The comments on the story about the accident in tulsa are really terrible, really sad. I can’t believe people actually think like that, that the solution to driver negligence (which is almost always the case of bike accidents involving a bike and a car) is for cyclists to not ride their bikes.

I ride a road bike. I ride it on the road because it’s made for pavement, and because it’s illegal for me to ride on the sidewalk. For a lot of miles of my riding, there are no sidewalks. Bike trails are nice where the exist, and I don’t mind dodging pedestrians and slower cyclists even, but the trails almost never go anywhere useful. I ride in the middle of the lane because that’s the safest place for me to be. I am more noticeable and to pass me you have to use the other lane. I’m almost never on roads that don’t have a passing lane, at least when traffic is an issue. Every cyclist with any experience knows the roads with the best pavement and least traffic to get where they are going, and new cyclists often hear about them the first time they meet other riders (‘You take 10th st all the way from where? no no no, take 4th to downtown, then…’).

If you’re a driver, watch where you’re going and don’t drive drunk, ok? I see a lot of people bitching on the internet about aggro/self righteous cyclists, but if a random cyclist started killing drivers at random, and got away with it (hit and runs are the rule), wouldn’t you be mad at them? This case would have been just like that, if an eyewitness hadn’t run the driver off the road to stop her.

Fact: you have to double or triple your speed to reduce time traveled by a significant amount when driving in town. That means that even a full 60 seconds waiting behind a cyclist (this is a lot longer than you think) going 15 mph waiting to pass is only going to slow you by about 30 seconds in your overall travel time. You spend more time than that sitting at red lights, making coffee or chatting with co-workers. Hell, I spend more time staring at the wall persuading myself to get out of bed. It’s not worth getting upset over and certainly not worth killing some poor guy who’s just trying to get somewhere.

If you’re a cyclist, be careful. You’d look hotter in a helmet, and by hotter I mean sexier without head injuries. Use lower traffic roads, lights, and bright clothing. Of course, none of that helped me this last time, but I know it’s saved me a thousand other times. Don’t be an asshole, but take the lane, it’s yours by law, and if you’re off to the side, it’s easier to go unnoticed. If a driver is coming towards you, yell at them, whatever you feel like yelling, as loud as you can. More than once yelling “HEY!” has saved my bacon.

I think that’s all. Good luck and good night.

Posted by Matt on 2009-06-10T00:00:00Z GMT