Cyclist with a death wish

[sted]

 

I would also have to counter that with if it is too hard for you to stop/start on your bike then maybe you shouldn't be on the road with it? Choosing the option that is endangering lives (including your own) just because it is easier seems like a bit of a bad move.

(* when I say "you", I don't me you specifically, just as a general term ).

hard might of been the wrong choice of words but stopping and starting a bike is much more tiring than just keeping going at a constant speed so in doncaster (where im from and last place i really cycled though many years ago it helps there are pretty much no hills) going from my parents into town down wheatley hall road on the cycle path you would have to stop a dozen or more times on the road granted there were lights but you could time it to get through them without stopping. It was much less knackering to use the road and just keep going than stop every few hundred metres

[LeMarchand]

in some cases its because on the cycle path you have to stop at every junction as cars have right of way and stopping and starting on a bike is hard keeping a constant speed isnt

 

Stopping & starting whilst using any method of transport (including Shanks' Pony) isn't easy/convenient. It doesn't mean that one should flout the rules.

 

On hand signals: I rarely use them - I find it much better to have my hands on the brakes and you'll be quite clear on what I'm about to do from my road position.

 

You're a lucky person if all the other road users can guess where you're heading from that. Only yesterday I had to use more acceleration than I would have liked at a mini roundabout because another driver's road position, speed and lack of indicators suggested he was heading straight "across" the junction when (as I found out after entering the roundabout) he was in fact taking a wide path to avoid slowing down and was planning on exiting to my left.

 

I wish I saw more cyclists with their hands on the brakes than their mobiles, though!

[mikeprice]

As far as hand signals go - I grew up on a very busy main road (well actually in a house on a.........) which was 100 yards from a very busy roundabout. I learned very soon that if I positioned my bike in the middle of the appropriate lane as I got near the roundabout and signaled VERY clearly (arm horizontal) then everyone knew where I was going and I had far less near misses

As I was a teenager at the time it wasn't cool but I got round the roundabout quickly and easily - probably annoyed a lot of drivers but I was obeying the rules and not delaying them so that was their problem

 

I still do the same today - 40 year later - and it still works

[Andrew_C]

Bright clothes (yellow etc) or clothes with lots of reflective strips?

A cheap hi-vis tabard, or better, one with sleeves. Proper one, with actually reflective stripes, not the stuff Poundland have been done for selling.

Remember, just because the drivers CAN see you, doesn't mean they WILL though...

[jinnantonnixx]

Many of the observations in this thread are textbook. You notice a non-peer transgression, but fail to notice the normalised transgression (speeding, tailgaiting, driving while on the phone,etc). It's not a criticism, it's human nature.

 

Other comments under the piece surmised that such deaths happen because of rampant cyclist lawbreaking, notably jumping red lights. Again, this doesn’t bear scrutiny. An analysis of police statistics found a failure to stop at a red light or stop sign was a factor in just 2% of serious adult cycling incidents; in contrast, drivers were deemed solely to blame about two-thirds of the time.

 

Lawbreaking is one of the difficulties of the debate for cyclists. The average person on a bike is arguably no more likely to break a law then their peer in a car. However, when they do so it’s more obvious, less normalised. People notice a cyclist pedalling through a red light, whereas speeding – which 80% of drivers admit to doing regularly – is often ignored, despite the immeasurably greater human cost this causes.

Sabotage and hatred: what have people got against cyclists? | Life and style | The Guardian

 

 

This is a very good read:

https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2015/07/drivers-antagonism-toward-cyclists-termed-classic-prejudiced-behavior

Edited December 3, 2015 by jinnantonnixx

[jinnantonnixx]

Just interested to know as a cyclist who doesn't drive, what's easier to see?

 

Bright clothes (yellow etc) or clothes with lots of reflective strips?

 

As mentioned earlier, both. Scotchlite reflective strips/panels are excellent as they reflect a driver's own lights back at them in a very effective way. During daytime, bright yellow or orange clothes are far more visible than any other colour clothing. You need to stand out.

 

As for rear lights, a steady light is arguably better than a flashing light as it allows others to more accurately gauge distances. I can dig out the link if pushed.

[LeMarchand]

Many of the observations in this thread are textbook. You notice a non-peer transgression, but fail to notice the normalised transgression (speeding, tailgaiting, driving while on the phone,etc). It's not a criticism, it's human nature.

 

 

Sabotage and hatred: what have people got against cyclists? | Life and style | The Guardian

 

 

This is a very good read:

https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2015/07/drivers-antagonism-toward-cyclists-termed-classic-prejudiced-behavior

 

TL;DR. Deliberately "laying traps" for people is disgusting.

 

Don't worry - other drivers annoy me almost as much, possibly even more if they are driving one of those marques favoured by arrogant drivers.

[Oaktech]

As mentioned earlier, both. Scotchlite reflective strips/panels are excellent as they reflect a driver's own lights back at them in a very effective way. During daytime, bright yellow or orange clothes are far more visible than any other colour clothing. You need to stand out.

 

As for rear lights, a steady light is arguably better than a flashing light as it allows others to more accurately gauge distances. I can dig out the link if pushed.

 

I do all of it...

 

Steady light on handlebars, slow flashing one on my chest, steady front and rear light on my top of my lid, plus a flashing one on the back of my lid, and a slow flashing one on the seat stem. My lid is luminous yellow and has reflective bits. My shoes are white with reflective strips and my pedals have a reflective strip on the back too. I have black leggings and shorts but they both have reflective piping all over them, my backpack is luminous yellow too.

 

Still didn't stop some 'tard turning across in front of me last friday. He drove past me, and then turned left across my path. Chased him and had a word!

[mikeprice]

As mentioned earlier, both. Scotchlite reflective strips/panels are excellent as they reflect a driver's own lights back at them in a very effective way. During daytime, bright yellow or orange clothes are far more visible than any other colour clothing. You need to stand out.

 

As for rear lights, a steady light is arguably better than a flashing light as it allows others to more accurately gauge distances. I can dig out the link if pushed.

 

I would suggest that both may be better still - I think a flashing light is more likely to attract attention - but the steady light is easy to judge

mine cost 1.99 from Aldi and work fine!

[LeMarchand]

I do all of it...

 

Steady light on handlebars, slow flashing one on my chest, steady front and rear light on my top of my lid, plus a flashing one on the back of my lid, and a slow flashing one on the seat stem. My lid is luminous yellow and has reflective bits. My shoes are white with reflective strips and my pedals have a reflective strip on the back too. I have black leggings and shorts but they both have reflective piping all over them, my backpack is luminous yellow too.

 

Does your car look like this?

 

 

 

Actually, those sound like sensible precautions. (Your ones, not the lights on that car!)

[Homer]

I keep finding this kind of stupidity around where I work / live, lots of not quite country lanes but they aren't that wide and most aren't overly well lit (or at all in places) and the amount of divs I find with no reflection on them of any kind either on the bike or their person, without lights, without light clothing (and so on) is terrible. I very very nearly hit one the other week when I didn't see them after coming round an unlit stretch of road

 

Blergh

[Oaktech]

Does your car look like this?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33589[/ATTACH]

 

 

Actually, those sound like sensible precautions. (Your ones, not the lights on that car!)

 

My current one doesn't, although I did once have one that looked like this...

 

[Marshall_IT]

Now that it's dark when i come to work and dark when i go home, my clothes are black but have large reflective strips and piping all over them and my backpack has a luminous yellow cover on.

 

I have a front light which flashes (i need to buy another to point at the road as a large section of my journey has no street lamps) and a rear light which flashes (i might change this to steady)

 

I have just ordered another light to go on my right handlebar which has a front and rear light on it and some reflective duct tape for my bag and parts of my bike.

[unixman_again]

I ride a Brompton, which is very low. I have steady lights in the standard positions, and flashing lights on the handlebar and saddle. I wear a reflective Sam Browne and I have reflective leg bands. My friend who also rides a Brompton has a Zound Air Horn but I'm not that aggressive!

[southhamster]

What about people wearing headphones or ear buds and/or hooded? I see drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on the narrow lanes round here like this. Often you can hear a car before you see it and ready to jump in the hedge.

And what happened to walking on the side facing incoming traffic?

[LeMarchand]

I blame the demise of the Public Service Announcement!

[jinnantonnixx]

I blame the demise of the Public Service Announcement!

 

Quite so.

 

Hands up. Who remembers this?

 

http://youtu.be/ElE0JXkPHgc?t=4s

[unixman_again]

I'm thankful we have much better lights these days. Dynamo lights were fine downhill but terrible going up. Battery lights weren't much brighter than a candle.