Advocacy & Safety - Near miss

A friend of mine told me that over the weekend, he and his wife were driving in the city at night when a man on a bicycle suddenly crashed in front of their car. They had to avoid him suddenly by swerving. He hobbled off with his bike, but was ok. He was almost killed by my friend and his wife. The cyclist had no lights whatsoever.

Apparently he had been riding off to the side of the road in an area where there would normally be a sidewalk, but in this case there was only a well-worn dirt path next to the curb where people had created their own "walkway." He hit a rough spot and fell into the road directly into the line of traffic. Fortunately, my friend's wife had a clear space next to her so she could swerve around him.

People need to learn the right way to ride.

Indeed they do. This is the reason I don't use sidewalks/footpaths, and the reason I continue to ride in the most consistent line possible. It's also the reason I refuse to move into a potholed, uneven section of roadway regardless of a motorists complaint about being "held up". After all, if this is the alternative, holding someone up isn't really so bad after all.

As a lot of you know, over the last two years I have been re-evaluating all of my riding behaviors. I do use sidewalks at times. I do use bike lanes, and sometimes pull out into the traffic when there are barriers to the bike lane. I also use bike paths when appropriate. But I have also seen all of these aspects of bicycling misused too. As with Littlebigman, I have seen accidents and incidents. Let me describe some of these:

--When I use a sidewalk, it is for a very short distance, and in a place where I can see that there are no pedestrians on the walkway. I have used the sidewalk to get away from dump trucks hauling trailers of dirt, very fast, and very close (2 feet) from my elbow in the bike lane. The side walk is about 200 yards that I do use, and only when these trucks are prevalent on the roadway. The trucks don't budge or move over. "We haul the earth" they proclaim, but they won't move for a bicyclist. So the sidewalk, while more bumpy, is ten feet further from these hazardous carriers of earth, and have light poles separating them from the roadway--this does give some good measure of protection. But I have seen a bicyclist on one of those stunt bikes barrel down a sidewalk (I was walking my bike), jump off the curb, and cut in front of oncoming traffic from a side street, one that had a green light, by the way. The kid was acting inappropriately, and was not wearing a helmet, when he was struck at low speed by a car which had the right-of-way. I told the police officer who responded the story, and hopefully the kid was ticketed.

--I use a bike path that is about half a mile long, without cross-streets or driveway intersections. It is very lightly used too, so I feel good about using it. Many here have derided use of bicycle paths, but these do provide (if they are well designed and away from roads) a good alternative to busy city streets. This path allows me to bypass an area of street which almost killed me about two years ago, and has allowed me to keep riding, essentially. Without it, I may have given up on bicycle commuting. Having said this, there are many bike paths which are not like this, and which are considerably more hazardous than the roadway. LittleBigMan shows us a good example. I have seen bicyclists who ride at night, on side paths and dart into the roadway without warning, and without lighting. They use bicycles that are not equipped for street riding, and at times when I was driving, could only be made out by their silhouette. Now, how many drivers are trained U.S. Air Force rescue scanners who can "see" an object by the back lights it blinks out as it goes by? Not many, I suppose, and therefore these kids are taking their life in their hands when riding like this.

--I ride bike paths. At times, I now go into traffic to enter the traffic stream. I now do this at a certain light where I nearly got cut off a few months back. It may hold up the traffic for a few seconds as I get to the mid-intersection and adjust my travel to the bike lane, but so be it. I will be seen. I also enter the traffic in an area where construction has obstructed some of the bike path with either signs, or in one case, a chain-link fense. For part of the time, I used a sidewalk across the street to bypass this construction area, and then entered the bike lane at the next intersection past the construction. But I have seen bicyclists going the wrong way on a bike lane. I have seen them suddenly dart out from this wrong-way heading into the traffic. These are things that need to be addressed, and as I pass these people, I will for instance say "You're going the wrong way!" It doesn't seem to matter, but I feel better for having said it.

A lot of bicycle behavior needs to be changed, and this can only come through education.

John