Packed in Commuting :(
SupraMel
Posts: 53
Hi all,
On Sunday a cyclist was killed on the main road near my house. It was the road I usually use to commute to and from work on.
Stay safe pps x
On Sunday a cyclist was killed on the main road near my house. It was the road I usually use to commute to and from work on.
Stay safe pps x
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Comments
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That is very sad news.
But that shouldnt stop you commuting, can i ask why you feel you need to stop?"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
PX Kaffenback 2 = Work Horse
B-Twin Alur 700 = Sundays and Hills0 -
Hi all,
On Sunday a cyclist was killed on the main road near my house. It was the road I usually use to commute to and from work on.
Stay safe pps x
We all want to stay safe and it is never good whenever anyone dies in a road accident.
And this question is not directly aimed at the original poster although I suspect they'll have a view based on their original post.
What is it with the way we are wired that people give up cycling when something like this happens?
Would you give up driving if a driver died on the road you commute on?
Would you stop walking if a pedestrian was killed on routes you normally walk on?
Why is it some people only stop cycling but not the other modes of transport?
This is something I do not understand so I'm asking to see how others view this0 -
The only car vs bicycle fatality anywhere near me since 1999 happened to take place right outside my house.
I don't know what happened, but based on my judgement its a safe enough place to ride so it doesn't even enter my mind.
I can't and don't want to try and understand the thinking of 'something bad once happened to someone here, I better not go there' without any context. You'd end up never doing anything.0 -
Some quite telling stats here - http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/risk/transporttrav.html
"lifetime risk of dying in a transport accident is about 1 in 250."
The lifetime risk of dying on a bike is more than 1 in 10,000
So statistically you're actually far, far safer on your bike.Bianchi C2C - Ritte Bosberg - Cervelo R3
Strava0 -
Sorry if this is a bit heartless but people die on the roads all the time. So I can not see why that is a reason to stop riding. Unless that was the last of quite a few on that stretch then I would worry about the safety of the route and look towards an alternative. Also I would join in with any campaign to make that stretch safer if that was the case.
We have the safest (for motorists) roads in Europe, we just need to get the safety levels up for cyclists. Until that happens I am not going to stop commuting because of a death (unless that death was my own).
Sorry you feel like you need to pack in commuting. Are you also stopping with any riding? Even leisure riding? If so then I feel sorry for you that you feel the need for this extreme reaction but that is your choice and you alone know your feelings on this. All the best from a remaining cyclist may the time come that you feel able to return to the fold.0 -
Indeed, that's the way you have to think about it. I don't how how many people have been killed on the stretch of motorway I use to go to work, I suspect a fair few, but that doesn't enter my head when I'm driving.0
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It is a dangerous road, a 50mph one with no pavements, narrow with hedgerows either side, cars sqeeze past regarless of oncoming traffic I have never felt safe there and that could have all to easily have been me.
I'm not stopping cycling altogether. I'm just sticking to leisure, off road, I've never liked being on the road as I feel nervous of how close the cars get.
I will still cross that road if I want to get to the trails but I just don't want to be on it twice a day anymore
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Are you sure there is no alternative route - even if it involves silly detours? I was getting a little wary of the mile end road after witnessing a near fatality and then a fatality in a few weeks - I had tried other roads and felt they were worse. At that point I didn't know about the great canal paths through east london - so when my neighbour suggested the limehouse cut it was a revelation.0
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We're a bit shoehorned in, there are some great trails but I have to use that road to get to them which is rubbish. Hey ho we plan to move house this year anyway so hopefully I'll be back on the commute before long!0
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We're a bit shoehorned in, there are some great trails but I have to use that road to get to them which is rubbish. Hey ho we plan to move house this year anyway so hopefully I'll be back on the commute before long!
There are some cheap turbo trainers at Wiggle according to the "bargains i have spotted thread" -
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Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
2011 Trek Madone 4.5
2012 Felt F65X
Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter0 -
Is it this one? https://goo.gl/maps/GQruw
(I can understand the OP not wanting to put an exact location, but having specifics really really helps understanding)
I can see the issue, on the face of it looks like a nice cycling road, but it being sweeping bends, then car speeds tend to be high, narrow lanes mean there's nowhere for them to go when confronted with a cyclist and oncoming traffic.0 -
We all want to stay safe and it is never good whenever anyone dies in a road accident.
And this question is not directly aimed at the original poster although I suspect they'll have a view based on their original post.
What is it with the way we are wired that people give up cycling when something like this happens?
A cyclist was hit by a motorbike on my route recently. Certainly made me think, however it's not stopped me riding that way because:- There isn't really a better alternative (route or mode of transport)
- From newspaper reports it sounds like the 'cyclist' was pushing his bike across the road when he was hit, not riding along the road
- Motorbikes are the least of my worries on that route
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