CdCf

A local green activist group has been arranging CM rides in the city centre for a couple of years now. I decided to check them out today. I didn't ride with them, since I personally don't feel that CM is a good way to raise awareness or create sympathy - quite the opposite. But I do agree with the general cause.

I expected to find a diverse mix of people, but instead found a pretty sad bunch. Actually, "bunch" doesn't really fit to describe three people. Yep, three people!

They'd probably have to be ten times as many to even get noticed...

The three that were there seemed to be oddballs. Not exactly the "full pro team kit, $4000 carbon bike" guys...

I felt sorry for them as I headed home in the rain.

zeytoun

How would you characteraize car driver/cyclist interaction in your area? Does everyone manage to get where there going with safety and courtesy?

Bekologist

sweden already has 12 percent modal split.... and is shooting for 16% by 2010.

maybe american expats? in the US, CM rides draw hundreds to thousands of riders in the larger metropoliees. and pretty diverse crowds. I heard anecdotally the Portland CM is also dropping off, perhaps as modal splits increase the impetus for critical mass rides decreases?

CdCf

Most drivers are actually too courteous here. They often stop and let cyclists pass when they themselves have right of way (and the cyclists have to yield), which causes cyclists to believe they have the right of way and just go right ahead every time. Which works fine until a driver comes along that actually follows the rules - BAM, down goes a cyclist. This type of accident is the most common form of bike-car collision over here. I personally believe it's mainly caused by cars incorrectly letting bikes cross out of courtesy.

You see, the law here states that traffic on bike paths crossing streets have to yield to crossing traffic, while, confusingly, pedestrians using the same bike path (all bike paths are MUPs here) have the right of way. And since the law also forces people to use bike paths, a great number of cyclist deaths and injuries are caused by this mechanism every year.

Another annoying thing is all the drivers who don't dare to pass a cyclist, even though there's often room enough for two cars in the same lane. Instead, they'll slow down and stay behind for as much as several minutes in some cases.

When cars actually do pass, you regularly see them moving all the way over into the other side of the road, causing a dangerous situation both for me and themselves when they do this close to traffic going in the opposite direction.

We don't have that "Get on the sidewalk!" type here. Some will honk, but that's usually only old people (70+) who perhaps feel they don't have as much control over their driving so they feel some bizarre need to further announce their presence (as if I didn't hear you half a mile away in your noisy car)...

The main danger to cyclists here is using bike paths/MUPs, as they're only fit for riding at walking speeds and are covered in fine gravel for 7-8 months of the year (because the people in charge of the city streets can't seem to fathom that gravel has no benefit for a cyclist at all, and instead causes greater risk of falling).

As far as other vehicles being dangerous, cars rarely seem to be a problem, but commuter buses are. I've had a couple of instances where I've been almost run off the road by them. Other cyclists I know have experienced the same. And it really is deliberate, as the bus drivers have "signalled" with certain fingers what they thought of us cyclists.

I envy you in the US. AFAIK, you are generally allowed to actually use the roads and streets, regardless of whether there is a bike path or not. And you're also allowed to take the lane. Here, you have to use bike paths if they're there, and you're under no circumstances allowed to take the lane.

Of course, I don't always follow what the law says, but I know I could be an even more efficient and assertive cyclist if I knew I had the right to do certain things. As it is now, if I break the law and I end up in an accident (through no fault of mine), I will automatically be in the wrong, since I had no right to be there. That's sad.

In the coming weeks, I plan to get my camera and document my commute to school, and show in pictures all the dangers and obstructions the bike paths offer on my way there.

Wow, I really got worked up for a while there...

Keith99

Same can happen in the States. The one that bothers me the most is when a MAJOR street is involved and a car fails to take the right of way when they are entirled to it AND they are the only car there, so if they just went everything would be fine. One memorable occurance was on a 6 lane road turning left (luckily with a dedicated left turn lane. Only car coming the other way stops to let us through. We are not sure so we hesitate. Now no one knows who is going and the car helps to obstruct the view of other cars (of course the car was in the lane closest to the center of the road). Isn't limited to biking. I had a similar thing trying to turn left out of a parking lot, if the other driver would have just taken the right of way and gotten out of the way things would have been easy. As it worked out it was accident bait.

ekitel

reminds of some situations with pedestrians, near where I live in the ghetto people just cross the streets and totally ignore any bicycles coming, and since they're almost always walking at a constant speed in a consistent direction it's very easy to plot a course to completely avoid them. When I get to areas with more affluent and educated people the pedestrians try to be politically correct and treat bicyclists just like cars and generally create unnecessary confusion