Apr 17
The city of London has an ad they’re playing about staying aware of your surroundings while driving, which I’m embedding here for the sake of completeness:
This has inspired some thinking on the subject and I am beginning to wonder a few things.
Are cyclists frequently victims in vehicle accidents because we’re such an unexpected encounter on the road? Or is it that driver’s ed spends all of about 30 seconds in dealing with the subject of cyclists? Thoughts?
April 17th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I’ll admit, cyclists on the road have always made me nervous. I don’t know if they don’t realise how much they weave, or if they just can’t help it due to the edges of roads being so uneven, but they always seem to jerk two feet to the left just as I was getting ready to pass. It gives me a heart attack, because of course regardless of whose fault it would be, in the case of an accident, I as a car driver would always, always get the blame. Good luck telling the judge “he darted in front of me” when you’re up against a charge of vehicular manslaughter.
I think the situation sucks, because car drivers get a lot of shit about bicycle accidents, but in most states/countries (including the UK), bicyclists do not have to have a license, nor are they required to take any classes or road safety tests before braving public traffic. There is also no age or mental capacity requirement. I don’t see how this is acceptable in any way. In my opinion, anyone who operates any kind of moving vehicle, motorised or not, on public roads should have to pass a basic road safety test and get a license (including the requisite sight test/corrective lenses requirement).
Sure, there are plenty of skilled cyclists, but I also see a lot of idiots out there on cycles who have no more clue about road safety than the man in the moon. I’m always hyper-aware of cyclists and pedestrians, and some of these people I look at and think it’s a wonder they haven’t been killed yet. And of course when they do get killed, it’ll automatically be the fault of the car driver regardless of circumstances. I don’t think that’s fair at all.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
@Melissa,
In the USA at least, I wouldn’t be too nervous about an unwarranted charge of manslaughter. Recently, near my town, a motorist drove off the road onto a very wide (8 foot - which is really quite unusually wide for around here) shoulder and ran over a couple on a tandem bicycle, killing them both. No citation was issued, which is the usual result around here. Which is even stranger considering how many times my son has been stopped by the local police because “his wheels touched the white line” - evidently it is a traffic offense to even drive onto the white (shoulder) line. Frankly, I think it is just an excuse they use to do random stops of young drivers.
(paraphrasing) Sure, there are plenty of skilled motorists, but I also see a lot of idiots out there driving cars who have no more clue about road safety than the man in the moon. Often they are juggling their Starbucks coffee, iPod, and cell phone when they should be navigating their vehicle. I’ll accept the need for licensing bicycle riders after they outlaw those common, and well known to be dangerous, distractions for motorists.
Bicyclist’s have to dodge bad pavement, storm drains, rocks, broken glass, and various vehicle parts, and thus may occasionally be forced to make a sideways move. Rarely is it an “uneven edge of the road” that is an obstacle to a bicycle. Consider the responsibility of the local road maintenance authority to keep the roads cleaner and safe from debris, and those people that toss bottles and other items from their car onto the shoulder of the road.
To Dan’s most excellent series on bike commuting, I would add the recommendation of getting a small rear-view bike mirror. I prefer handlebar mounted as I don’t want a spear of metal and glass attached to my helmet or sunglasses, thanks!