The dangers of riding a bike

Pekka

This week in Tampere,Finland a young woman was cycling on the pavement when she was pushed onto the road by an angry 74 year old pedestrian. She was hit by an oncoming bus and suffered serious injuries including broken hips. The local newspaper mentioned that she wasn't wearing a helmet.

woodford2barbican

I wonder if the bus driver was speeding as well.....?

drenkrom

I don't know about Finland, but in most countries I've ridden my bike in, riding on the sidewalk is illegal. Then again, so is pushing people in front of oncoming traffic.

No one ever said riding bikes was a safe activity, and that's something we all have to keep in the back of our minds. I see so many happy-go-lucky cyclists come close to a prolonged nap in a cozy wooden box without even realizing what almost happened to them. The more aware we are of the dangers around us at all times, the better off we'll get if it should come to the worst case scenario. And not wearing a helmet is seriously weak, though it won't do much for broken hips.

Cunobelin

The "Helmet" is always added, but very rarely adds to the value of the original story which in this case is tragic.

It's bit like the Sun where you never see "fat, ugly old trout, Emily aged 23" rather than "attractive blond 32 year old Emily"

Simply poor, often inaccurate and lazy reporting.

redvee

I've had a couple of classics with bikes on pavements. The strangest was when I was operating the tailiift on the van at work. Iwas stood on a narrrow (3') pavement and a teenager came down the pavement on is bike, this was a quiet sidestreet with no traffic, so I stood my ground and after he looked at me for a second I asked if he wanted me stand in the road so he could ride illegally on the pavement? He replied 'Go away' starting and finishing in F, f*** o*f.
The most recent was when I was walking along the pavement approx 2' from the kerb and could see a cyclist riding towards me and he decided to ride between me and the edge of the pavement, needless to say he made contact with my shoulder and had to ride on the road.
I am guilty of this heinous crime myself but try to keep this to an absolute minimum and when I do I give the pedestrians priority which confuses the hell out of them.

Cunobelin

Slightly OT,

Wouldn't you like to be able to simply push all the illegal cars off the pavements?


I am bipartisan here.

In some ways I support pavement cycling in some circumstances - for th young and perhaps the elderly where there is a real risk from an unforgiving road environment. Even then only with a large helping of common sense and a total acceptance that pedestrians have right of way.

In other ways I detest fit adults and teenagers treating the pavements like their own motorway network, without consideration or common sense.

YOu need to rememberthat a bike passing a pedestrian is a speed diffrence of about 5 - 6 timesthe pedestrian speed.

This is the equiavlenet of a vehicle passing you at 80 mph in a narrow poorly designed road. The percepion of danger is very real and it is this that needs to be addressed. No matter how careful you think you are being - it is the pedestrians perception that matters to them. Especially if they have had bad experiences in the past.

However in neither case is the level of injury and hardship above a "suitable" punishment.

redddraggon

I was taking my dog for a walk last week, and a group of kids (~14yr old) come screeching round the corner on full sus's and nearly hit my (on a lead) dog.

I told them "to get on the bloody road"

and my reply was "it's too dangerous"

Which led me to rant full of swearing that I can barely remember or mention, including that I do over 100miles a week on busier roads than where I was, and they were morons.

If I can ride on the road, and I'm one clumsy bugger then so can they.

duckiciao

redddraggon wrote:

I was taking my dog for a walk last week, and a group of kids (~14yr old) come screeching round the corner on full sus's and nearly hit my (on a lead) dog.

I told them "to get on the bloody road"

and my reply was "it's too dangerous"

Which led me to rant full of swearing that I can barely remember or mention, including that I do over 100miles a week on busier roads than where I was, and they were morons.

If I can ride on the road, and I'm one clumsy bugger then so can they.

I was stopped by a CSO for riding on the pavement and used the 'the traffic is too dangerous at rush hour' excuse. He replied 'get off your bike and walk it then'. Never have I experienced such simple common sense coming from the police since.

Parkey

Where I frequently cycle and drive there are always kids on their £80 from Argos full suspension MTBs with disk brakes cruising up and down. They like to dress in dark clothes, use no lights, cycle on and off the pavement, and change direction completely at random with no warning. I've even had one come at me head-on down the wrong side of the road.

I once, caught completely off guard in the dark by a kid in a black hoodie, said "Lights!" after him. He looked at me like I was from Mars.