certainly the pedestrian who stepped out between two vans yesterday didn't think there was a risk until I hit him at just shy of 30mph. Both of us came off ok but it could have been much worse.

There is no point worrying overly much about these things as for the most part they are out of your control. What you can do is manage those variables within your control - condition appropriate gear, well maintained bike and control your speed so you can stop in the distance you can see. Beyond that you just have to hope for the best and understand that your actual level of risk is very very small.

 

[Milzy]

All activities carry some degree of risk but most of the time we rationalise it away entirely such that we don't wear plastic hats when walking.

Most people are really bad at accurately assessing the real level of risk we grossly over or under estimate it. Certainly the pedestrian who stepped out between two vans yesterday didn't think there was a risk until I hit him at just shy of 30mph. Both of us came off ok but it could have been much worse.

There is no point worrying overly much about these things as for the most part they are out of your control. What you can do is manage those variables within your control - condition appropriate gear, well maintained bike and control your speed so you can stop in the distance you can see. Beyond that you just have to hope for the best and understand that your actual level of risk is very very small.

Well that’s lucky as somebody recently died at a claimed 38 mph in the same situation although it was probably exaggerated by the police.