This is so sad. A cyclist was in a fatal accident in downtown Portland Oregon last week. Very similar to a fatal cycling accident we had in Seattle last month.
In both cases there is a cycling lane right side of the road right next to traffic. Both cyclists were at an intersection and a truck turns right at the intersection, crossing the cycling lane, and runs the cyclist over.
Kent Peterson calls that “the suicide slot”. BicycleSafe calls it the “Red Light Of Death”. If you’re going to be riding a bike or a unicycle on city streets please read up about riding safety at BicycleSafe. The tips there just might save you from an accident and just might save your life.
Here’s Kent Peterson’s take on the accidents: Avoid The Suicide Slot
Kent’s blog post also links to news articles and blog articles about the Seattle accident and the Portland accident. Read up and understand what happened.
Riding in city traffic requires a special kind of awareness. It’s not something you can do mindlessly or on autopilot. I have to admit that I’m not the best city cyclist, but I do try my best to be aware and avoid dangerous situations. Fortunately most of my city riding is on separated bike paths and less dangerous streets.
Don’t hide out or sneak up on the right when at a red light. If you can’t get eye contact don’t assume that the driver knows you’re there. Always be aware of cars or trucks that might turn right, even if they don’t signal. The BicycleSafe site covers what you can do to be a safe and defensive rider.
Unicycling is somewhat safer in that we tend to go slower and are slower at starting up after stopping at an intersection. But we can easily get caught in the suicide slot as well.
Do US cycle lanes not have an area ahead of the cars at the front of the traffic queue? In the uk you ride up the inside (left in our case) and then pull across in front of the front car, this means you aren’t up the inside and they can’t possibly not see you. Like so.
We (at least I) also benefit from the ‘i’m riding a unicycle so i will look around casually as i am able to’ technique, moreso that cyclists, who are often travelling in a way to get from a to b as quickly as possible, and might not bother to try the safer option if it involves having to break their cadence.
My closest encounters with vehicles have all been the car scraping the curb in front of me (meaning he was watchin me, even as he passed)
I typically stay to the sidewalks, and offer the right of way to pedestrians, getting off to walk in the presence of on coming old people, kids, and people with dogs (dogs always go crazy for unicyclists for some reason)
But in my travels, I ‘always’ see a right turning car speeding past a biker to immediately make a right hand turn (another advantage to uni’ing, our last second ‘turn this way’ technique(in part due to our looking around becuase we don’t have to hold handlebars option)
Take any notice how exactly? you mean bikes dont use them, or cars drive in to them (which will fail you your drivng test instantly incidentally)? I guess liviving in a city with a very high bike population people take more notice of such things.
If you’re going to ride in traffic, ride like you’re part of the traffic.
I have done 1000’s of miles on bikes, probably 1/4 or less in traffic but still a bunch. Motorists simply aren’t expecting someone to pass them on the right.
Just because you have the ability to pass on the right doesn’t make it right or smart to always do so. There are certain situations where it is frustrating for motorists when a cyclist zips up on the right to the front of the line of stopped cars, then the light changes and all the cars have to pass him but he zips up again at the next light. That’s one example where some courtesy and common sense come into play.
A big pet peve of mine: I hate dark tinted car windows, you don’t know if you’ve made eye contact.
Smart cycling may take you a bit longer to get somewhere, but it’s still faster than a side trip to the hospital.
I’ve not seen any lanes like that in the US. But every city and state does things differently so there may be some cities marking bike lanes like that.
The closest I’ve seen to that is in Portland Oregon where they have blue bike lane markings through some intersections. That is supposed to help show that the bike lane extends and continues through the intersection. But most drivers don’t understand what the markings are for. And there is debate about whether it actually improves cycling safety or not. The blue lanes can give cyclists an undo sense of protection in the intersection and may contribute to an accident due to a lack of caution by the cyclist. At least that’s a theory. They’re still gathering statistics to try and determine if the blue lanes are a good thing or bad thing.
Most on-street bike lanes in the US are a marked lane to the right of traffic (the lane being 3 feet wide or so) with parallel parked cars to the right of the bike lane. That means that cyclists have to worry and watch out for driver side doors opening up suddenly into the bike lane. Getting “doored” like that is a known hazard for cyclists using that style of bike lane.
Ignorant drivers wonder why cyclists ride so close to the left side of the bike lane, and closer to the traffic. Those same drivers will get irritated at the cyclists because they think the cyclist is too close to traffic and getting in the car’s way. Those drivers don’t understand about the door zone. Smart cyclists ride to the left side of the lane to avoid the door zone.
Most drivers are ignorant about cycling safety issues and don’t understand what and why cyclists do things.
Bike lanes that are divided from traffic are better. But very few cities have redesigned streets and lanes to accommodate that type of cycling lane.
That’s illegal in downtown Portland Oregon. No biking, skating, or unicycling on the sidewalks downtown.
Riding on the sidewalks in downtown Seattle is legal. You have to go with the flow of pedestrians and if you go too fast or too dangerously you can still get ticketed. The sidewalks are a good option for a unicyclist downtown. I haven’t yet taken my bike through downtown proper Seattle. The sidewalk option would require riding very slowly on the bike. The street might be more practical for a bike, but would depend on traffic and the situation.
1) I find that to be weird considering when i had my 40" coker. It was mostly ridden on the footpath and the cops didn’t seem to care. Even though bikes weren’t allowed on the footpaths and still aren’t. 2) But wouldn’t that be considered as running though???
I never bike on sidewalks, that is more dangerous than biking on the road…unicycling, though, I usually stick to sidewalks. At least downtown. As long as I go slowly, no one minds.
I agree and disagree: It’s certainly safer to never pass the cars even when they are stopped, mainly because most drivers are ignorant of cyclists. However, it takes away some of the advantages that motivate me to ride a bike, namely that heavy traffic won’t affect me as much as it would having to drive. If/when I follow your suggestions, It’s frustrating to me that cars pass me and I end up having to wait behind them only seconds later because they have stopped for a red light. It goes both ways. I am fine with cars passing me if they make a clean pass (If I can reach over and touch your car you are too close) and if the traffic flow is moving faster than I am. Otherwise if there are 2 blocks of stopped cars in front of me what’s my reason to wait?
If we want more people to cycle to work and thus reach a critical mass where traffic is more aware of cyclists then we need to give some Incentive over driving. “You can bike behind cars and they will always pass you and you can never pass stopped traffic”-is not going to give anyone a reason to become a commuter cyclist.
Btw: I only pass stopped traffic (i.e. 0-2mph traffic)
Sorry if I am taking your misinterpreting your intended ideas.
That bicyclesafe website said bike as if you were invisible, which I agree with…ride in a way that you will never be hit even if the drivers don’t see you.
I think the idea is that if you assume others can’t see you you will ride more attentively/more cautiously, and thus not be hit. (or at least stand a better chance of not being hit).
I call it driving the other person’s car, as in, “looks like I have to drive his car for him”, said of an inattentive driver who apparently doesn’t see me and is about to cut me off. By paying attention to everyone around you it’s more likely you’ll recognize an emergency situation before it becomes an emergency.
So as long as you’re careful and prudent you can ride on the sidewalk. The sidewalk presents unique dangers (people opening shop doors, people walking out of shops, cars pulling in or out of alleys, pedestrians, pedestrians, crosswalks, pedestrians, kids, Starbucks). Riding on the sidewalk can be fun on a unicycle but not so fun on a bike. But it is an option that is legal (at least in Seattle).
How does that work??? 