Well, I am now a shiny new graduate of the CAN-BIKE commuter cycling program, and it was a real confidence booster for my heavy-traffic riding. You know those lunatic cyclists who fearlessly (but competently and safely) change across three lanes of traffic, stick their arms out, and make left turns as though they were cars?
I'm one of them now. MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
The most important lessons I took from the course:
1. Lane position. Our instructor referred to cyclists who timidly hug the curb when they ride, fearful of being hit from behind, as "gutter bunnies". But it's not just a macho thing.... riding a meter away from the curb is safer for you. For one thing, being hit from behind is actually a fairly rare car-bicycle collision. What's far more common? Getting smacked by an open car door (aka "the door prize"). You avoid the door prize by ... not riding next to parked cars. So give yourself a meter of clearance, even if that puts you in the traffic lane. Simple.
2. Be predictable. This includes making SIGNALS when you're going to change direction.
3. Be visible.
4. Don't ride on the sidewalk. It's dangerous, because every driveway becomes an intersection (and motorists aren't expecting you to be there, so regular intersections become twice as dangerous.)
5. Don't ride against the traffic. Ditto.
What the course is really trying to imbue is a consciousness change. You are a cyclist, you are a VEHICLE on the road. You have a right to be there, even if your presense involves temporary inconvenience and delay for motorists. (I emphasize the 'temporary'... if you are slowing a motorist down for more than a few seconds, you should probably think about pulling over. But traffic in a typical downtown core is so slow that you are often riding faster than a car is able to drive in the first place.)
Riding in traffic is now... FUN. It's a riot to fly past a line of stopped cars... I feel like a kid again.
I'm riding over 100km per week these days... it's doing my waistline some good too.
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6 comments:
good for you! and so environmentally friendly to boot...
Re: getting hit from behind being less common than getting doored. The evidence does not support this assertion. In the 1997 - 1998 period in Toronto, there were 276 reported cases of cyclists getting doored and 277 of cyclists getting hit from behind. Given the large sample (2,572 reported cases) it appears that the odds are more or less the same for both incidents. See City of Toronto Motor Vehicle/Bicycle Collision Study (2003) table I pg. iii.
My homie, G-unit, raises a good point, which I will have to investigate further. However, it is not necessarily the case that riding further from the curb (closer to car traffic, if not actually right in it) increases your chances of being struck from behind, and I wonder how many of those cyclists struck from behind were following the Tao of Vehicular Cycling. (since most cyclists in Toronto emphatically DO NOT).
By taking the lane and being very visible about it (and wearing a very bright and geeky safety vest) you are very clearly indicating to motorists behind you that the lane is too narrow to share, and that they are going to have to swing left if they want to get around you. If you hug the curb they might decide they can share the lane with you, and this might make it MORE likely you get hit, not less. That's certainly how it feels to me... now that I'm taking the lane when needed I don't get buzzed anymore.
I imagine another good way to get hit from behind is to weave in and out of the gaps between parked cars.
good heavens! I'm impressed that g-unit had that information at hand!
Way to go, Darren!
Any advice for cyclists who enjoy passing stopped cars on the right, just before an intersection? My own pet peeve, and I'm a cyclist!
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