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Viewing all posts tagged "cycling"
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Of bikes and men(?)
Only one thing angers me more than seeing Charge bicycle being ridden by a 13-yr-old, and that’s seeing a Charge bicycle ridden by a chav of any age. These jokers do not deserve such a fine, sexy riding machine as this:
Why am I writing about this? Because today on my walk to get lunch I saw both. That’s right. On my way to Tesco, I spotted some kid riding down the street on the bike pictured above. He was riding behind a man I assumed to be his father, on whom I place 100% of the blame for this travesty. This is the equivalent of receiving:
- a Ferrari as your first car; or
- a Gibson as your first guitar; or
- Heidi Klum as your first girlfriend
The problem isn’t only that it’s not fair. That does not bother me. The problem is that these kids will be messed up for life.
This segues nicely to my walk back from Tesco, when I spotting a chav of some indeterminable age riding down the same street on a Charge bike, a single speed like the model pictured above but this one was red. For those of you reading this outside the United Kingdom, chav is a derogatory term used to describe certain teenagers who typically wear tracksuits or hoodies made by sporting brands and who typically are part of a lower socio-economic group. They nonetheless find the resources to take up smoking from the age of 6, raise pit bulls (and pit bull type breeds) that will bite your face off, pierce themselves multiple times, and obtain mobile phones that play tinny-sounding music at a volume too low to enjoy but just loud enough to annoy every other person on the bus.
In terms of bicycles, your typical chav will ride a full-suspension mountain bike with 3-inch tires and possibly disc brakes. This bike will have not seen any mountains, trails, or streams, unless you count the stream of urine running down the Camden sidewalk. So when I saw this kid with frosted spiked hair wearing a light-blue popped-collar t-shirt and track pants riding a single speed racer down the street, it struck me as being visually quite strange. My surprise turned to anger when he passed me by and I saw the Charge label stuck across the frame.
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How not to kill a 6-yr-old girl on a scooter
I sprinted my last couple miles on my bicycle this afternoon and was having a really good ride, until I almost killed a 6-yr-old girl on a scooter. Well, “almost” is a slight exaggeration. In fact, there was no contact between us and neither of us broke stride. But it was close enough an encounter that I, and I’m sure the girl’s parents, understood clearly what could have happened had things been slightly different. Unlike Gwyneth Paltrow, who promptly skipped out of the way upon seeing me barrelling towards her*, this little girl had no idea what nearly happened to her. Only after I passed by did I hear the girl’s parents let out a sharp yell, presumably the girl’s name or the command “Stop!”
I did not even look back. What would have been the point? To say, “Excuse me, parent of little girl, why are you an idiot? Do you usually let your child scoot across the street without looking both ways?” Or to apologise? For what? “Sorry, little girl, for not having parents responsible enough to teach you that fast moving vehicles can kill you.” No, I did not turn back. I did not attempt to engage the family of three. Because the simple fact is that pedestrians in London absolutely hate cyclists, and for that reason it is impossible for me, as a cyclist, to have a meaningful conversation with a pedestrian about right of way, traffic patterns, and common sense parenting, especially just after a near miss.
Cyclists have a poor reputation around the city. We ignore the rules of the road, invoking certain ones only when it suits our interests. We blow past tourists wandering along their merry way upon a bike lane. We slip between cars and ride down the center of the street. In a traffic jam, we pop up onto the sidewalk. In short, we are all cocky bastards, and there is a lot of truth to that.
What most non-cyclists do not understand is that the current rules and regulations which govern cycling on the road are often inappropriately geared toward automobiles. Bikes are not cars!
Cyclists must obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD reg 10(1)
Cyclists MUST not cross the stop line when the traffic lights are red. Some junctions have an advanced stop line to enable you to wait and position yourself ahead of other traffic.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10 & 36(1)
These two rules are probably the most frequently broken rules by cyclists. They are certainly the ones I break most often. And the anger that erupts from pedestrians and drivers when they see you in the act! Such offense! But do I feel guilty? Not really. Not when other bits of the highway code are blatantly ignored:
Cars MUST stop behind the line at a junction with a ‘Stop’ sign and a solid white line across the road. Wait for a safe gap in the traffic before you move off.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10 & 16
Advanced stop lines. Some signal-controlled junctions have advanced stop lines to allow cycles to be positioned ahead of other traffic. Motorists, including motorcyclists, MUST stop at the first white line reached if the lights are amber or red and should avoid blocking the way or encroaching on the marked area at other times, e.g. if the junction ahead is blocked. If your vehicle has proceeded over the first white line at the time that the signal goes red, you MUST stop at the second white line, even if your vehicle is in the marked area. Allow cyclists time and space to move off when the green signal shows.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10, 36(1) & 43(2)These laws are broken by automobile drivers almost constantly. I’ve even seen police cars breaking these. Constantly. I’ve even seen a police man, having encroached on the cyclists’ waiting area in his car, actually lean his head out the window to chastise a cyclist for edging up a few feet while the light of still red. Unbelievable.
* Yes, I almost hit Gwyneth Paltrow on my bicycle two years ago.
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Real Life Conversations™
Today’s Real Life Conversation is brought to you by the fine drivers of London taxi cabs. This morning I had a not too uncommon encounter with a London taxi. First, let me set up the situation:
Taxi driver fails to see me approaching to his right, and yet, having seen no cars coming from his right side, begins pulling out into the road to make a right turn. Taxi driver sees traffic coming from his left and therefore cannot continue with his turn. As he sits there idling halfway across the lane, I continue my approach all the way up to his driver’s side door, where I pause, look up, and meet the driver’s eyes. I had deliberately left 1 inch of space between my front tire and his car door.
“Are you making a statement!?” he says.
“Yes,” I say, “you cannot pull out halfway into the street and expect me to swerve!”
“Fucking asshole!” he says.
Today’s Real Life Conversation was brought to you by the fine drivers of London taxi cabs.
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Benefits of Bicycle Transportation
Bicycle transportation (bike to work and for other utility cycling) has many benefits for society. We can remind public officials and all citizens that it is in their best interest to promote cycling.
- Bicycles are almost completely pollution-free vehicles: Free from air, water and noise pollution.
- Bicycles enhance security. They use no imported oil.
- Bicycles emit no greenhouse gasses.
- Bicycles are much less a threat to the safety of bystanders than motor vehicles.
- Bicycles take up much less space on the road and for parking.
- Cycling promotes public health.
Worth remembering!
Source: Fred Oswald
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The BBC posted the same article with two different headlines:
Are women cyclist in more danger than men?
Are nervous cyclists more likely to be killed?
So women are nervous?
Apparently, women cyclists, who make up only 28% of the UK’s cycling population, are much more likely than men to be killed on the road in accidents involving big trucks.
In 2007, an internal report for Transport for London concluded women cyclists are far more likely to be killed by lorries because, unlike men, they tend to obey red lights and wait at junctions in the driver’s blind spot.
The report said that male cyclists are generally quicker getting away from a red light - or, indeed, jump red lights - and so get out of the danger area.
It’s true that waiting at a red light is actually dangerous for cyclists: pulling away from the lights along with all the accelerating cars is a dangerous operation, and possibly creates more danger than the act of cycling through the red light.
But the BBC isn’t too sure. Is it the male tendency to favour logic or aggression which decreases their risk?
“I’m much more nervous of my cycling ability, I’m frightened people might hit me, which means I don’t cycle in a positive manner.” Feeling nervous about cycling can influence the way people ride, she says. Some women tend to cycle too close to the pavement as they want to stay as far away from traffic as possible. She also feels reluctant to put herself at the front of the traffic at red lights, which is the safest place for cyclists to be.
But this has a counter argument as well. Remember that study that showed cars actually passed helmet-wearing cyclists closer to the handlebars than helmet-free riders?
Ian Walker, a professor of traffic and transport psychology at the University of Bath,…challenges the notion that nervous cyclists are generally more vulnerable because if fear is visible it can help, he says. The more confident you look, the closer the cars get, he says, and a deliberate wobble is sometimes used by cyclists to get more space.
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Here is a video of my daily ride from home (Camden Town) to work (Angel Islington). Since we moved offices from Chiswick, my ride has shortened from over 6 miles to a meagre 2.3 miles. But the round trip gives me about 20 minutes of easy exercise each day.
The video itself is kind of boring: more a proof of concept than anything else. I aim to develop these cycle-cam videos into a coherent project with a deliberate artistic direction or functional purpose.
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”Traffic lights that were once co-ordinated for car speeds were adjusted to cater to the pace of the average cyclist, allowing them to travel long distances without ever getting a red light. To increase safety, stop lines for cars are five metres behind those for bikes. Cyclists get a green light up to 12 seconds ahead of cars to help increase their visibility.
Copenhagen: Bicycling paradise of the day (via mattlehrer)
Exactly! Can I just add that any experienced urban cyclist will tell you that waiting at a red light is actually dangerous, as pulling away from the lights with all the accelerating cars is a risky operation. It might even create more danger than the act of cycling through the red light.
In London, each positive step seems to be countered with a negative. There are bike lanes, but they appear in illogical locations and end abruptly often without warning. There are some dedicated cycling paths which physically separate cyclists from the flow of vehicle traffic, but the paths are riddled with speed humps and dangerous bollards. At traffic lights, there are nice big green stop areas for bikes, but car drivers rarely respect this area, routinely crossing over their designated stop line.
Don’t forget that traffic lights were invented to aid the flow of traffic and pedestrians, not to increase safety. Since cycling through them does not affect traffic / pedestrian flow, the original reason should not apply to bikes
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The mini camera mounted to my helmet provided a great perspective, more interesting than the shoulder-mounted angle and a lot less jerky than when I attached it to front of the bicycle itself. Unfortunately, the lens was was pointed a little bit too far downward, so all the streets kind of look the same. I’ve tried to make it more interesting by adding a relaxing Art Blakey tune and doubling the playback speed (watch for when the sax enters!). In the next run, I’ll adjust the shooting angle and hopefully capture cool views of London so you can actually tell where I’m riding.
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![This is the rule:
Motorists, including motorcyclists, MUST stop at the first white line reached if the lights are amber or red and should avoid blocking the way or encroaching on the marked area at other times, e.g. if the junction ahead is blocked.
[Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10, 36(1) & 43(2)]
Source: The Highway Code, Road junctions (170-183)
Is this rule followed? Not at all. Here are some examples from my ride today:
Is this rule punishable? Yes, in theory. Are people actually punished for such violations? Not that I know of.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krrgycRHPK1qzdwdxo1_400.jpg)
This is the rule:
Motorists, including motorcyclists, MUST stop at the first white line reached if the lights are amber or red and should avoid blocking the way or encroaching on the marked area at other times, e.g. if the junction ahead is blocked.
[Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10, 36(1) & 43(2)]
Source: The Highway Code, Road junctions (170-183)
Is this rule followed? Not at all. Here are some examples from my ride today:
Is this rule punishable? Yes, in theory. Are people actually punished for such violations? Not that I know of.
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Red lights are for cars, right?
I think that regardless of your stance on the red light issue, all road users — pedestrians, drivers, cyclists — can agree that the flow of traffic can be improved.
While it’s true that experienced cyclists ought to be able to pull away well ahead of accelerating cars, what about inexperienced cyclists who don’t have the burst power or confidence to do so? And while it’s true that inexperienced cyclists might increase their risk by jumping red lights, why not make it optional rather than legislating against the entire cycling community? It’s a difficult problem to crack. There are so many aspects to think about that it’s tough to find a solution which is both acceptable to all road users and — this is important — costs little to nothing to implement on a city-wide scale.
One of the quickest, easiest, cheapest (it’s free) legal measures that can be taken immediately is to allow cyclists to turn left at red lights, provided they give way to all other vehicles or pedestrians who have the right of way. I come from America, where we drive on the right side of the road and it’s legal for cars to turn right on red, provided drivers yield to any entities who have the right of way. From my perspective, it seems odd that, in the UK, where you drive on the left side of the road, cars (and bicycles!) are prohibited from turning left on red.
Part of Boris Johnson’s 2008 mayoral campaign was to allow cyclists to turn left at red lights. Earlier this year, he wrote a letter to the DfT outlining his plan, but he never submitted a formal proposal to change the left-on-red law for cyclist. It’s a shame, really.
In Copenhagen, quite possibly the ideal urban cycling encironment, there are dedicated cyclist traffic lights. A similar solution in London would be too costly to implement, but there’s a cheaper alternative: simply lengthen the phase of the yellow light before it turns green. The new rule would be, “Cyclists treat the yellow light as a green.” As little as 3-5 seconds would make a big difference and ought not to anger even the most impatient drivers. Of course, this solution is not without expense, but it’s way cheaper than
What do you think? Left on red? Longer yellow lights? Would these measures improve the overall flow of road users, without adversely affecting anyone?
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