First home-based Sighting in... I don't know how long. (language)

[Magpie]

I'm one of those people that just doesn't understand why cyclists wouldn't wear helmets.

Because they signed their organ-donor card

[Jay 2K Winger]

I'm one of those people that just doesn't understand why cyclists wouldn't wear helmets. Granted, that's because I had a near-fatal bike accident when I was a kid, only saved from a serious head injury because I was wearing a helmet. (Worst I got was a really sore shoulder, this.close from separating it.)

Even knowing that some cyclists (kids and adults alike) are arrogant about the belief that "Nothing will ever happen to me/I'm immortal!", I still can't wrap my head around it.

[greek_jester]

I was joking about the strobe lights, ya'll, dang.

Around here, he needs the help. I live in a tourist town, & the tourists screeching around 3 times over the speed limit in their tricked-out fart-machines are a menace.

I am, however, saving up for a bike of my own so that I can go to the cinema in tourist season without having either:

1) An hour's round trip if I walk.
2) A £7 each way taxi fare because the rates get hiked in tourist season, or
3) A minimum of £1 an hour parking, exact change per hour required, with probably a 10 minute walk on top of that, as the cinema's near several popular pubs/clubs.

[Whiskey]

As a driver, when it comes to bike lights, I find his combination of a flashing light on the bike to draw the eye (not that he needs the help!) and his reflective clothing giving a good, solid light to judge distance from, is ideal.

Of course, all your street cred will evaporate into the distance, but we can't have everything.

I was joking about the strobe lights, ya'll, dang. And yeah, I'd rather not have street cred than a mouth full of street and shattered body parts.

[dalesys]

...Of course, all your street cred will evaporate into the distance, but we can't have everything.

Better evaporated than splattered!

[greek_jester]

When I get a bike, i swear to god I'm going to fit it with enough strobe lights to put the LA Raver scene to shame. DONT HIT ME

We have a very safety-conscious cyclist around where I live. He wears a reflective waistcoat with the strips, like you get on police jackets (ye gods, that thing is bright!) and he's glued those reflective arm-bands and stickers you can buy for kids along the frame. You really can't miss him!

As a driver, when it comes to bike lights, I find his combination of a flashing light on the bike to draw the eye (not that he needs the help!) and his reflective clothing giving a good, solid light to judge distance from, is ideal.

Of course, all your street cred will evaporate into the distance, but we can't have everything.

[Magpie]

The kids without helmets are doing it because they're immortal. Safety devices are for other people, you know, the "other people" who get hit by cars.

actually flashing lights draw the driver's eyes and for less experienced drivers they tend to turn the direction they happen to be looking.....

While I'm not an experienced motorist (I avoid it whenever I can), my main problem isn't the "turn where I'm looking" issue. It's that I can't judge distance/motion as well with a flashing light. I really prefer solid lights, because I can tell how fast and in which direction you're moving more conveniently. My husband likes his rear blinker, so I have him put it on chase, which means that there's always at least one light on. (It gives me no trouble on that setting).

[BlaqueKatt]

When I get a bike, i swear to god I'm going to fit it with enough strobe lights to put the LA Raver scene to shame. DONT HIT ME

actually flashing lights draw the driver's eyes and for less experienced drivers they tend to turn the direction they happen to be looking.....I have one flashing tail light-and the frame wrapped with EL wire(electroluminescent wire)-I also have ankle lights, a headlight and helmet light-you cannot not see me at night.

[ZedOmega]

but yes i do wish bikers - mainly the ones where sis lives - would wear fucking helmets and headlights. seriously those kids think "o i'm biking on my tiny street where there's not much traffic! i don't need to be safe!"

I'm almost afraid to ask about the number of bicycle-related fatalities that stretch of road has had because they don't believe in safety gear. I mean, at the very least, if cyclists are going to toss the helmet aside, lights would be a good idea...

[Whiskey]

When I get a bike, i swear to god I'm going to fit it with enough strobe lights to put the LA Raver scene to shame. DONT HIT ME

[PepperElf]

when i'm driving i try to keep an eye on where the bikers are and to give them lots of room cos... i'd rather not have one squished by my car.

but yes i do wish bikers - mainly the ones where sis lives - would wear fucking helmets and headlights. seriously those kids think "o i'm biking on my tiny street where there's not much traffic! i don't need to be safe!"

O_o some of those kids are fucking lucky that drivers like me have good eyesight. i posted about one of them once... dark night, lots of rain, no helmet, no headlights. kid was fucking lucky i believe in driving UNDER the speed limit in that area (mainly because... of the kids)

[XCashier]

stiff shoulder for a few days and when one is dazed and on the pavement skidding sideways-ya don't really think to catch the plate number-it was winter so landed on snow-yay! The other cars just honked at me because "how dare a cyclist be in the road after getting hit" after all I was blocking an entire car lane.

I'm glad you weren't hurt too badly. Sometimes a heavy snowfall is a blessing!

The honkers...sheesh. Not one of them stopped to see if you were okay? People just decide to take a nap in the middle of the street with bent-up bicycles for no apparent reason there? Jerks.

[Magpie]

The pavement is safer, not risk-free.

Actually around here it's more dangerous. Driving is really different in North America than in Europe.

If the cyclist is not being dangerous, it's the driver who's introducing an element of chaos.

It's actually the people who get on their bikes having first purged their mind of elementary school "how to ride a bike" and the driver's handbook "rules of the road" who are the real problem. I've had drivers who are ahead of me stop before making a right-hand turn, because they expect me to pass them dangerously on the right (not when there's a bike lane). Drives me crazy, forces me to stop on a hill, etc, but it's not like they can just make the turn. The whole "bring right is ok, but don't be dead right" applies in both directions.

And I confess to encouraging this: a lot of drivers aren't very good with bike lanes. Having grown up in Toronto, where there's "diamond lanes" (buses, multiple passengers, bikes, motorcycles) I don't understand why drivers think they can't move into the reserved lanes when they're turning right. However you get a lot of cars turning right from the right-hand car lane: they're not in the bike lane, they're turning across it. And yes, I will wait for those people to turn. I know I'm encouraging bad behaviour but, once again, I don't want to be dead right.

[Flying Grype]

As a cyclist I find that drivers are EWish when dealing with cyclists, even when the cyclists are obeying the rules of the road. They have not read the Driver's Handbook (our province has one) or at least not the section that talks about driving around cyclists, and the responsibilities of cyclists and drivers. Don't pull out the "but drivers expect cyclists to be lawless" card, because that's no excuse. A driver should not be treating a cyclist like prey because they expect the cyclist to be dangerous. If the cyclist is not being dangerous, it's the driver who's introducing an element of chaos.

[Chromatix]

I've been the cyclist who ran into the side of a car. It was in Germany (which has cycle paths everywhere, as part of the pavement), and the car had simply pulled out from a driveway in front of me. The bike was a basic hire model which didn't have the hand-operated brakes I'm used to, only a "coaster brake" operated by pedalling backwards, so my reactions were considerably slower than normal too.

The car stopped with a wheel on my foot.

Fortunately, there wasn't any damage, either to the car, the bike, or my foot, though there was about a minute where we yelled at the bemused driver in English. Eventually my dad had the presence of mind to work out some German to get him to move the car *off* my foot.

The pavement is safer, not risk-free.