What Roads are Safer for Cyclists?
Poll: What Roads are Safer for Cyclists?
Total Members Polled: 54
Discussion
I'm on the outskirts of London, so tend to head out and ride, I find it safer.
Have a fellow rider who says unlit roads and hooning drivers together with speeds on country roads make them more dangerous.
Obviously both require a different skill set when riding, but assuming you have good lights etc, which are safer?
Opinions/stats/lies welcomed
Have a fellow rider who says unlit roads and hooning drivers together with speeds on country roads make them more dangerous.
Obviously both require a different skill set when riding, but assuming you have good lights etc, which are safer?
Opinions/stats/lies welcomed
I tend to avoid all of the above these days but from previous experience you have more chance of being seen in an urban environment, offset by the greater number of people on the roads, than a rural environment.
Night is usually worse for cyclists in terms of people seeing you (regardless of whether you have lights or not), offset by the fewer number of drivers on the roads.
Night is usually worse for cyclists in terms of people seeing you (regardless of whether you have lights or not), offset by the fewer number of drivers on the roads.
After initially misreading your post title as 'What Roads are Safe for Cyclists?' and being about to throw a mental at you along the lines of "they should ALL be safe to cycle on", I re-read it...
Rural roads at night, in my experience, have yielded the fewest number of 'close calls' or near misses with drivers not paying attention. Any incidents which occurred at night tended to be abuse from drivers who just didn't like cyclists anyway. All this presuming, as you said, that you have a decent set of lights.
Urban roads suffer from information and hazard overload, and bike riders are more difficult to pick out amongst the background 'clutter', both day and night, and rear lights on bikes can be overwhelmed by the volume of light emitted by motor vehicles, street lighting, and fast food joints, etc, at night. Rural roads in daylight tend to attract an "I know the road" attitude from some drivers, and on the twisty stuff they can get very close to a hazard (cyclist
) before they realise (s)he's there.
At night, on unlit rural roads, the bikes' rear lights are visible from much further away, allowing even a poor driver some time to think about how to proceed. You, as a cyclist, also tend to get an earlier warning of traffic from the rear, as you get bathed in the light from the high-beams. You also know that you've been seen if the lights then dip, which gives you added confidence that this driver, at least, will treat you with some degree of respect. To a lesser extent the same is true of traffic from ahead, although the 'being seen from distance' bit is slightly reduced if you have your front lamps aimed at the tarmac an optimal distance ahead of you. I found that wearing a head-torch along with a red rear lamp on my lid went some way to redressing the balance, as you can use the head lamp as a 'high beam' to 'wash' the outside of upcoming bends, and the additional height above ground allows the lights to be seen above hedgerows, etc. A full set of reflectors along with some decent high-vis completed my outfit, and like I say, the only time I ever came close to trouble was when I was kindly informed by an aggressive agricultural type that "you shouldn't ought to be on the roads at this time of night". Far more 'SMIDSYs' and risky overtakers in daylight, and like I say, you blend in too much in urban 'darkness'.
Whilst in the Army I served away from home for about 9 years, and in that time most of my riding during winter months was done between 2000hrs and 2300hrs, weekday nights, so I do have a fair chunk of experience in both North Yorkshire (Ripon) and Essex (Saffron Walden) upon which to base these assertions.
Rural roads at night, in my experience, have yielded the fewest number of 'close calls' or near misses with drivers not paying attention. Any incidents which occurred at night tended to be abuse from drivers who just didn't like cyclists anyway. All this presuming, as you said, that you have a decent set of lights.
Urban roads suffer from information and hazard overload, and bike riders are more difficult to pick out amongst the background 'clutter', both day and night, and rear lights on bikes can be overwhelmed by the volume of light emitted by motor vehicles, street lighting, and fast food joints, etc, at night. Rural roads in daylight tend to attract an "I know the road" attitude from some drivers, and on the twisty stuff they can get very close to a hazard (cyclist
) before they realise (s)he's there. At night, on unlit rural roads, the bikes' rear lights are visible from much further away, allowing even a poor driver some time to think about how to proceed. You, as a cyclist, also tend to get an earlier warning of traffic from the rear, as you get bathed in the light from the high-beams. You also know that you've been seen if the lights then dip, which gives you added confidence that this driver, at least, will treat you with some degree of respect. To a lesser extent the same is true of traffic from ahead, although the 'being seen from distance' bit is slightly reduced if you have your front lamps aimed at the tarmac an optimal distance ahead of you. I found that wearing a head-torch along with a red rear lamp on my lid went some way to redressing the balance, as you can use the head lamp as a 'high beam' to 'wash' the outside of upcoming bends, and the additional height above ground allows the lights to be seen above hedgerows, etc. A full set of reflectors along with some decent high-vis completed my outfit, and like I say, the only time I ever came close to trouble was when I was kindly informed by an aggressive agricultural type that "you shouldn't ought to be on the roads at this time of night". Far more 'SMIDSYs' and risky overtakers in daylight, and like I say, you blend in too much in urban 'darkness'.
Whilst in the Army I served away from home for about 9 years, and in that time most of my riding during winter months was done between 2000hrs and 2300hrs, weekday nights, so I do have a fair chunk of experience in both North Yorkshire (Ripon) and Essex (Saffron Walden) upon which to base these assertions.
TheInternet said:
Whereas I find rural riding massively more mind-numbing than the onslaught of city riding. Besides the exhilaration of downhills the countryside can be an uneventful slog.
And there was me thinking it was a serious poll about where people perceived themselves to be safest whilst riding, not a critique of the terrain?I'm pretty sure that the roads I feel safest on won't correlate to national stats on safest per mile ridden.
I feel safest on urban roads in the day - I'm travelling at roughly the same speed as the traffic and behave just like traffic. I'm a firm advocate of not putting myself in dangerous positions without an escape route which may make my journeys a little slower but means I have far fewer near misses than some I speak to and contributes to that feeling of safety.
I feel safest on urban roads in the day - I'm travelling at roughly the same speed as the traffic and behave just like traffic. I'm a firm advocate of not putting myself in dangerous positions without an escape route which may make my journeys a little slower but means I have far fewer near misses than some I speak to and contributes to that feeling of safety.
I would say urban, my experience with rural roads on the way to work in my car put me off cycling on the roads, but there is also a cycle track along the old railway line, but hardly anyone uses it.
I have seen quite a few near misses of cyclists going down roads that are only just wide enough for cars going in both directions, mix that with some fairly blind corners and the fact everyone is doing atleast 45 mph, then all of a sudden there is a bike in front of you in the middle of the road... rather him than me
I have seen quite a few near misses of cyclists going down roads that are only just wide enough for cars going in both directions, mix that with some fairly blind corners and the fact everyone is doing atleast 45 mph, then all of a sudden there is a bike in front of you in the middle of the road... rather him than me
Which rural road though?
The rural back lanes that I ride are very quiet in the day, and deserted at night. I can do 30 miles easey without seeing one other vehicle. I've done a 4pm while 2am shift before going out on the bike and I love the peace I get at that time of night, and as said the rear lights are visible from a long distance.
Urban riding is not something I do much of, as there isn't much urban where I live or work.
The rural back lanes that I ride are very quiet in the day, and deserted at night. I can do 30 miles easey without seeing one other vehicle. I've done a 4pm while 2am shift before going out on the bike and I love the peace I get at that time of night, and as said the rear lights are visible from a long distance.
Urban riding is not something I do much of, as there isn't much urban where I live or work.
Rural lanes around here are just lethal on a road bike; all national speed limit but very narrow and twisty; there have been loads of cyclist deaths this year.
So sadly my road bike remains unused; I may even sell it. Loving MTBing but I need to take it in the van to reach the good stuff.
A bit of a shame.
So sadly my road bike remains unused; I may even sell it. Loving MTBing but I need to take it in the van to reach the good stuff.
A bit of a shame.
I think a large group of mostly inexperienced cyclists in an urban environment after dark is the scariest mixture I've encountered.
I did a charity L2B night ride earlier this year. I saw some shocking driving from the sort of drivers you encounter after midnight around the outskirts of London who were completely flummoxed by a large group of cyclists that they couldn't easily pass, and likewise some shocking cycling from amateur riders who couldn't really see what they were doing.
Quite a few crashes and loads of near misses.
I did a charity L2B night ride earlier this year. I saw some shocking driving from the sort of drivers you encounter after midnight around the outskirts of London who were completely flummoxed by a large group of cyclists that they couldn't easily pass, and likewise some shocking cycling from amateur riders who couldn't really see what they were doing.
Quite a few crashes and loads of near misses.
interesting and varied responses.
Really about the actual roads rather than the environment. As some have said narrow country roads with many blind bends can be pretty lethal.
There are a few of these when I'm heading out. But then again heading into London, I sometimes have to do a small stretch of the A406 north circular, which really freaks me out.
I do think familiarity breeds the feeling of safety too though
Really about the actual roads rather than the environment. As some have said narrow country roads with many blind bends can be pretty lethal.
There are a few of these when I'm heading out. But then again heading into London, I sometimes have to do a small stretch of the A406 north circular, which really freaks me out.
I do think familiarity breeds the feeling of safety too though
There are rural roads that are wide, well sighted andim more than comfy on. Then there's the 1 lane or lane and a half wide twisty ones that are potentially more hazardous.
That said, I find that I get less close overtakes and generally get treated better by traffic in the evenings. This I suspect has a LOT to do with sickeningly powerful lights (the moment I added the big lights the change happened).
That said, I find that I get less close overtakes and generally get treated better by traffic in the evenings. This I suspect has a LOT to do with sickeningly powerful lights (the moment I added the big lights the change happened).
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