Intercity Cycling Safety

[Daev]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to start this thread with the intention of talking with cyclists in the region about cycling safety. As we all know, we have these lovely painted bike lanes on the side of many major roads across these cities. I have recently re-invested in a new bicycle with the intention of mainly using it for off-road MTB; but I also have the desire to use it in the future for possible travel to work as well.

I wanted to hear people's opinions on riding their cycles at night/day on city roads, with or without the bike lanes.

Do you feel safer/less safe with the bike lanes?
What level of protection (aside from helmet) should one consider?
Do you have any tips/tricks for becoming more visible to vehicular traffic?
Any recommended routes for travelling intercity between KWC?
Any supportive statistics to show that additional safety means drivers are more careless around you?
If I become involved in a bicycle/automobile accident, what are the appropriate measures that I should take to document, prove the accident in a court of law?
Do many people avoid certain areas of town due to aggressive drivers?
One thought that I had was purchasing a set of Bicygnals Indicators (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBBPRhf8lNs) to assist other drivers in understanding my intentions when commuting, but maybe this will only serve to aggravate/confuse motorists over hand signals?

What is everyone's thoughts on this issue?

[dunkalunk]

First, if you bought a new mountain bike, the first thing you're going to want to do is replace those tires if you intend on riding anywhere in the city on a regular basis. A lot of energy you put into the bike is lost through rolling friction on nubby tires. i recommend a good pair of Cyclocross tires (Trail/Road).


Do you feel safer/less safe with the bike lanes?


What level of protection (aside from helmet) should one consider?
Being a predictable road user, lights, and reflectors. Apart from that nothing else should be required.

Of both the bike accidents I have been in, they were actually caused by or made worse by wearing a helmet. (the first due to my helmet acting as a rain collector funnelling water into my eyes, and the second as an extra weight on my head to make whiplash from a fall worse.) In general, I find that in certain situations, the more safety gear I have, the safer I feel and the less cautious I ride.

Keep in mind that a helmet will only protect you if it is worn properly and during an accident. The most important thing to do is to ride so you avoid accidents, such as staying out of the gutter and clear of sewer grates, road debris, and most importantly being predictable on your vehicle.


Do you have any tips/tricks for becoming more visible to vehicular traffic?
Bright colours, lights, and riding well into the lane of traffic. As a cyclist, you are allowed to and expected to stay at least 1 foot clear of all road hazards.


Any recommended routes for travelling intercity between KWC?

This (http://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=King+St+W&daddr=43.4318559,-80.4566131+to:43.4247952,-80.4490288+to:43.3806901,-80.3502489+to:Ainslie+St+N%2FON-24+S%2FRegional+Road+24&hl=en&ll=43.403052,-80.436058&spn=0.145172,0.316887&sll=43.445317,-80.498028&sspn=0.072536,0.158443&geocode=FfoHlwIdiLcz-w%3BFa-3lgIdW1Q0-ymL-_gV1fQriDHhYr-TrfoO2Q%3BFRuclgId_HE0-ylNuXAG1IoriDEhz4u44tg2eg%3BFdLvlQId2PM1-ym3B_8WHHYsiDG2WbmEgXNq4Q%3BFZiilQIdMoM2-w&vpsrc=6&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=0&sz=13&via=1,2,3&t=h&z=12)


Any supportive statistics to show that additional safety means drivers are more careless around you?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Safety of what?


If I become involved in a bicycle/automobile accident, what are the appropriate measures that I should take to document, prove the accident in a court of law? Witnesses are key. Have them stick around to take a statement. In addition plate numbers, pictures of injuries, ect.


Do many people avoid certain areas of town due to aggressive drivers?
Albert Street between uptown and University, in large part due to road conditions, but also in large part due to to culture war between the residents of the "historic neighborhood" and "students" causing tension. Also, Erb and Caroline for Simmental reasons, and high-speed lane changes


One thought that I had was purchasing a set of Bicygnals Indicators (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBBPRhf8lNs) to assist other drivers in understanding my intentions when commuting, but maybe this will only serve to aggravate/confuse motorists over hand signals?

I don't see why you would spend that much on a signalling system when hand signals are something that a diver should know already. Just get a pair of bike gloves with a reflective stripe.

[zanate]

Hi Everyone,


Do you feel safer/less safe with the bike lanes?



In general, yes-- I feel safer. I have to admit I'm not sure that it means I really am safer, as Dunkalunk suggests-- where feeling safe results in less caution.

But I like bike lanes, because (at least where they haven't been screwed up) it gives room and sets expectations. But I'll pick side roads and smaller roads (with or without lanes) before I'll pick a bike-laned monster like University or Fischer-Hallmann.






What level of protection (aside from helmet) should one consider?



I'm with Dunkalunk on this: predictability, lights and reflectors. But I do bike with a helmet almost all the time, though my helmet was a non-factor in the one accident I've had (lost control and over the handlebars at 30km/h).





Do you have any tips/tricks for becoming more visible to vehicular traffic?



Predictability, lights, reflectors. Take the lane when you have to. Cycle assertively and with confidence, but don't be reckless.

And always be ready to fall back on the base assumption: that despite the above, you might have accidentally become invisible without realizing it. Look for positive confirmation when negotiating through conflicts.





Any recommended routes for travelling intercity between KWC?



Dunkalunk already mentioned gmaps' directions capability (especially in Bike mode), but you need to interpret the results. I'm a big believer in risk mitigation (and minimizing unpleasantness too) by route selection. I looked at the K-to-C directions he posted and immediately started defining my alterations to avoid roads like King.

Of course... a cyclist just this weekend got left-hooked and seriously injured on a quiet part of Union that I bike all the time. You're never completely safe.





Any supportive statistics to show that additional safety means drivers are more careless around you?
If I become involved in a bicycle/automobile accident, what are the appropriate measures that I should take to document, prove the accident in a court of law?
Do many people avoid certain areas of town due to aggressive drivers?



Can't comment much on the first two points. And areas to avoid, for me, are not because drivers are different. It's usually road design or intersection geometry.

I've already spent a lot of time (http://waterloons.blogspot.com/2011/08/for-some-years-i-have-been-saying-that.html) talking about Waterloo's biggest cycling obstacle, which is the Conestoga Parkway. Most crossing points are really unsuitable for cyclists. Because I live on one side of the highway and work on the other, crossing points define my trip.




One thought that I had was purchasing a set of Bicygnals Indicators (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBBPRhf8lNs) to assist other drivers in understanding my intentions when commuting, but maybe this will only serve to aggravate/confuse motorists over hand signals?



Fancy. I like large, bright lights. I disagree with Dunkalunk here: I think these might work fairly well. One problem with hand signals is that you can't hold them. If I'm braking and preparing for a move that I need to signal, I can't take my hand off the handlebars for very long and maintain good control, so it's always a case of short-signal-hope-they're-paying-attention.

On the other hand, another thing on your bike to break and replace batteries and "go walkabouts" when locked up outside.

Hope this helps!

[mpd618]

Just like with driving and walking, you need to practice defensive cycling. Make yourself visible on the roadway, and when there's not enough space to comfortably share, take the lane. Don't ride in the gutter, ever - riding too close to the curb you risk injury from debris, the curb itself, gutters, and most importantly from being less visible off to the side.

Use hand signals and do so assertively. Make sure you have bright lights on the back and front of your bike, and reflectors on the side. If you're going long distances, you probably want to have a basic repair kit on hand or some other back-up (like this (http://www.caasco.com/automotive/roadside-service/caa-bike-assist.jsp), perhaps).

Don't assume that drivers see you. Watch for drivers making left turns across your path. Watch for drivers wanting to turn right across your path. If you do ride on the sidewalk, ride slowly in areas with driveways and pedestrians; as either a pedestrian or a cyclist, your biggest danger here is drivers turning left into the driveway in addition to all the other driveway movements.

When turning left use the left turning lane if you find it comfortable, but don't be afraid to do a Copenhagen left - going straight through and moving left with the cross-traffic.

Get large panniers so your bike is both more useful and more visible. (My recommendation (http://www.clarijscovers.com/default.aspx).)

Also, slow down. It's not a race and you'll likely enjoy your commute more.

[pnijjar]

Safety on bike lanes depends on the bike lane. I wrote a ranty blog post (http://pnijjar.freeshell.org/2011/bikelanes/) on this subject. Most recently I got frustrated by the bike lanes on Victoria -- the bike lanes turn into right-hand turn lanes with little warning, which is a recipe for accidents.

In terms of safety equipment: in my experience good front lights are really important. Otherwise cars try to turn into you. In addition to a helmet I wear a pair of cheap garden gloves when I am biking. Once I fell off my bike onto some gravel, and I scraped up the palms of my hands pretty badly. I would rather have the garden gloves ripped up than my skin.

I would third dunkalunk's suggestion to be a predictable cyclist. Follow the rules of the road, ride in straight lines (don't weave in and out trying to follow a curb with cars parked on it), etc. I know every other cyclist in this city runs red lights and rides the wrong way down bike lanes, but that doesn't mean it is safe.

I like parallel side streets, but I will ride down larger roads (King, Weber, Victoria) without feeling too unsafe.

[bcwessel]

Any supportive statistics to show that additional safety means drivers are more careless around you?

Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic (a book I highly recommend) cites a study in this talk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS6lSwyAQV8) which suggests that drivers will on average give a wider berth to cyclists without helmets, and an even wider berth to visibly-female cyclists (get out your hetero-normative long-haired wigs with curls for maximum safety). There is also evidence to suggest that the biggest factor in producing safe cycling outcomes is numbers, and places where cycling helmet-free is normative the number of casual cyclists increases dramatically.

All of this comes with a rather large caveat, however; if you are in a minor accident, chances are you're going to really wish that you are wearing protective headgear (beyond certain speeds the effect of the helmet basically reduces to zero, so it's best to just avoid cars travelling at great speeds altogether).

I won't advocate not wearing a helmet; at the end of the day it's your head. I don't wear a helmet in the city because I feel that the risk of not doing so is outweighed by the potential reward of convincing more people to cycle more often by making it a more normal thing to do. Few people in great cycling cities wear helmets, but I understand that we're not anywhere close to even being a good cycling city yet. If people want to proceed with caution, I understand and support that. I also hope that we'll get to a place where wearing a helmet isn't seen as particularly necessary sooner than later.

Let us know what you decide. I find this to be one of the more interesting (and potentially important) debates surrounding North American cycling culture, and I'm always eager to hear new perspectives on the matter.

[mpd618]

Helmet-wise I would say to do whatever makes you most comfortable. The research out there is equivocal and does not make a reliable case for helmets being beneficial. What the research does say for sure is that cycling is a net benefit to public health. So if a helmet makes you more likely to ride, wear a helmet. If not wearing a helmet makes you more likely to ride, then don't wear one. As bcwessel mentions, the best way to make cycling safe is to get more people riding.

I, personally, choose not to wear a helmet and ride at a leisurely pace on an upright city bike.

[plam]

At first I interpreted intercity as in something like Waterloo to Guelph, where highways would be involved.

I don't use any bike lanes, because they are not on my path. I would recommend exploring possible paths for a bit and finding out which paths turn out to be most convenient and compatible with one's comfort level. For instance, when I bike from uptown Waterloo to downtown Kitchener, I usually take Weber, but I understand that not everyone is comfortable with it.

As people have pointed out, crossing the Parkway sucks; I cross at Bridgeport several times a week, and it's not great.

I have lights on my bike. They're not super visible, but I try to not behave like a ninja.

I've been fortunate enough to never have been involved in a bicycle incident, and I ride through the winter. My usual path goes through Waterloo Park. In particular, I could go on King to University, but I avoid that.

Helmets? I wear one 99% of the time. I think my spouse wears one 75% of the time. I do actually have mixed feelings about them: they shouldn't really be necessary, but (despite what some of my friends think) I'm risk averse enough to wear one when biking.

Oh, and I'd also recommend getting a used ten-speed rather than riding an off-road MTB with knobby tires for riding on roads. Or new wheels, if you feel like buying them.

Unlike mpd618, I actually enjoy going as fast as possible (when there is nothing in the way; that works well on Weber, or Erb/Bridgeport).

[metropolis]

Bike lanes should make you feel safer if only because cars are forced to give you a few extra feet of space. If you need to take a lane of traffic or are entering a roundabout and exiting the bike lane make sure to signal as you would in a car when making a lane change.

I wear a helmet 100% of the time but then I ride a lightweight road bike and average about 30km/h on most of my trips so I guess it depends on what kind of riding you will do. I would encourage you do pick up something cheap and roadworthy like "plam" did. With the advent of the hybrid bike modern mountain bikes are less and less designed for the pavement. Everything from gear ratios, to weight(they are built to resist impact), to seating position, to the way the bike handles, to the vertical motion induced by the suspension which saps your energy from getting the bike moving horizontally. All these things conspire against you on the road whe sitting on a mountain bike.

I would also suggest riding with gloves on but would invest in a pair of inexpensivebike gloves with some supportive padding. Not only will this take strain off your hands but these gloves will have reflective bits on them for when you signal. My pair are a bright bright red to boot and it astounds me how much better they work then the black ones I used to have. Its like I'm sticking out one of those school bus stop signs; people slow visibly.

[plam]

(psst: "plam", not "palm").

[dunkalunk]

Painted lines on the road are just an illusion of safety and don't really force anyone to do anything. First, they often encourage cyclists to ride in the most hazardous part of the road, with obstacles such as leaves, debris, and snow plow over-drift obstucting the bike lane. In order to leave the relative safety of this lanes, they must signal or risk being hit.

Second, there is no apparent penalty for driving a car or parking in a bike lane. Most drives will use the bike lane as an extended shoulder unless there are other vehicles present And for inattentive drivers, this can lead to collisions causing death such as the one on University Ave this time last year.

Unless I have to, I avoid road with bike lanes, and when I do, I track as close to the white line as reasonable to avoid sewer grates, leaves, puddles, ice, ect. In the winter and early spring, i choose to occupy a lane of traffic.

IMO, a combination of Sharrows and Bike Boxes at intersections in addition to more signage telling drivers to share the road is much more effective. With sharrows, people in cars and people on bicycles are forced to make eye contact to find out each others' intentions while a cyclist in a bike lane can easily be overlooked as not being part of traffic and become left or right hooked.

Passing on the right is dangerous enough in itself, but even moreso when it it not exactly clear who has the right of way. (I'd have to look in my drivers handbook to find out exactly who should yield)

Of course there is nothing stopping us from placing the bike lane between the sidewalk and the street. Dong this would then make it possible to narrow the physical width of the road.

With narrowed streets, drivers are forced to move slower and thus they have more reaction time to respond to a bicycle on their right. Ultimately though, it should be safe for cyclists to share the road in most cases, and when it is not, segregated lanes need to be provided (in particular I am thinking of high-speed interchanges)

[metropolis]

(psst: "plam", not "palm").
:RpS_blushing:
Fixed.

[BuildingScout]

Painted lines on the road are just an illusion of safety and don't really force anyone to do anything.

In Waterloo, painted bike lanes are only implemented on roads that have been suitable widened. Have more space for cars to drive past you is no illusion.

[zanate]

In Waterloo, painted bike lanes are only implemented on roads that have been suitable widened.

Davenport Road at Old Abbey called, and said that it's been "suitably widened" but someone has played a terrible, terrible joke.

If you've been through there northbound, you'll understand the message.

[bcwessel]

In Waterloo, painted bike lanes are only implemented on roads that have been suitable widened. Have more space for cars to drive past you is no illusion.

It has less to do with the amount of total room there is, and more to do with how fast/close a passing driver will perceive to be safe. The painted lines, studies have shown, grant drivers (and cyclists) the perception that road users are being safely segregated, when in actual fact the only thing which can truly accomplish that is physical separation in the form of curbs, bollards, fencing, ...etc. The painted line tells you that it's safe to driver up to that line, whereas no line at all will generally cause a driver to approach with greater caution and leave a wider berth around a cyclist with whom they are now required to share a lane of mixed traffic.

However, the fast and close passing that occurs around painted lanes may be offset by the increased amount of cycling which results from cyclists's perception that any cycling lane is safer and more comfortable than sharing a standard built-for-cars street. As we all know by now, the biggest factors which produce safe cycling outcomes are increased numbers of overall cyclists and an increase in cycling modal share, so it's conceivable that the added risk created by merely painting bike lanes onto existing roads is outweighed by the increased safety that comes with enticing more people to use that inferior infrastructure.

[BuildingScout]

The painted line tells you that it's safe to driver up to that line, whereas no line at all will generally cause a driver to approach with greater caution and leave a wider berth around a cyclist with whom they are now required to share a lane of mixed traffic.

That has definitely not been my experience. Drivers do not give a wide berth in the absence of painted lines. As a driver I do, precisely because as a cyclist I have noticed that most cars don't.

In fact, when cycling on general roads I take the entire lane, because I have found that this is the only way in which cars leave the proper amount of space between cyclist and car.


However, the fast and close passing that occurs around painted lanes may be offset by the increased amount of cycling which results from cyclists' perception that any cycling lane is safer and more comfortable than sharing a standard built-for-cars street.

It also tells drivers unaccustomed to cyclists on the street to look out for them.

Don't get me wrong, I totally support fully segregated bike lanes and have done so here in the past. At the same time I believe painted bike lines are a positive step in this direction. Once we have enough bicycle traffic it will become easier to get segregated lanes.

[bcwessel]

Helmet-wise I would say to do whatever makes you most comfortable. The research out there is equivocal and does not make a reliable case for helmets being beneficial.

An new meta-study of analyses on the safety benefits of wearing a helmet was published in the May 2011 issue of the academic review Accident Analysis & Prevention. The study concludes that while the isolated risk of head injury is decreased by wearing a helmet, "When the risk of injury to head, face or neck is viewed as a whole, bicycle helmets do provide a small protective effect. This effect is evident only in older studies. New studies, summarised by a random-effects model of analysis, indicate no net protective effect" (Elvik 2011). The entire paper can view on-line here (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000145751100008X#sec6).

It should also be noted that this meta-analysis does not evaluate the affects of mandatory helmet-use laws or culture bias toward helmet use as it relates to per-capita cycling numbers, or how increased cycling has been shown to increase safety for all road users.