Road/Ride Safety

Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
869
Location
Axedale, Victoria, Australia
Website
axerail.coffeecup.com
Haven't seen anything on AZ re riding and safety. So I thought I'd start one. Surely it is an issue for many and that is why I mainly ride off-road although one still has to cross roads.Many riding issues are only due to today's car-minded society or, so it is in Australia.

I saw a "safety message" sign on a truck the other day: Stay out of my blind spot! It made me think of a counter sign for the trike: Install a camera in your blind spot! There really should be no excuses these days for blind spots with the proliferation and cheapness of cameras.
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
Haven't seen anything on AZ re riding and safety. So I thought I'd start one. Surely it is an issue for many and that is why I mainly ride off-road although one still has to cross roads.Many riding issues are only due to today's car-minded society or, so it is in Australia.

I saw a "safety message" sign on a truck the other day: Stay out of my blind spot! It made me think of a counter sign for the trike: Install a camera in your blind spot! There really should be no excuses these days for blind spots with the proliferation and cheapness of cameras.
This is a good subject to address. It would be interesting, to see, via photo's/video's, the many cycling road hazards, riders world wide must deal with.

Your "Stay out of my blind spot" and "install a camera in your blind spot" caught my attention.

We recently had to get a new car because of a blind spot accident. No injuries, but our car was totaled.
Our new car is a Honda Accord, and it has camera's in each side mirror as well as one out the back.
The side mirrors have a warning light in the mirror, that lets you know there is a 'vehicle' there. Of course one has to be looking at the mirror, or it's a total waste.
Not sure if it would detect a cyclist.
I will have to check that out. But the warning light does work, to warn us of a car in our blind spot.

The rear camera warns us, (audibly and visually) if a vehicle is approaching from either side, if backing out blindly.

So the technology is here, just hasn't reached the mass vehicle makers yet.
 

SirJoey

Super Moderator
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Messages
4,781
Location
My cozy little nook in the corner!
It would be interesting to see how many of us have been struck by cars while riding our HPVs.
Personally, I've been hit TWICE in my life. The first time, I was knocked off my bike, but uninjured.
Second time was more of a low-speed side swipe while riding my first bent. Again, luckily, I was uninjured, as was my ride.

***
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
869
Location
Axedale, Victoria, Australia
Website
axerail.coffeecup.com
Fortunately, I haven't had such misfortune so far.

There are two aspects to this subject: 1. Collisions with moving objects, and 2. Poor infrastructure that puts riders at risk. In this motor-vehicle-obsessed world we live in, there are plenty of examples of the latter. There is isolated evidence of a change coming but it is a slow process.

There is a rail trail that I ride quite often. It used to cross over the main North/South road (Napier Street/Midland Highway) through Bendigo. It did not have any traffic control and the West side was a bus stop. Recent and significant roadworks changed all that. To connect with the same route, it is now necessary to turn left on the footpath, venture about 60m, turn right across one half of the road to a refuge island, cross the remaining half of the road, turn right, cross half an angled road, another refuge island, the remaining half of the road, continue 20m on the footpath and turn left to continue on the path. All this without any traffic control and making sure you don't get skittled by turning traffic. It must be hell during peak hour.

An improvement on previously being able to go almost directly across? It was all done despite users' protestations.
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
869
Location
Axedale, Victoria, Australia
Website
axerail.coffeecup.com
Took part in what is known as Super Tuesday Bicycle Count run by Bicycle Network and local Councils to gather yearly stats on bicycle use and trends in their municipalities. The first time that I have done it and it is one way of sourcing funds for an organisation of one's choice or for personal use. It involves recording numbers of cyclists and routing through the intersection in 15 minute blocks from 7am to 9am. Although it is officially the end of summer, it was bitterly cold where I was. Climate change?

There were no dramas at the intersection where I was positioned. However, a friend of mine, positioned at a 5-way roundabout elsewhere, returned with the comment that he will NEVER, EVER ride a bike of any sort through that roundabout. He saw a road rage incident where a motorist rode on the rear bumper of another with the horn blaring for a whole block, and there were a couple of near misses.

A female passerby commented that she couldn't understand why he could sit there without a coffee. His response was, "Easy, I don't drink coffee."
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
The "Lycrati" seem to be universally loathed by motorists here. They have completely the wrong "entitled" attitude and on shared spaces with pedestrians they are just obnoxious.
I get some "toots" from motorists but usually it is a friendly smile & a wave as they acknowledge a bike type they have not seen before.
Any that give an angry toot get the same straight back at them with my Air-Zound.
Most motorists give my Tadpole a decent "wide-berth", although a few do try to cut in at junctions. I prefer riding on off-road paths.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
3
Location
USA
Haven't seen anything on AZ re riding and safety. So I thought I'd start one. Surely it is an issue for many and that is why I mainly ride off-road although one still has to cross roads.Many riding issues are only due to today's car-minded society or, so it is in Australia.

I saw a "safety message" sign on a truck the other day: Stay out of my blind spot! It made me think of a counter sign for the trike: Install a camera in your blind spot! There really should be no excuses these days for blind spots with the proliferation and cheapness of cameras.
Is your cycle named the Crocket Rocket? 73's de KI5G
 
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