Hot answers tagged safety
50
I found this article which has some statistics on accidents involving wrong-way cycling:
Table 4 shows that all categories of bicyclists traveling against the direction of traffic flow are at greatly increased risk for accidents—on average 3.6 times the risk of those traveling with traffic, and as high as 6.6 times for those 17 and under. This result ...
46
Some bicyclists do wear full-face helmets; in particular, downhill mountain bikers and BMXers will frequently wear full-face helmets, as the chance of a crash causing you to land on your face is greater.
The problem with full-face helmets is that they're hotter; your head is great for getting rid of excess heat, and the full-face helmet helps trap more of ...
44
For one thing, if you cycle with traffic the closing speed between car and bike is the DIFFERENCE in speed between the two. If you're doing 20mph and the car is doing 45, the closing speed is 25. Reverse it and the closing speed is 65 -- over twice as fast. This affects the time the driver has to react to the cyclist's presence -- over twice as much time ...
39
Rank, Folke and Jespersen (2001), "Differences in cyclists and car drivers exposure to air pollution from traffic in the city of Copenhagen", The Science of The Total Environment, 279:131-136
teams of two cyclists and two car drivers in two cars were equipped with personal air samplers while driving for 4 hours on 2 different days in the morning traffic ...
35
Helmets should be replaced roughly every 5 years and after any crash where your head makes contact with the ground.
Helmets will crumble, compress or otherwise deform in sometimes hard to see ways when you hit the deck. The structural integrity of the thing will be massively diminished after even a relatively tame fall. This is one area where you don't want ...
34
Oh... where do I even start? I love dogs, I am crazy about them, too. I have 3 labs of my own. I am from a place where street dogs are very abundant. If you don't see any dogs in the next 100 yards, consider yourself lost! :D
I am barked at often, chased often, even confronted sometimes. I used to run away before, because it is what a normal guy does.
I ...
30
It is worth noting that deaf people cycle perfectly well.
@Joe's excellent comment merit's adding into the answer...
Edit It should also be noted that deaf people are used to being deaf. They never rely on sounds like hearing-abled people do.
Its OK to listen to music as long as
a) you are aware that you don't have any audio clues to hazards
b) don't ...
28
BMXers in some places put the shoe between rear tire and frame, just where the rear brake normally is attached to the bike. I've never done that, because I used to run knobby tires (ouch!), and nowadays I care a lot about brakes.
You really should avoid this situation, because many times there would not be much to do.
I would guess, a good alternative ...
27
To be honest, I think you handled the situation pretty well as it was.
You've got to get yourself to the bottom of the mountain safely and even in locales which have laws about deliberately impeding following road users you will have to allow people to pass in a manner safe for you, this isn't necessarily going to be immediately.
Seems to me that this ...
25
AGAINST
One of my primary issues with bike lanes is that motorists tend to think that you have to stay in that lane. So when you have to move right because of debris, garbage cans or parked cars in the lane it further annoys ill-informed drivers.
Additionally, drivers come to expect you to be out of traffic, riding on the shoulder, and will squeeze by you ...
25
The short answer is that 'safer' is subjective and depends on your requirements.
You are both correct. Movement attracts the eye, so your blinking light is noticed. It is easier to judge the position of a steady state light.
For a motorist to pick out your tail light, particularly, from a sea of noise is very difficult. The surface area of the light is ...
24
Only cross if you are walking and pushing your bike. If you are riding, you are a vehicle and generally you are required to obey all traffic control devices in the same way any other vehicle operator is. There are exceptions, like the Idaho Yield laws, but generally you have to behave like a car.
The other thing to think about is that the more you behave ...
22
Get a Bright Bike kit from brightthread.com:
Bright Bike DIY kits cover your bicycle in easy-to-apply design-savvy ultra reflective vinyl for safety. It is like covering your bike with a big stickers that turn ultra-bright in headlights. The retroreflective vinyl is the same material used on the backs of running shoes, but with colors. The kits greatly ...
22
Bicycle helmets contain crushable foam that works to extend the duration of impact by about 6 ms (milliseconds). This doesn't make the impact force disappear, instead it extends the duration of force experienced by the brain. By extending the duration, you reduce the peak force. The brain can withstand impacts to some degree, however if the impact is too ...
22
Keep your front brake. It does the most work, it will stop you much faster than your rear brake ever could hope to. Take a look at a motorcycle, the front brakes are always much larger than the rear. Whenever you brake, on a bicycle, motorcycle, in a car, more weight is transfered to the front wheels, so the front tire has more traction to stop you with.
...
21
My opinion:
I don't believe you can effectively draft and have enough time to stop. I don't know the exact aerodynamics (and I suspect it's affected by speed and wind), but if you watch any paceline or peleton, they're never more than a couple feet (about half a meter) behind the rider in front, often only a few inches (centimeters) behind. With a ...
20
Exposure while cycling is generally no worse than being in a vehicle.
In fact can be better depending on the weather and the amount of solvents in the plastic of your car.
You do experience more when cycling heavily - simply because you breath more - but general medical evidence is that the benefits of increased fitness greatly outweigh any problems.
The ...
20
The Highway Code comes in handy with this question...
In London drivers of all buses are exceptionally well trained and likely to be highly experienced. They know every part of their route and have 'dealt with' plenty of cyclists before. They will always indicate when they are pulling over and indicate again when they are going to pull out. It is highly ...
19
Try not hugging the edge of the road, drivers will be more tempted to squeeze past through smaller gaps if you're right at the edge. Instead ride about 1/4 of the way across the lane, it might p*** off a few drivers, but it will make them think twice about squeezing past with overtaking traffic / parked cars / etc.
19
For safety reasons I prefer to be behind them. That way I can position myself on the road slightly further out then they are. This forces any overtaking vehicles to negotiate past me first and makes them provide a little more breathing space for my child in front. It certainly seems to prevent them trying to squeeze past.
19
Well, regarding the question asked: "why is it safer etc." let's go:
(already mentioned) The closing speed between a car coming from behind is much slower. He has more time to see you before overtaking, and if you need to cross, you can signal your turn, so he can slow down for you to pass;
By the same reasons, you can flow with traffic, take the lane, ...
18
In the city, it's best to "take the lane" and behave like traffic.
However, on country roads, I prefer to do the following. When you hear/notice a car approaching, weave out about a meter into the road, then weave back. Repeat this a couple times, until the car is very close, then just hold your line on the edge of the road. The car will worry that you ...
18
I should imagine you should be looking for some reflective gloves. Or even some glo gloves
Check these out as an example ...
http://lifehacker.com/395978/glo-gloves-reflective-cycling-gear
Also using a good reflective jacket that has good reflective strips down the arms is useful.
18
If you are riding on the road, slicks are fine in the wet. If you need to go over any mud, etc. then you'll need something else.
From Sheldon Brown:
Bicycle tires for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread
features; in fact, the best road tires are perfectly smooth, with no
tread at all!
Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth ...
18
I don't think this should be viewed from a strictly legal or normative point of view, so I'll give my impressions as a former driver and as someone with some experiences of overtaking cars downhill by bike, either on-road and off-road (unpaved roads).
First of all, if you drove like you were alone (hypothetically speaking), by no means you would endanger a ...
18
I'd go for the air-horn, for example the AirZound.
It is my opinion that screaming and yelling (the primal scream) can cause a lot of unnecessary social distress, and is not a good alterntive for traffic communication and signalling under normal conditions. It ends up being more effective when you're in "panic" as said, which is barely a day-by-day ...
17
When to replace a bicycle helmet:
Any fall that impacted the helmet. There can easily be hard to see cracks, crumbling or compression of the foam; and all of those will make the helmet less effective.
If you dropped it pretty hard and there's any likelihood of damage.
If the outer shell is separating from the foam. The shell helps protect your neck. ...
17
Wearing headphones while cycling is a bad idea even if only one ear-bud is in use. I do my best to devote complete attention to the road and my surroundings while I'm riding. For hearing folks, sound is a critical device to alert a rider to impending danger. During my daily commute I frequently am alerted to potential hazards by sound before I see a ...
17
The highway code has some advice on First Aid on the Road. It says:
1. Deal with danger - the cyclist was on the pavement and the van was parked, so you did this.
2. Get help - an ambulance was called, so you did this.
3. Help those involved - you didn't move the cyclist and you kept him comfortable, so you did this.
4. Provide emergency care - you don't ...
17
The Bicycle Safety Institute disagrees with the 2-3 year rule. They have a good page on replacing helmets.
I usually replace one when the foam rubber gets old and crumbly, when the adjustments quit working, or when I damage it. UV can deteriorate the plastic if you leave it outside a lot. And, if you ever "use" a helmet, i.e., crash and save your skull with ...
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