Five people have died riding their bikes in Toronto this year. You can debate what the causality is in each incident. It doesn't change that they'll never ride again. It doesn't change that there's been too much blood in these streets.
Now is not the time for rhetoric. Now is the time to realize that being on these streets goes both ways. As cyclists we must respect drivers. And we must respect how hard cyclists are to see at night. In practice, safety on the bike is the rider's responsibility. No matter how much you separate bike lanes, or plan a city centre for cycling, your decisions as a cyclist are the ones that make you safe or not.
This is particularly relevant as days get shorter and most commuters must ride in the dark during winter. Worse, inclement weather makes riding inherently dangerous. Factor in slick manhole covers, street car tracks or even leaves and ice, and commuting all winter can be daunting. However, as a cyclist you can make choices to mitigate these risks and arrive safely at work and home each day.
The single most important decision is to wear a helmet! You can debate the stats all day, or fuss over messed up hair at the office. Just slap that syrofoam on your head before you ever get on your bike.
The second most important thing is to respect red lights! Too many cyclists casually breeze through intersections because they think no one's coming through. Remove that decision altogether and just stop. You'll always be safe that way. Besides, most lights are controlled enough that you will be stopped at an intersection at some point. Running reds will expose you to more risks than gain you time on your commute. Outside of this, you should stop because you expect other users of the road to stop as well.
Use more lights than you think reasonable. I use one blinky on my bag, and one on my arm. Both at driver's eye height. Lights hanging off your saddle or seat stays are too low to be seen by drivers. Always consider how high a driver is in their car and mount your lights accordingly! I use a white KNOG-off blinky from MEC on the front, but wish I had another on my helmet. In addition, my commuter bike has the police mandated reflective tape on fork blades and seat stays. You must be visible to stay safe.
Ride in the middle of the lane you're in. Or at least as far left as reasonable in the bike lane. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, this does not put you in harm's path. It makes you easier to see by placing you in driver's sight lines. It also prevents having to merge around obstacles and gives you space to bail left or right in case of trouble. Most importantly it prevents cars from trying to squeeze by you. As a cyclist it's your right to decide when to share!
Corollary to this is to avoid passing slow or stopped cars on their right side (i.e. between a car and the curb). Everyone does it, but cut it out at night. It won't speed up your commute that much. Besides, drivers can't see you there, and it massively complicates the merger required for drivers turning right. I prefer to roll up and stop behind a vehicle in the middle of their bumper and let my white blinkie flash through the rear window. This way there is no confusion where you are, and if they're turning right, you can pass safely on their left without any guess work. When driving, don't be afraid to merge directly into the share road or bike lane when turning right. It's why the lines are dashed! Both these strategies greatly reduce the complexity regarding decisions made by cars turning right.
The most important thing about riding at night/winter is to take it easy! In the dark you're competing with lights way brighter than you, and driver's eyes are constantly resetting their dynamic range. Consequently you are easy to miss, and decision making becomes compressed due to late sighting, or fails because you are invisible. Even with blinkies, you're hard to see and it's hard to judge your speed, so just be easy during these winter months. Make good decisions and don't ever press the situation.
What I'm saying is, never ride full tilt in the dark and err on the side of caution. Especially in the winter. Operate with at least a 10 per cent buffer on your bike skills (i.e. evasion, braking, cornering, acceleration). Avoid sprinting for yellows near dawn/dask or at night. Cars turning left cannot see you well. Just wait for the next light. Don't rail that corner. Don't pin it on each straight away. Always give yourself a place to go, whether that's left, right or straight ahead. However, riding within your skills and capabilities is critical for giving you some space to manoeuvre.
I've been riding winters for a while. It used to seem insane and a little frightening. However, by making conscientious decisions I've been able to make commuting in the winter safe and fun! For me, there's almost never a reason to hop in the car or TTC, I can always be free on my bike.
Follow Brenden Hurley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@Strghtblk
How about getting away from the same old including the fickle City Hall that not only dismantles bike lanes, but the ones that try to install they do it most inefficiently and haphazardly, as they just did on Sherbourne street. GO instead with our proposal to the Province to Legislate Alternative Transportation (Cycling) so to "over-ride" the City Hall ineptness and contradictions: http://www.ecopolitics.ca/transport/cyc/legislation_for_alternative_transportation.php
I am neither screaming nor hating Ford. But knowing the inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and political shenaningans of TO City Hall for the past two decades, I know that they can do nothing right, it is always arbitrary and careless. As for being satisfied with bike lanes, don't ge a greedy car-hog of the roads, which take tremendously more space than all other modes of transportation, and for which we all pay for with our taxes.
However, if you commute wearing a bag they're not quite as useful. Personally, I have some high visibility reflective strips sown onto my bag, and use the reflective cuffs on my arms. I then also clip a light to the cuff on my left arm.
Finally, a proper fitting bike helmet will always be better protection than a vest. Although a vest may decrease the chances of a car-bike collision, having a helmet will increase the chance you eventually walk away from that.
Two weeks ago, a cyclist was killed going through a red light. 2 days after that, i was stopped at a red light and bike blew past me narrowly missing a car. I caught up to him at University Ave and said "what you did back there is exactly what killed a guy 2 days ago". he responded "whatever".
I hate to admit it, but my closest calls have been with other cyclists and pedestrians (well and a couple of cabs and a black Esplanade with tinted windows). I have had cyclists riding behind me almost hit me when I stop at stop signs and red lights.
Please, other cyclists, please pay attention to the highway traffic act - it might just save your life.
Oh, and some decent bike lanes wouldn't hurt. Are you listening toronto?
The attitude that no drivers share the road is not helpful. The US vs THEM mentality engenders conflict between road users who must share infrastructure to exist. Worse, the idea of driver infrastructure vs. bike infrastructure will never end well for the 1.6% mode share (2006; http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/reports/statistics/statistics.htm). Remember that even Portland and Vancouver have mode shares of ~6% for cycling (http://www.toronto.ca/health/hphe/pdf/roadtohealth.pdf), and even a high use bike lane like Harbord is about 20-30% cyclists (http://www.ibiketo.ca/blog/harbord-separated-bike-lanes-get-mostly-positive-reception-residents-and-business). Cyclists will always be a minority of road users.
Consequently, dialogue between road users is essential. Convincing drivers that bike specific infrastructure will save time for everyone is the only hope, and this will never be achieved without dialogue and reconciliation. In the end, we're all just trying to get to work and back home.
In particular making eye-contact is very useful. At a minimum it lets you judge if someone can see (i.e. they are looking at you). Too many cyclists ride through intersections without being properly aware of their surroundings.
When it comes to bike there is a group of bike riders who think traffic laws do not apply to them, don't worry about red lights, stop signs or turning signals.
There is also a group of car driver with the attitude "get that GD thing off my road, I am a car and I have rights"
Both groups need some attitude adjustment, like maybe some good size fines for not following the rules
For instance if I'm in a left turning lane at a red light and the intersection is clear, it is safer for me to get out of the way of some bozo who may rear end me. If its sensor operated, a cyclist won't activate them and one might as well go. Second I always have an escape route. Seen a few drivers unable to operate their car, going backwards instead of forward when a light turns. Directly behind a rear view mirror is a bad idea.
Always be seen, always be courteous to other modes especially pedestrians, give cars space to pass when possible. Gleefully (but carefully) pass when cars stuck in traffic.
Moral of the story, ride as if you have time. Because you allowed for it, you do.
To paraphrase, bikes can ride as far left as safe AND with enough room to yield right to faster moving vehicles. In the event that a faster moving vehicle wants to overtake you, you must yield right and the faster vehicle must move to the left as far as possible.
I use the convention when I ride, and generally find it the safest way to ride.
They have saved me many times from people not paying attention coming out of side streets.
Multiple lights front and back and at least reflective tape on both sides.
People in cars please stay off our tails...You give us nowhere to go if a door opens or a hazard like a rock appears and we fall you'll feel Bumpity Bump.
If your afraid to pass me please stay back Cyclists get rear view mirrors they will save your life.
MEC has an excellent wire one.
Cities please pay special attention at this time of year to keeping the bike paths clean!
You tend to cut back on sweeping just when we need it the most. A head sized rock will stop you pretty fast so will a couch cushion....Both on my local path this week. The dangers at this time of year are huge as people drive poorly at this time of year. To the other 360s out there this will be a year to enjoy some snow. Ride safe.
A large number of cyclists out there are under the mistaken impression that they are in a special class when it comes to obeying the rules of the road, particularly with any rule or sign that involves stopping; like coming to a COMPLETE stop at ALL stop signs, not running red lights before they turn green, stopping behind street cars with their doors open, stopping at pedestrian crossings etc.
There seems to be this mentality among many cyclists that any reason to come to a stop or slow down is some sort of inconvenience, and should not be tolerated. There are even numerous cycles out there (fixed wheel bikes designed for use on a closed track) that don't even have brakes.
The police also bear some of the blame for not enforcing existing rules for cyclists. I’ve seen many cyclists sail through stop signs with a cop sitting right there taking no action.
Lights, helmets, brakes and reflective clothing should be mandatory. Cycles that do not meet code should be impounded, and cyclists with repeat offence records should be fined or have their cycling privileges suspended, as is done with the operator of any other type of vehicle.
Contrary to what you might believe, the purpose behind most forms of licensing is to generate revenue (a cash grab). Licensing & drivers courses for automobiles & motorcycles serve no useful purpose. When my grandparents got their licenses they just paid a fee. When my parents got licenses they paid a fee & drove down a street a ways then back. They also just went to a local garage to get their license & so called driving test.
Today we make people jump through hoops, a total waste of time & energy. If you can't drive a vehicle in the first 30 minutes you never will. If you can drive in that first 30 minutes your as good as your ever going to be.
Auto insurance didn't exist prior to the 60s & only became mandatory in the late 70s when someone figured out how profitable it was.
When you get behind the wheel of a car, you are effectively yielding a potentially deadly weapon. The simple fact that a cyclist who is operating their bicycle properly and with all the correct equipment can feel threatened by drivers on a daily basis is proof that drivers need education and oversight.
Wearing a helmet is going to do absolutely nothing against a car. That has nothing to do with stats, it's physics. I just want to get that straight because while helmets help protect against falls and stray branches, they can't do anything against a bad driver :)
And yeah - it's important to be well-lit and have reflectors. Drivers need to be able to see you!!! (You'd think that would go without saying ...)
Also, cars can cause cyclists to fall without direct collisions at high speed. When you get doored, a helmet helps a lot. Taking evasive action to avoid a direct collision might also result in falling down. It's really nice to have a helmet in that scenario. Helmets save lives, and have saved my life twice.