bicycle engineers
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 bicycle engineers
Contrary to popular belief, you increase your chances of getting hit by cars when riding your bicycle on the sidewalk. I know that you may have difficulty to believe, but true.
While riding in the street is more intimidating, it puts you in a position that makes you more visible to motorists. Usually, people go on the sidewalk because they want to stay away from cars they ride against traffic in the street because they have fear of being struck from behind: "they want to see cars coming from me." Crashed on the sidewalks are nearly fifty percent of all crash types. They are more common because each input form an intersection, and if you went to the driving school, you may remember, that most accidents occur at intersections. In the jargon of traffic engineering in which two vehicles intersect is considered a point of conflict and traffic engineers work very hard to reduce or eliminate conflict points.
Essentially, every path crossing the sidewalk is a point of conflict. Add to that motorists not to stop on the sidewalk before entering the street and watching traffic in the street, not for cyclists on the sidewalk and you have recipe for an accident. By bike on the street, you completely avoid these points of conflict. The motorist stopped before entering the street and look where you are before they cross your path. While these accidents are usually not fatal, they can easily lead to a disabling injury, especially if you do not wear helmets. In my practice as an expert witness, most accidents related to sidewalk I was involved with the rider not wearing a helmet and generally lead to brain damage
Riding against the flow of traffic creates a variety of problems for both motorists and cyclists. The most common reason for people use against the tide in the street is they want to see what's coming to them. That's what mirrors are for. The chance of being hit from behind is less than ten per cent and these accidents are at night and the cyclist has no lights on the bike. Daytime Accidents of this type are usually on a rural road. Compare this ten percent chance of getting hit from behind at thirty per cent risk of crash with the car when you ride against traffic.
When you are going against the tide you're out of sight of the motorist and thus far from the heart. Unless a motorist is make a left turn, they usually look to the right with traffic. Their main concern is traffic that struck in May If they turn to the right, he is crossing the street to the cars that will affect their left turn. They do not look for traffic coming in the opposite direction on the same side Street. When you are going against the grain of the motorist has no options when they spend on-coming cyclist. They may or may not be able to move over and give room to cyclists. Finally, the cyclist badly-way competition for space with a cyclist goes with the flow. At least one access road is near, someone is forced to flow. When this happens, I'm heading to the wrong-way cyclist is that of making evasive action and eventually go ahead in the traffic after all, they are the ones who can see the traffic come. In general, keep in mind that the greatest risk of being affected not by cars that are on a trajectory parallel with you but those who cross your path.
Mark Horowitz, is a nationally recognized bicycle safety professional with over 40 years of cycling experience and more than twenty years teaching bicycling to both children and adults. He is regional trainer for the Florida Traffic Safety Education Program and a League of American Bicyclist certified instructor. He wrote and produced the award winning drivers education video Everyone Has Story: Road Sharing Tips for Motorists and Bicyclists. For a home study course on bicycling go to http://www.learntobicycle.com.