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BIKE_SAFELY
April 2, 2001
Motorists that are actively hostile toward
cyclists are actually very rare, so the
primary problem in bike safety boils down
to making sure that they see you.
So you need to ride where they're going
to see you, not where they want you to be.
In the absence of a bike lane, you typically need
to ride a little out in traffic, further to the
left than feels right at first.
Typically, you feel very nervous about the powerful
machinery behind you, but you need to remember that
rear-end collisions on a bike are very unusual.
The way that you really get nailed is by
(a) people opening the doors of
parked cars in your path, possibly
pushing you out into traffic
(this is called "getting
doored", or "winning the door
prize").
(b) people making turns
in front of you.
That car on your left that
you've been cruising next to
may do a sudden right;
On-coming traffic often
gets hyper about making a
left in a gap between the
vehicles...
And of course: cross traffic
making rights or lefts into
your lane.
The solution to every one of
these problems is just to stay Everyone when first hearing
out to the left, out of reach this thinks that it's wrong:
of the doors of parked cars, you must be able to just
and in the area that everyone's watch for people who are
watching. going to swing their doors
open.
Taking the entire lane is not
out the question. Legally that's It doesn't work. Head
what you're supposed to do if rests and tinted rear
it's required for safety, and windows obscure people
that's what we're talking about sitting in cars; the
here. oblique angle of view
guarantees total
And if you do get pressured over reflection off the side
into the door zone for some windows -- it's
reason, *slow down*. You may physically impossible to
need to stop suddenly. see through them even if
they're not tinted.
And best of all: the
drivers hide from you.
Nearly every single
Lights are important: there person, before getting
are a lot of cheap flashing out of a parked car
lights available that you can hunches over and starts
see a mile away at night. rummaging around for
stuff on the floor and
High visibility gear would passenger seat.
probably help, but in my
experience isn't really They then swing their
necessary: I generally ride in doors open suddenly,
whatever I'd normally wear. But often before they
since this is usually dark even straighten up,
colors, I double up on lights: let alone before they
two behind, and two in front. consider looking
This also helps cover equipment behind them.
problems (dead batteries,
mostly).
Yeah, wear a helmet.
I personally think they're
overrated: in a really
serious crash, they're not
going to do much for you.
On the other hand,
there's a chance that they
may keep a moderate
accident from turning into
a major injury.
And if you do get hurt,
if don't have that
helmet, you can guarantee
that everyone (including
the police, the local
press, and the opposing (and probably your
lawyers) will all claim friends and family)
that this shows that
you're obviously crazy
and irresponsible.
So wear a helmet.
But remember, the real
defense is to avoid the
collision.
Random notes:
Watch out for trolley tracks
embedded in the street: if
you have to cross one, try to
do it at right angles. If
you try it at a really oblique
angle, it's going to catch your Advanced technique to work on:
wheels, and it might take you the "bunny hop". Some riders
down. Careful with street can jump side ways with their
gratings, too. bikes, picking it up on their
toe clips/pedal clips.
Lately I've been working on
something I call the Theory of
Erratic Steering. If the car
traffic is buzzing too close to
you, try jerking your steering
wheel toward the moving cars.
If you keep making little feints
out into traffic, they'll think
you're a complete lunatic and
stay further away from you.
Similarly, insane decor on your
bike can only help improve your
visibility (preferably something
as wide as your handle-bars
strapped on the back of the
bike... some drivers seem to
think the bike is only as wide
as your rear tire). The trouble
with this is that it would also
make your bike a target when
it's locked up unattended.
By the way: about lock up procedures.
I personally carry three bike
locks: a U-lock, a heavy cable,
and a light cable. There are
two ideas here:
(1) most bike thieves only carry
the tools they need to break
one type of lock. If you
use two different ones,
they'll probably leave you
alone.
(2) the "quick-release"
philosophy is fundamentally
screwed up. Pop your front
wheel off and lock it up
with the back? *Great* way
to let everyone know your
bike is going to be
unattended for hours. It's
also a huge waste of time.
And what if you make a
mistake when you're putting
it back on? Don't forget to
re-attach that brake
cable. Make sure you get
that wheel tight, don't want
it popping off in traffic,
do you?
Don't forget you need to
worry about your seat
getting stolen also, Also, that
*especially* if it's got third cable I don't know that
a silly quick-release lever lock is skinny I recommend this:
on it. That's what I use enough to the helmets aren't
the third lock for: it holds thread through designed for it,
the seat on, even when I my helmet, so so over time the
need the heavy cable lock I can lock it plastic shell
for something else. to the bike. starts chipping
where I thread the
lock through.
You know you shouldn't ride up
on the sidewalk, right? So
don't ride on the sidewalk. But
if you *do* ride on the
sidewalk: *go slow*. If you're And *don't* go shooting off the
in pedestrian territory, go sidewalk into a cross-walk:
at pedestrian speeds. you'll take a right turning
car driver by surprise some day.
That's one way that cyclists
That incidentally, sums up my get themselves killed.
opinion on the always
controversial question of how
to handle red lights and stop
signs. A bike going the speed
of a pedestrian can get away
with acting like a pedestrian, If you do slide
but if you're going at through a red or a
vehicular speed, you better stop, do it slow
act like a vehicle. enough that it's no
worse than
jay-walking.
A lot of cyclists like to
talk about "the Idaho
rules": treat reds as (This is the law for
stops and stops as yields. bikes in Idaho, hence
the name).
That works, too.
In practice,
it's almost the
same thing.
===
Some maneuvers I use:
At the light, you pass the line of
stopped cars on their right -- take it
easy on the speed, you're probably in
the door zone -- then you pause at the
cross walk (letting peds through), then
you move out *into* the cross walk,
and get way over to the left in front
of the stopped cars.
This is so that: (a) the cars
behind you see you (b) to politely Many cyclists don't
let right-turners get by. bother worrying about
this: they just sit
A tad obnoxious, perhaps, but it's tight over on the right
reasonably effective. It's side, and if that bugs
significantly less obnoxious if cars that want to make
you can slip through a gap in the a right, tough.
cross-traffic against the light.
The drivers behind you are less Can't say I blame them
likely to feel like you're holding much: really the car
them up. drivers don't want you
to be *anywhere*, though
A variation: some of the cars usually that's stated
are signaling right turns, so only by a process of
you do a zig-zag between the elimination.
stopped cars to get over to the
left side of them. Don't be on the
right, don't be
on the left,
don't take the
lane, don't ride
on the sidewalk.
This is probably an example of
being too polite:
Personally, when *I* start
moving, I often veer to the right
of the intersection to let the By the way: on average,
first car behind me get by if it in urban traffic cars
wants to. aren't really faster
then bikes, they just
But then you've got to look over accelerate faster and (Hence,
your shoulder, and edge back to spend more time waiting bike
the left fast to get out of the at the next light. messengers.)
doorzone, and keep the second
car from running you off the road.
Usually, I'm not *really*
This is a tricky one. doing them any favors
I don't know that I'd in letting them pass
recommend it. me, just making them
feel better.
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