But some of our self-propelled citizens should do a better job of protecting themselves from the biggest danger they face—the drivers of cars and trucks who may not see them until it is too late.
If you dress in black and don't light yourself up with blinking lights, you should be worried. Even if you do wear reflective clothes and lights, a healthy dose of defensive driving skills are essential for survival.
Here is an e-mail I received today from a Fairbanks driver who doesn't want to see anyone get hurt.
About winter cyclists, she says:
I admire them for their dedication to exercise and lower-impact living (and general
badassery), but some of them are so lacking in a few brain cells that I fear
someone's going to get hurt, or worse, killed.
This morning driving in, I passed someone biking on Geist with one measly little
blinky light on his (I think) backpack. With all the car traffic and lingering
exhaust, I couldn't see him/her until I was practically past him/her. This person
was wearing all dark clothes, and nothing reflective. The Geist sidewalk/bikepath
was completely plowed - down to asphalt/concrete - with nobody on it. Yesterday, I
saw someone else on Geist headed towards Chena Pump/Ridge - also without adequate lighting or reflective clothing and using the road when the bike path was
available.
I can't imagine why someone would bike on the road without proper safety measures
unless they were stupid or had a death wish.
A 30-below day is not the time or place to make a statement about sharing the road.
For their own safety as well as the overall reputation of cyclists, can you
encourage them to 1) light themselves up like a Christmas tree, 2) get some
reflective clothing and 3) get off the road when alternates (like bike paths)
exist.
"Apparently, motorists learn to share the road better when they have to deal with more bikes on their daily commute. Also, more cyclists means more drivers who also bike, which makes them better aware of fellow bikers. The researchers call it a virtuous cycle—run-ins with cars drop with more bikes on the road. And safer cycling means more people strap on a helmet and join the revolution."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=46B9E06D-FC8E-9007-E864EF0B7227869B
"There's a new prescription for communities that want to make their streets safer for bike riders: just add more bikes. A team of international researchers looked at cities from Australia to Denmark to California, and found that more riders meant fewer run-ins with cars. The researchers presented their findings to a cycling safety seminar on September 5 in Sydney, Australia.
What's surprising, the researchers say, is that biker safety doesn't seem to correspond to a city's efforts to cut down on accidents. Run-ins between bikes and cars had little to do with miles of bike lanes or lower speed limits. But if the number of bike riders in a city doubled, the rate of bike-car accidents dropped by a third."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=46B9E06D-FC8E-9007-E864EF0B7227869B
Lights aside, the main problem is that we haven't designed our community for bicycle travel.
With regard to bikes on the road/street, they do belong, and as the number of cyclists increases, safety increases as well.
Here is an interesting article that makes one think about public space, and participation in democracy:
WikiLane - How Citizens Built Their own Bicycle Network
http://thisbigcity.net/wikilane-how-citizens-built-their-own-bicycle-network/
Oh well-dumb
My gripe with cyclists on the roadway is similar to what's already been said except that if the argument is that a bike is a 'legal road vehicle' then the 'driver' needs to operate the bike according to the rules of the road. You can NOT delay more than 5 vehicles, you have to signal for stops and turns, you have to have lights and reflectors... and there's at least one jerk out there on College Road who has a headlight that blinds drivers worse than oncoming cars with the brights on. Definitely use lights so that we can see you, but not so much that we can't see anything BUT you.
As I observe the poor driving skills/habits of some local drivers, I'm not convinced the sidewalks are safe, either. When the sidewalks aren't plowed, I drive. It's just not worth dying over. The bus system is a decent alternative to those without cars.
Please, if you are out biking, be sure to be as safe as possible and remember that even though drivers are supposed to yield and treat you like traffic, they may not think to look for you. Make it as easy for them as possible!
For the curious, please see the appropriate laws here:
http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/hwysafety/assets/BikeandSafetyManual/Alaska_Laws.pdf
The UAF Greenbikes program has some good links to safe winter biking on their site right now: http://www.uaf.edu/woodcenter/outdoor/green-bikes/.
The recent FMATS traffic analysis recently identified that Geist is one of the most dangerous sections of road in Fairbanks (published yesterday http://fmats.project.kittelson.com/). The bike path issue is more complicated however. Study after study show that it is typically safer for cyclists to be on the road rather than on a separate bike path. Wherever you're riding or driving, let's all look out for each other!
We could have an income source here by FINING those who ride on the roads when there is a state maintained path JUST for them.
Just sayin...