We are all always saddened and perhaps angry when we hear of another cyclist casualty. But I wonder if we could do a lot more to protect ourselves on the road? I ride a bike and rode for many years with my local CTC group. I also drive, so I see bike/vehicle difficulties from both sides of the windscreen.
When on my bike I tense a little when a vehicle comes up behind and relax when it has passed. As a driver, I tense a lot when I come up behind a cyclist. Indeed many drivers hate overtaking cyclists and will hang back for a long time, exasperating the drivers of following vehicles.
It's great riding a bike, enjoying the freedom, immersed in one's efforts and perhaps chatting with companions: three things that distract us from what's going on around us. Drivers have to be aware all the time, not only to avoid hitting things but also to avoid being hit. For instance it is a legal requirement for all motor vehicles to have at least one rear-view mirror; the driving test includes use of them. The most vulnerable of road users, bicycles, have no such requirement ~ and the majority of cycling collisions are, tellingly, from behind.
Bikes with drop handlebars force the rider to look at the front wheel, ignoring all that is going on around him/her, oblivious to risks. On top of that, a lot of them wear black, harldy surprising that drivers don't see them. So we have the most vulnerable of road users, cyclists, on a potential suicide mission, as so many have posthumously found.
Looking at this from another perspective, all modern cars and vans have extensive safety features to protect the occupants in the event of a collision, and some external features to protect pedestrians. This is because vehicles do hit things for one reason or another. What do we cyclists have to protect ourselves? A helmet. Oh, and a bell. To claim that motor vehicles can hit anything they like except cyclists is a bit far-fetched, and dangerously self-delusory. And it can be just as traumatic for a driver to hit a cyclist as it is for the cyclist.
Would you stand in a road with your back to traffic doing 60mph? 'No'? 50? 40? 30? 20 even? Well, that is in effect what we're doing on our bikes. Say we're riding at 20mph on a road with 60mph traffic, that is the same as standing in a road with traffic at 40mph. the fact that we're moving doesn't give us protection.
And do you make it easier for vehicles to overtake? Or just plug on regardless, causing rising frustration and risky overtaking? When riding in a large group do you just string out and let the driver get on with it? Or do you split into sub groups of up to four bikes each ridden tightly together, with long gaps between sub groups so that even a long lorry can pull in between them, making one or more short 'hops' to pass a number of sub groups easily? If a vehicle has sat behind for half a minute, do you pull in to let it, and following ones to pass? Or do you let frustration ~ and animosity ~ build up?
Having been close to running up the back of 'invisible' cyclists dressed in black I don't want the misery of hitting one, nor do any of us want to keep reading of such things happening. I would estimate that the majority of cyclist casualties can be avoided by the cyclist being highly visible, being alert to what's going on around him, taking appropriate protective action and keeping off high-speed roads. Have you noticed the hi-viz clothes that road workmen wear, and the safety barriers put up to protect them? If roadmen need this, how come cyclists thing they are safe without it?
(Recently on a busy trunk road in heavy rain, black clouds, heaving traffic all with headlights blazing, there was a cyclist battling head-down, dressed in black, no lights. Is he still alive?)
When I started riding with 'hardened' cyclists (nice people and good friends) I was amazed that they treat cycling as an activity that, although it takes place among traffic, as being separate from it. This delusion has now caught up with so many unfortunate souls that maybe now is the time to review it and take a more realistic stance.
This may all sound to you that this is pro-motorist/anti-cyclist. It isn't. With cycling accidents on the increase while all other types are in decline, there's plenty we can do to help prevent them.
When on my bike I tense a little when a vehicle comes up behind and relax when it has passed. As a driver, I tense a lot when I come up behind a cyclist. Indeed many drivers hate overtaking cyclists and will hang back for a long time, exasperating the drivers of following vehicles.
It's great riding a bike, enjoying the freedom, immersed in one's efforts and perhaps chatting with companions: three things that distract us from what's going on around us. Drivers have to be aware all the time, not only to avoid hitting things but also to avoid being hit. For instance it is a legal requirement for all motor vehicles to have at least one rear-view mirror; the driving test includes use of them. The most vulnerable of road users, bicycles, have no such requirement ~ and the majority of cycling collisions are, tellingly, from behind.
Bikes with drop handlebars force the rider to look at the front wheel, ignoring all that is going on around him/her, oblivious to risks. On top of that, a lot of them wear black, harldy surprising that drivers don't see them. So we have the most vulnerable of road users, cyclists, on a potential suicide mission, as so many have posthumously found.
Looking at this from another perspective, all modern cars and vans have extensive safety features to protect the occupants in the event of a collision, and some external features to protect pedestrians. This is because vehicles do hit things for one reason or another. What do we cyclists have to protect ourselves? A helmet. Oh, and a bell. To claim that motor vehicles can hit anything they like except cyclists is a bit far-fetched, and dangerously self-delusory. And it can be just as traumatic for a driver to hit a cyclist as it is for the cyclist.
Would you stand in a road with your back to traffic doing 60mph? 'No'? 50? 40? 30? 20 even? Well, that is in effect what we're doing on our bikes. Say we're riding at 20mph on a road with 60mph traffic, that is the same as standing in a road with traffic at 40mph. the fact that we're moving doesn't give us protection.
And do you make it easier for vehicles to overtake? Or just plug on regardless, causing rising frustration and risky overtaking? When riding in a large group do you just string out and let the driver get on with it? Or do you split into sub groups of up to four bikes each ridden tightly together, with long gaps between sub groups so that even a long lorry can pull in between them, making one or more short 'hops' to pass a number of sub groups easily? If a vehicle has sat behind for half a minute, do you pull in to let it, and following ones to pass? Or do you let frustration ~ and animosity ~ build up?
Having been close to running up the back of 'invisible' cyclists dressed in black I don't want the misery of hitting one, nor do any of us want to keep reading of such things happening. I would estimate that the majority of cyclist casualties can be avoided by the cyclist being highly visible, being alert to what's going on around him, taking appropriate protective action and keeping off high-speed roads. Have you noticed the hi-viz clothes that road workmen wear, and the safety barriers put up to protect them? If roadmen need this, how come cyclists thing they are safe without it?
(Recently on a busy trunk road in heavy rain, black clouds, heaving traffic all with headlights blazing, there was a cyclist battling head-down, dressed in black, no lights. Is he still alive?)
When I started riding with 'hardened' cyclists (nice people and good friends) I was amazed that they treat cycling as an activity that, although it takes place among traffic, as being separate from it. This delusion has now caught up with so many unfortunate souls that maybe now is the time to review it and take a more realistic stance.
This may all sound to you that this is pro-motorist/anti-cyclist. It isn't. With cycling accidents on the increase while all other types are in decline, there's plenty we can do to help prevent them.
