Are you afraid?

[Arnout]

I could not agree more with the message of Aapjes.

 

[winkybiker]

It seems to me that you are not actually arguing against the bell, but misuse of it.

That's probably right, but in my mind at least, the sound of a bike bell always evokes the image of someone who thinks they have right-of-way and that the unwashed masses should part to allow them through. When overtaking, one has no such right-of-way. It seems (to me) arrogant for people to assume it.

Just as the car horn has been used so consistently to send the message "f#*& off!" that it scarcely has any other useful purpose, the the bike bell has been used so often to say "Scatter from my path you unworthy peons - Coming through! Don't make me touch my brakes!", that in my mind at least, it has little other meaning.

 

[silverrocket]

I actually enjoy high density traffic because I find it exciting. It even gives me a bit of a race feel in having to be aware of so many vehicles moving around me. I also don't mind the high-speed roads, since they are usually wide open enough that I can be seen, and people where I live are quite tolerant of cyclists on open roads. My only concern is the moderate-speed, moderate traffic roads, where cyclists get lost in the shuffle, yet can't keep up to the traffic.

I also live in the only province in Canada that until just this year allowed heavily tinted side-windows of vehicles that prevent you from see where the driver is looking, and if he even see me. They changed the law this year (because the cops couldn't see if people had their seatbelts on), but there are still many, many cars out there with the windows already tinted almost black.

 

[Sanitiser]

Police are seeking information after a female cyclist was slapped on the bottom by a man in a car, causing her to lose control of her bike and break her collarbone.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/c...er-bum-slap-20121125-2a17a.html#ixzz2DCZHcDEk

With **** like this- a little bit.

 

[winkybiker]

With **** like this- a little bit.

Wow. But that is Australian motorists for you. The only place where I have had cars play "chicken, as well as consistent abuse and missiles directed at me whilst riding. Thankfully, I've long since left.

 

[42x16ss]

This is why Australia produces so many sprinters. If you can't put a good sprint on in an emergency you'll get flattened!

 

[FignonLeGrand]

People like this are scary

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view...op-saddling-us-with-blame?utm_source=outbrain

 

[Archibald]

Time for an update as I'm no longer in London, but Sydney.
I had more near misses and incidents in the first two weeks on the road than the past 4 years in London. F*ckin' mental attitude of drivers in Australia.

Very poor roads too - the lanes are just too narrow. The SUV style minin 4wds barely fit in a lane ffs...

Haven't been knocked off yet, but drivers have no qualms in toying with your life thinking that they're being smart or that you shouldn't be there.
Yesterday's incident, approaching a round-about and some idiot comes up behind me and blasts me with his horn. Then proceeds to try and push his way past and through the round about forcing me off the road... senseless.

The sooner I can move out of this sh*t-truck city the happier and safer I'll be.

So maybe people here who have been hit by cars or had a very close call can list out what they were wearing to start some statistics on the matter of bike riding clothes and car's hitting them. I know its ad-hoc but at least its a start.

i'll be your huckleberry...
flouro yellow cannondale vest, white helmet, grey mtb shorts and silver/white road shoes.
Bike had yellow (retina retentive) bartape and the yellow/black rubino pro tyres.

 

[Sanitiser]

Where were you riding? The inner suburbs are okay but outer Western/Southern suburbs are horrible- people throwing beer bottles and stuff. The Northern suburbs are pretty good to ride around since people in general are nicer there.

If you have any problems regarding cycling infrastructure in NSW use this http://www.bicycleinfo.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=reporthazard.form
IIRC they have to address the concern within 24 hours or be liable if an accident occurs due to that concern.

Motorists in the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne are horrible people. Impatient and with an inflated sense of self and their time. Really how much does a cyclist inconvenience them? Like 10 seconds at the max.

Also at roundabouts you can turn right from the furthermost left lane- I have never done it though since I thought it might confuse motorists.

 

[frenchfry]

The thing that scares me the most lately is cell phone use. I would guess that 25% of drivers that I see are on the phone, quite often they are texting. Whatever precautions I take (clothing, lights, etc.) nothing is adequate protection against these potential killers. Anyone caught texting while driving should be put in jail immediately.

 

[Archibald]

Where were you riding? The inner suburbs are okay but outer Western/Southern suburbs are horrible- people throwing beer bottles and stuff. The Northern suburbs are pretty good to ride around since people in general are nicer there.

If you have any problems regarding cycling infrastructure in NSW use this http://www.bicycleinfo.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=reporthazard.form
IIRC they have to address the concern within 24 hours or be liable if an accident occurs due to that concern.

Motorists in the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne are horrible people. Impatient and with an inflated sense of self and their time. Really how much does a cyclist inconvenience them? Like 10 seconds at the max.

Also at roundabouts you can turn right from the furthermost left lane- I have never done it though since I thought it might confuse motorists.

I was on the road that goes past the convention centre riding towards pyrmont...

 

[Big GMaC]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01p7q2l/War_on_Britains_Roads/

 

[hfer07]

Putting the OP's views in perspective here in Boston, MA:

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/1...nue-allston/CfzDL9lkoWXYbHLJIYEznM/story.html

Weigl was the fifth bicyclist killed in a crash in Boston this year.

I'm just going to say that I feel rather "safer" riding in the suburbs than in the city-although there are fatal incidents happening in what we here believed to be "bike friendly towns"-I have had scary experiences in countryside-but nothing to the level of paranoia that I experience when I go to the City.

the only suggestion that I have to the OP is either to find a "safer" pathway where you can feel comfortable commuting or do your cycling over the weekends elsewhere-but NEVER allow this sort of inflicted fear to overtake your joy for cycling

 

[Cycle Chic]

More cyclists out this weekend in their all black gear. Hope they make it home safe. The guy riding on the major dual carriageway was in a hi-viz jacket...I guarantee he has made it home safe.

 

[Aapjes]

The guy riding on the major dual carriageway was in a hi-viz jacket...I guarantee he has made it home safe.

Hi-viz doesn't make you invulnerable. Saying obviously idiotic stuff like that doesn't help your cause, I think.

 

[Arnout]

Hi-vi jackets are extremely dangerous. Wearing them makes people think they don't need lights. A tiny little light on both sides makes you way more visible in the dark than all hi-vi jackets combined.

 

[Cycle Chic]

Hi-viz doesn't make you invulnerable. Saying obviously idiotic stuff like that doesn't help your cause, I think.

As a driver I am merely pointing out the fact that cyclists in hi-viz jackets are extremely visible. I dont know why you guys are so incensed by this.

Its only for winter - cant you bear to leave your cool kit behind and look slightly knobbish in the wintertime ?

I am talking about daytime riding - not a at night....then the rider should have both lights and hi-viz.

 

[42x16ss]

As a driver I am merely pointing out the fact that cyclists in hi-viz jackets are extremely visible. I dont know why you guys are so incensed by this.

Its only for winter - cant you bear to leave your cool kit behind and look slightly knobbish in the wintertime ?

I am talking about daytime riding - not a at night....then the rider should have both lights and hi-viz.

Agreed, sometimes it's best to light yourself up so that the only way a motorist can say they didn't see you is if they are blind or lying.

 

[Aapjes]

I dont know why you guys are so incensed by this

Because of the way you communicate. If you say things that lack any nuance then people get upset. You also seem to be on some kind of hi-viz crusade. People who keep pushing the same, already discussed topic back into the thread are very tiresome. You did this with the "More cyclists out this weekend in their all black gear" post. What was the purpose of that post? It was not a response to anyone and wasn't news. You just wanted to give your opinion. Again. Even though you already talked about the same thing earlier.

Meanwhile, you ignored the comment by the guy talking about cellphone abuse by drivers, because apparently, that doesn't fit in your narrative, so you ignore it.

I am talking about daytime riding - not a at night

Unfortunately yellow hi-viz seems to have stopped working:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68069&start=15

Now on to orange, until the orange stops being special too.

 

[RedheadDane]

I had a bit of a scare going home earlier today (after sunset), but that wasn't because of other trafficants, it was just because of the snow making my bike skid out a little, luckily I was going so slow nothing really happened.

As for high viz clothing, well... I regretted that I didn't bring my west, but I didn't go AAAAAAH! I'M GONNA GET HIT NOW!
After all; I still got lights on my bike...

I actually saw something really cool while riding; the person who rode in front of me for a while had a light in her hand so it was more easy to see when she indicated a turn.

 

[frenchfry]

Hi-vi jackets are extremely dangerous. Wearing them makes people think they don't need lights. A tiny little light on both sides makes you way more visible in the dark than all hi-vi jackets combined.

It isn't one or the other, the best thing is to wear a reflective vest and have adequate lighting front and rear. In some conditions the vest is more effective than the lighting, sometimes the lighting is more effective. In pitch dark conditions a reflective vest is incredibly visable when lit by car headlights.

On a recent group ride it was getting dark when we got back (delayed by a couple of flats) and the idiots in all black were almost invisable from 2 meters distance. Those with lights and bright or reflective clothing were much more visable and by definition safer. More and more are wearing reflective clothing and have lights.

I find that tiny little lights are ineffective in almost any conditions. Better than nothing, but not much.

 

[Arnout]

When I'm driving, I prefer cyclists with lights to cyclists with hi-vi jackets big time. Of course, there is a limit to how tiny the lights can be to still be effective, but in general lights are visible from a much bigger distance, from my experience, and also it helps if the front light is white and the back one is red.

 

[RedheadDane]

Eeeeh... now I'm confused!
Isn't lights, and particularily the front-light-white, back-light-red thing, mandatory?

 

[Cycle Chic]

Because of the way you communicate. If you say things that lack any nuance then people get upset. You also seem to be on some kind of hi-viz crusade. People who keep pushing the same, already discussed topic back into the thread are very tiresome. You did this with the "More cyclists out this weekend in their all black gear" post. What was the purpose of that post? It was not a response to anyone and wasn't news. You just wanted to give your opinion. Again. Even though you already talked about the same thing earlier.

Meanwhile, you ignored the comment by the guy talking about cellphone abuse by drivers, because apparently, that doesn't fit in your narrative, so you ignore it.



Unfortunately yellow hi-viz seems to have stopped working:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68069&start=15

Now on to orange, until the orange stops being special too.

Unfortunately I dont have the time to read every post on this thread so yeh I do come in and just post my opinion, in the hope of saving lives. I post about being visible in winter because it saddens and upsets me greatly when I hear about yet another cyclist killed on our roads. I have heard all the arguments and polls that dont support it but I will continue to post about cyclists not helping our cause or theirs.

I walked to the post office yesterday and a semi-pro looking cyclists rode past. Beautiful sleek silhouette, black kit and white helmet. He looked amazing and was probably from a local team. It was freezing fog conditions and as he cycled away on a notoriously busy road into town I thought 'their he goes by the grace of God' .

 

[RedheadDane]

Problem is that the way you put it, then if a cyclist is being hit by a car, while not looking like a walking (cycling) Christmas tree then, it's, automatically and no matter the circumstances, the cyclists own fault.

If I recall correctly one of your arguments for high viz was "Lights aren't vissible from the sides"
Erhm... heard of refleces? On the wheels!