Guardian article(with links) about why female cyclists are more vulnerable to lorries

[GrasB]

It seems to be true that most of the women I know (I include myself) are less spatially aware, but actually this, in my experience, means that we avoid nipping through narrow spaces as we're worried we're too wide. It therefore doesn't make any sense that it would mean we're more likely to squeeze up the left-hand side of a lorry.

I was more wondering about road position when stationary rather than when filtering. Also I posed a question rather than making a statement because I have no feel for the effects of the lower spatial awareness on road position.

 

[jimboalee]

While riding home, check each driver and then check their left hand front wheel trim for damage.

You will need to get in a slow moving line of traffic and peek at the driver.

If anyone is in Temple Balsall, look for a dark blue Citroen C3 with a scratched left hand front wheel trim. It will be my ex.

 

[brokenbetty]

Very grey area though isn't?

What's the price of ''a life''

I don't know - are we talking about yours or mine?

That's why I think there should be a death penalty for anyone who kills someone while driving - to make sure we don't take greater risks with someone else's life than we would with our own.

 

[Wheeledweenie]

I was more wondering about road position when stationary rather than when filtering. Also I posed a question rather than making a statement because I have no feel for the effects of the lower spatial awareness on road position.

The spatial awareness thing's been raised by several people. For the road positioning thing, I think it's more the confidence thing. Where I live you can get a lot of abuse for taking the centre of the lane and women in general seem to be more upset by it than men.

 

[theclaud]

As a general rule women tend to be less spatially aware & tend to find it harder to conceptualise the changing geometry due to movement compared to men*. I wonder how much of this causes women to make misjudgements & so the decision of where to put the bike on the road won't be as well informed compared to most men? Sure bad road position is no excuse but putting your self in a less visible position requires more attention from a driver who already is dealing with information overload.

* Certainly when dealing with driver training there is generally more coaching needed to get a woman to understand where a particular part of the car will end up. When doing demo lap lines marking most of the time women have a much harder time on absolutely nailing the reference clipping points while compared to men with the same level of general line & car handling style.

This, of course, is utter bollocks.

 

[jimboalee]

I tried to learn how to play the guitar. I tried twice with no success.
I was so ham-fisted, I gave up in the knowledge that it was something I would never be able to do.

My girlfriend has tried cycling on two separate occasions in the last three years. Both times she found she wasn't strong enough, and hence not confident enough to ride on a street with cars on it. So she gave up in the knowledge that it was something she would never be able to do.

If she had been determined to ride a bike, she would be juggling 'will power' and 'fear' all the time she was riding on the traffic populated road.

I honestly prefer her to say "no" than put herself in a situation where she feels nervous.

My question to lady cyclists…

"Do you ride a bike because it's the 'green' thing to do?" or "because it's what your friends do and you don't want to miss out", or "because you like to 'mix it' with the motorists and get a real buzz zipping in and out of traffic faster than the cars?"

 

[fimm]

* Certainly when dealing with driver training there is generally more coaching needed to get a woman to understand where a particular part of the car will end up. When doing demo lap lines marking most of the time women have a much harder time on absolutely nailing the reference clipping points while compared to men with the same level of general line & car handling style.

I wonder if GrasB would be willing to translate this a bit? "Demo lap lines"? "Reference clipping points?"

Is this to do with finding it hard to know how wide your car is (something I have a problem with on the rare occasions I drive)?

 

[fimm]

My question to lady cyclists…

"Do you ride a bike because it's the 'green' thing to do?" or "because it's what your friends do and you don't want to miss out", or "because you like to 'mix it' with the motorists and get a real buzz zipping in and out of traffic faster than the cars?"

I ride a bike because I've "always" ridden a bike. How else would I get around? I'm getting more used to zipping in and out of traffic; but I don't need to do it much, mostly I can go straight down the road. I'm not in London, though.

 

[jimboalee]

This, of course, is utter bollocks.

So Ford Motor Company's research in North America and Europe is also "utter bollocks".

You'd better drop them a note to this effect and present them with all your research which contradicts their findings.

If you'd done this twenty years ago, they could have saved a shoot load of money and time.


Ever wondered why there is a little mirror on the front corner of Japanese SUVs?
It's because a mother ran over her own baby in it's pushchair which was hidden behind the far side of the SUV while she was trying to manouver out of a parking space at the mall.

 

[theclaud]

So Ford Motor Company's research in North America and Europe is also "utter bollocks".

You'd better drop them a note to this effect and present them with all your research which contradicts their findings.

If you'd done this twenty years ago, they could have saved a shoot load of money and time.


Ever wondered why there is a little mirror on the front corner of Japanese SUVs?
It's because a mother ran over her own baby in it's pushchair which was hidden behind the far side of the SUV while she was trying to manouver out of a parking space at the mall.

Post me a link and I'll let you know. Not that it, or your carefully selected anecdote, is either here or there. There are reasons men and women often exhibit different driving or cycling behaviours - it was the crass determinism that I was objecting to. And if you could restrain the tendency to shoot from the hip slightly, it might have occurred to you that there is a more blindingly obvious reason by the baby in the pushchair might have been run over by its mother instead of its father...

 

[D-Rider]

Very depressing thread. Why persist in sweeping generalisations along tired gender stereotypes? I can assure you that I don't lack confidence, assertiveness, spatial awareness, "road sense", speed or anything else mentioned when I'm cycling. And, from memory, neither did plenty of those female cyclists who tragically lost their lives over the last couple of years.....

 

[theclaud]

Careful Claudine, one sentence answers are not acceptable to some folk over 'ere in commuting.

I see! Is it a bit of a jungle in here? I'm having trouble negotiating my way through it due to my inferior spatial abilities...

 

[Origamist]

I'm having trouble negotiating my way through it due to my inferior spatial abilities...

Don't try that excuse at the bar in Whitstable next week...

 

[theclaud]

Don't try that excuse at the bar in Whitstable next week...

I think it's fair to say that on the way back to the station my spatial abilities will be nothing to boast about.

 

[2Loose]

Studies suggest general differences in malefemale levels of ability.
Male strong, women less so.
Women good communicators, males less so.
Women can multi task, men are single minded.

These are generalisations and not always so, but does it make them less true?