Coexisting With Bicyclists: 10 Rules for Drivers

Edmunds.com

Coexisting With Bicyclists: 10 Rules for Drivers

With more bicyclists on the roads, serious bicycle-car accidents are happening with increasing frequency. Here are 10 accident-prevention rules for drivers.

Read the full story here

cgrumble

I know drivers should look out for bikes, but I stopped expecting them to and quit riding. It wasn't worth the risk. Driving a car is dangerous enough. Too many people don't take driving seriously enough. I won't ride my bike with cars any more. It's just not worth the risk. Skiing/snow boarding is much safer and I have some control of my risk. Riding a bike with poor drivers is very risky.

39,000 Americans died in motor-vehicle accidents;
6,162 pedestrians were killed;
6,700 died from unintentional public falls;
3,800 died from unintentional public poisoning;
3,600 people drowned while swimming in public areas;
900 died while bicycle riding;
129 died from tornadoes;
38 died from ski/snowboard accidents
and 25 died from lightning.

dangerouself

Good article, good tips; I'm just hoping it doesn't get plowed under by the volume of backlash from indignant drivers who start with the usual: "You Lance-wannabe's need to quit running reds and stop signs! Quit riding 2-3-4 across, you don't own the road!"

NEWSFLASH: neither do you. Horsepower=/=authority.

"Road users" is not a 4-wheeled, gas-burning fraternity, the roads are for the USE OF THE PUBLIC. Yes, there are rules and laws -- when you abide by them 100%, THEN you can say something about someone else. Not sure about the laws and rules? DMV. City/state website. RESEARCH! Don't THINK you know -- FIND OUT, so you DO KNOW!

I know the traffic law as it pertains to my bike riding, and I go by that; when some driver wants to honk, or yell out the window at me because I'm not doing what HE WANTS, I get a little unpleasant; I'm there to do what I NEED TO DO, not to "get in your way" -- just go around safely and go on. We CAN get along... try it. I'M agreeable, to start with............

khalils

This is a very good article, and covers some of the most common errors and accident locations. Thank you, Edmunds (and Kathleen Doheny), for helping make the roads safer through education!

joemizereck

Well done Kathleen...and I thank you and Edmunds.com for investing the time and energy in preparing this very informative piece. Most motorists will welcome this kind of information because it will help them better understand how they can safely negotiate their vehicles around cyclists. I think most motorists are responsible and want to do what's right and safe, so this info can only help them become better motorists. As a result, our roads are made safer to ride a bicycle and I like that...a lot. Thank you.

wonderbiker

Thank you so much for this article. The vast majority of motorists understand and respect that cyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle users. Sadly, there is a small minority that do not. Articles such as these will help get the word out that we all must obey the rules of the road and respect one another. Remember: The more cyclists, the lower the price of gasoline. Hint, hint. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

bikeadman

Kathleen Doheny makes a common error in her lead-in to this piece when she writes, "Traffic accidents involving bicyclists and vehicles killed 630 people in the U.S. in 2009." The accident is not between a cyclist and a vehicle. It is between a cyclist and a DRIVER. In my experience not one car, taxi, van, bus, garbage truck, or other truck has yet to injure, much less kill a single cyclist. Unfortunately, thousands of cyclists have been killed by their DRIVERS. So let's stop saying and writing a cyclist was hit/injured/killed by a car. Cars don't drive themselves.

bikeadman

Kathleen Doheny makes a common error in her lead-in to this piece when she writes, "Traffic accidents involving bicyclists and vehicles killed 630 people in the U.S. in 2009." The accident is not between a cyclist and a vehicle. It is between a cyclist and a DRIVER. In my experience not one car, taxi, van, bus, garbage truck, or other truck has yet to injure, much less kill a single cyclist. Unfortunately, thousands of cyclists have been killed by their DRIVERS. So let's stop saying and writing a cyclist was hit/injured/killed by a car. Cars don't drive themselves.

coroadie

Thank you for this article. I felt maybe this could also use a bit more of a personal touch from someone who knows only too well what a driver can do to a cyclist.

I have been hit by a car and was lucky enough to survive (a paramedic who witnessed the accident says I flew up into the air and landed on my handlebars and head) but have permanent injuries that will be with me for the rest of my life. I was lucky. The woman who hit me was not paying attention and took a left hand turn, came across two lanes of traffic and broadsided me as I was riding home from work on a straight road with no traffic and plenty of sight distance. I even thought I had made eye contact with her but she says she never saw me until she hit me. I was lucky.

My daughter had a schoolmate's father who wasn't so lucky. He was struck from behind, on a road with a wide bike lane in which he was riding, by someone who dropped a juice bottle in their car and felt that they had to get it that moment rather than waiting until the next stop light or stop sign. He was less than a 1/2 mile from my house when he was hit and killed instantly. (http://bicyclecolo.org/articles/bc-news-2002-11-19-pg279.htm)

Another cyclist I had ridden with from time to time was killed, also in Highlands Ranch, riding on a wide road with a wide bike lane because a high school student felt it was more important to send his friends text messages than it was to pay attention to the road in front of him. Jim lived for two days after being struck but never regained consciousness before passing. (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f2/text-messaging-teen-kills-bicyclist-137177/)

Three accidents, two deaths simply because people could not pay attention to what they were supposed to be paying attention to, the road and the other vehicles on the road. Both Roger and Jim were killed by cars they never saw coming. They both left families behind. Roger was only 41 and had children he never got to see grow up.

Please drive safely out there. The life you save could be mine.

Katie_Mpls

It’s not uncommon to see bicyclists on the streets in Minneapolis. I’m that person who just slows down and holds back. Because of traffic and stop lights and stop signs, it doesn’t really increase drive time anyway. I have a number of friends who bicycle daily, so that tip about thinking of them as family and friends helps. And it feels good to know that even for a few minutes you gave someone a sigh of relief and reminded them that there are people out there looking out for them.

Ticker

I have no problem giving bicyclist their share of the road. The problem this article does mention is how bicyclist assume they should be treated differently than the rest of vehicular traffic. They don't obey stop signs, they act like pedestrians at crosswalks when they are motorist. They should ride to be seen, they seem to assume that they have more privaledge than is due.