Safety When Commuting

SammiG

hi guys,

I am an A level student and a keen cyclist (mainly the jumps tho).

I am looking for idea for A level project and feel this is the best way to gather information about issues.

I was wondering if you would be able to list your top 5 problems when commuting (or as many as you have time for) and i will get back to you with some proposed ideas to help.

regards sam

Kieran_Burns

Oh dear God Cue the MASS posting :shock:

1. Lack of driver understanding of cyclist speed (pulling out in front, left hooking is all due to lack of appreciation of the fact that bikes can exceed 20 mph easily)
2. Poor road conditions. What may seem 'okay' in a car can be like cycling up millions of little hills.
3. Poor facilities at work (no showers, lockers, secure covered parking)
4. HILLS
5. Not enough Police on the roads to catch illegal and dangerous road use (drivers AND cyclists) I see WAY too many examples of illegal acts by too many people


Please note that these are MY top five... I have a vastly different commute to the poor sods in London

always_tyred

Cars, cars, cars, cars and busses. And potholes.. damn thats 6.

chromehoof

yeah, basically cars and drivers and people in taxis and buses

check out this article. It was in one of the Irish papers yesterday;

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 47136.html

Basically, its about a group of lobby groups coming together to ask that driver interaction with cyclists be part of driving courses. This should be especially true of drivers of anything bigger than a regular car.

linsen

Cars
facilities at work
the weather
the hills
Getting my dress caught in the chain

lost_in_thought

1. Bad / inconsiderate driving
2. Bad road condition - potholes, ironworks, cracks, bumps, uneven surface etc.
3. Pedestrians who don't think/look


Ummmm, I can't really think of any more. I would say bad road layout, but that's more related to inconsiderate driving.

ChrisLS

...cyclist aware driver training and more training for cyclists..

biondino

5. Motor vehicles. There are lots of them, some of them don't drive well. Taxis usually drive okay, but are used to making snap decisions about stopping, pulling out and turning, and the cyclist is often in the way.

4. Weather - rain makes things much more difficult to see (especially road markings) as well as worsening grip, and the cold and wind make the whole experience much less enjoyable.

3. My roadcraft. I'd love to say I was always a perfect cyclist but I'm not, and I'd say that is the single most likely avoidable cause of an accident. This morning a car I was on the bumper of RLJed, and I didn't even bother looking at the lights - until a group of peds who had already started to cross stared at me and I noticed there was a green man

2. Visibility - mine and that of vehicles, other cyclists and pedestrians.

1. The dreadful, irresponsible and self-defeating idiocy of about 50% of the cyclists I see on the roads. They cause accidents, they're antisocial, and they mean the cause of cycling can never move forward beyond a certain point.

CiB

Easy

1 - Poor road surfaces, especially near to the kerb. Sometimes you can't avoid that part of the road.

2 - The additional time added to the working day to do the journey (20 miles), plus recovery time & getting changed. Which leads to...

3 - Lack of facilities on site. Small handbasin in cramped loo not adequate.

4 - Glass. What is it with the unwashed plebs in this country, those who can't leave glass bottles etc just lying on the road or a cycle path, but they just have to smash it to bits, covering the whole path in glass shards. Brainless halfwitted morons.

5 - Not so much inconsiderate drivers - these are actually quite rare, but those whose decision making abilities are poor, who have no concept, knowledge or understanding of what cycling involves. They really do make it un-necessarily hard for us sometimes.

salsarider79

Cars
facilities at work
the weather
the hills
Getting my dress caught in the chain

+1 All except the hills. I like hills. It has to be the poor road surfaces at number 1.
Oh, missed the dress thing, not that one obviously.... :oops:

Horton

biondino wrote:

5. Motor vehicles. There are lots of them, some of them don't drive well. Taxis usually drive okay, but are used to making snap decisions about stopping, pulling out and turning, and the cyclist is often in the way.

4. Weather - rain makes things much more difficult to see (especially road markings) as well as worsening grip, and the cold and wind make the whole experience much less enjoyable.

3. My roadcraft. I'd love to say I was always a perfect cyclist but I'm not, and I'd say that is the single most likely avoidable cause of an accident. This morning a car I was on the bumper of RLJed, and I didn't even bother looking at the lights - until a group of peds who had already started to cross stared at me and I noticed there was a green man

2. Visibility - mine and that of vehicles, other cyclists and pedestrians.

1. The dreadful, irresponsible and self-defeating idiocy of about 50% of the cyclists I see on the roads. They cause accidents, they're antisocial, and they mean the cause of cycling can never move forward beyond a certain point.

+1 - especially the last (or is it the first - number 1 anyway) point

cjcp

Always Tyred wrote:

Cars, cars, cars, cars and busses. And potholes.. damn thats 6.

Ditto. But you missed "raised ironworks and manhole covers".

1. Glass and other guff on the road.

2. Road quality. Some roads are like patchwork quilts

3. Painted lines on the road - very slippery.

4. Leaf strikes. ( )

5. RLJers for giving us a bad name.

6. Drafting fairies who fail to appreciate or do not care about the danger of drafting in traffic.

7. Road works which aren't properly signposted or even lit (e.g. for the crew who commute to the rich and verdant, south west London area, those situated just by the Bolan Bridge)

8. Pedestrians who step out into the road - whether from the pavement or from between traffic - without a care in the world.

gtvlusso

Hiya,

Good luck with A levels.

1, Low quality Car driving
2, Facilities at work
3, Facilities in cities - lock ups and so on.
4, Mopeds using cycle lanes
5, cyclists riding on the wrong side of the road in cycle lanes (i.e. against traffic flow in cycle lane).

Cyclists are by no means perfect, under the catagory comes: Kids, people without lights, people who cycle on pavements/have no regard for traffic or pedestrians......but ultimately for the people that do give a crap we are immediately tarnished and dis-regarded as a nuisance. Bus drivers and lorry drivers have always been good to me, but I tend to command the road when I need to and then show them the opportunity to pass me - control them a bit, say my thank you's too.

always_tyred

Its not fair that people get around the "5 things" rule by introducing sub categories that go on for a page.

When does one cease to be a "pupil" and become a "student"?

I always thought it happened about the same time as beer entered your life.

More random musings to follow shortly.

Nick6891

Sammi i did a design technology A level on braking systems on bikes, was road and mountain bikes but got me the marks

snooks

Lack of knowledge: From drivers regarding rules of the road, where cyclists are allowed to be, and understanding that we are allowed to use the road, and they don't have the monopoly on it

You can't change that really, majority of drivers wouldn't know the difference between a puffin, toucan and zebra crossing

Wet, slippery roads, iron work etc: basically lack or grip, remember that we're traveling along on the road (at 20 mph+), with less than two fingers worth of rubber in contact with the ground, when it's wet we slow down.

Redesign the man hole cover and drian iron works to make them more grippy to cyclists, but also hard wearing and able to take the weight of a HGV - Challenging project, but hard to prove whether you're solution is better

Other cyclist: not signaling, doing stupid things, not looking when they are joining the road etc

Again a hard one to change

Drying clothes: Helmets, towels, shorts, tops in the office environment

Room for scope on this one, but whether you could design a portable hanging rack with a hairdryer/heater in that could fit under a desk

Staying legal: Not a problem, more an inconvenience , but it's always there, we should have reflectors on our pedals and back of bike by law. If you use SPD's after dark we're technically breaking the law. the reflectors that come with the bikes look out of place so most are removed.

A few thoughts if you could design a good rear light that incorporates a reflector up to BS whatever the number, and find a way of getting orange reflectors on out pedals/shoes it would make a good project, lots of research into British Standards, there's a need for it, there is only one reflector/light I've seen, the size and weight of a small house (OK I exaggerate) but you get the idea

Well I hope that helps a bit

jstutters

Hmm...
1) Road surface
2) Weight of traffic (in London)
3) Behaviour of other road users
4) Pedestrians
5) Lack of secure parking at work

To be honest #5 is stretching it, 10 more spaces and it'd be fine.

always_tyred

The drying things in the office problem is a biggie. Some things are tolerable with a flow of air from a fan, such as shoes or leg warmers. Other things, ahem, are not. Unless you have your own office that no one ever enters. Or unless you have no shame.

The only solution is spare kit in the desk for those really bad days.

Or sympathetic employers who value their employees enough to let them use the cupboard the hoovers are kept in. Which mine are not.

I often leave my kit draped over the bike, or hanging up at the gym I use. The only people likely to steal it are probably worthy of pity anyway.

cjcp

Always Tyred wrote:

The drying things in the office problem is a biggie. Some things are tolerable with a flow of air from a fan, such as shoes or leg warmers. Other things, ahem, are not. Unless you have your own office that no one ever enters. Or unless you have no shame.

I have my own office, and the window is open. It's like a Chinese bleedin' laundry in here. In my defence, the bib shorts and baselayer are hanging off an in-tray stack out sight about a foot from the window.

cjcp

Always Tyred wrote:

When does one cease to be a "pupil" and become a "student"?

If you train to become a barrister, you become a pupil once again for a short while.

Jeremy Parker

SammiG wrote:

hi guys,

I am an A level student and a keen cyclist (mainly the jumps tho).

I am looking for idea for A level project and feel this is the best way to gather information about issues.

I was wondering if you would be able to list your top 5 problems when commuting (or as many as you have time for) and i will get back to you with some proposed ideas to help.

regards sam

Well, I'm retired now, so I don't commute any more.

However, my problems were

1. punctures

2. damn bike lanes

3. snow. Powder snow makes riding more effort. Wet snow gets round brakes, mudguards etc, freezes, and brings you to a complete halt

4. On business trips by plane, it's difficult to take a bike, lots of papers, **and** drive off in a rental car (and nowadays just taking a bike on a plane gets ever more difficult)

5. forgetting to look at/listen to weather forecast, and dressing wrongly

Jeremy Parker

The Chingford Skinhead

My top five would be…much like everyone else. However my number one is the poor design and / or implementation of cycling facilities.

For example:
+ dropped kerbs aren’t always lined up with the cycle path;
+ the white line separating you from peds or traffic is very slippery when wet;
+ cycle paths next to roads undulate for drives and crossings which means the ride is better on the road where you have a flat surface and don’t have to give way every five yards; and
+ as mentioned by many ironworks in the road are often proud or sunken which make them a hazard when dry, and they are slippery when wet.

Useful research could be done into ways of improving road surfacing or on how the various parts of councils responsible for road design and maintenance actually take cyclists into account. For example, do planners / engineers / councillors ever cycle what they implemented? Do staff responsible for checking that utility contractors have fixed roads after working on them inspect them with cyclists in mind? A small bump when riding on car tyres with massive shock absorbers, in a comfy seat is no problem but on a bike it certainly can be.

Good luck – and I hope that at least one of us has given you something to get going on.

always_tyred

cjcp wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

The drying things in the office problem is a biggie. Some things are tolerable with a flow of air from a fan, such as shoes or leg warmers. Other things, ahem, are not. Unless you have your own office that no one ever enters. Or unless you have no shame.

I have my own office, and the window is open. It's like a Chinese bleedin' laundry in here. In my defence, the bib shorts and baselayer are hanging off an in-tray stack out sight about a foot from the window.

Are any of the people who enter your office senior enough to feel able to comment on the smell? :P

John_E

1. Cardiff Council (well the people that plan the roads and cycle lanes)
2. Cardiff Bus drivers (sorry guys but more often than not you are not considerate to cyclists, probably because 1 above make us share the same bit of road)
3. Advance stop things a traffic lights (when I'm in one I feel like I should have a target on my back, they need to be much further forward and without a taxis in them)
4. Cyclists who ignore the rules of the road (or apparently the pavement as it seems in Cardiff its legal to ride on the pavement given the number of cyclists I see doing it)
5. Poor quality road services (see 1 above)

Father Faff

Surely road design is the Number One problem. The ideal commute would be one where we didn't have to share the same bit of tarmac with car drivers.

always_tyred

John_E wrote:

1. Cardiff Council (well the people that plan the roads and cycle lanes)
2. Cardiff Bus drivers (sorry guys but more often than not you are not considerate to cyclists, probably because 1 above make us share the same bit of road)
3. Advance stop things a traffic lights (when I'm in one I feel like I should have a target on my back, they need to be much further forward and without a taxis in them)
4. Cyclists who ignore the rules of the road (or apparently the pavement as it seems in Cardiff its legal to ride on the pavement given the number of cyclists I see doing it)
5. Poor quality road services (see 1 above)

The Cardiff bus drivers don't bother me. There aren't many in Timmy.

Jay dubbleU

1. Poor road surface - gullies, ironwork etc set too low or too high
2. Poor behaviour by other cyclists - red light jumper, pavement riders - no one will take us seriously whilst this behaviour carries on
3 Inconsiderate drivers - we do actually need to be further than a foot from the kerb!
4 Putting cyclists in the same lane as buses,taxis and motorcycles
5 Badly designed junctions - having to switch lanes etc

R34PER

Redesign the man hole cover and drian iron works to make them more grippy to cyclists, but also hard wearing and able to take the weight of a HGV - Challenging project, but hard to prove whether you're solution is better


i saw this on the beeb: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4768887.stm