5 ms·

> When I ride my bike, I always try to stay out of the door zone, but sometimes I'm forced over by oncoming traffic in a tight street. Many streets just aren't

> When I ride my bike, I always try to stay out of the door zone, but sometimes I'm forced over by oncoming traffic in a tight street. Many streets just aren't wide enough to stay a safe distance away from oncoming traffic and also stay out of reach of doors. If you were in a car, what would you do? I admit that it's unlikely that a car driver coming toward you is going to flash you to come forward when they think "there's plenty of space", however you can slow right down and check the parked car occupants to see if they are there. A bigger problem is taxi drivers letting out passengers without checking for traffic, as shown here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI0dPGuP2zE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI0dPGuP2zE (of course the anti-cyclist brigage will complain that he should have been dressed in high viz and wearing a helmet /s)

acdha 5y ago
> If you were in a car, what would you do? The biggest thing I do is simply slow down — most of the problems come from people in a hurry to spend more time waiting at the next intersection bit of traffic. Speeding exacerbates problems with many drivers not having an accurate understanding of the size of their vehicles — thinking they have enough room to maintain high speed by staying in the middle of the road, crowding the cyclist because they want to leave 5 feet of space on the side at risk of being damaged by another car, etc.
- colpabar 5y ago
  I always get a kick out of a driver angrily speeding around me on my bike just to get to a red light.
  - acdha 5y ago
    My favorite around here (DC) are the drivers who get angry that I'm going 19mph in a 20mph zone, floor it playing chicken with the oncoming traffic to pass me, and then spend the next 15 blocks tailgating the same bus I was following. I must admit I do laugh and wave when they do that only to end up sitting behind an illegally double-parked UPS truck which a bicyclist has room to pass.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  When it comes to slowing down or stopping, getting car drivers to slow down or stop is nothing compared to trying to get bicycles to so do. The vast majority of cars will stop at an intersection. The vast majority of bicyclists will not. Ask a car to respect a very slow limit in a school zone? No problem. For fear of tickets most every car will slow down. But ask a bicyclist to respect a school zone or stop at a pedestrian crossing and they will stare in bewilderment. A speed limit? For a bicycle? (As a kid I was ticketed while on rollerblades for speeding in a 15kph zone. In many jurisdictions the rules apply to everyone.)
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    Cars weigh many tons and take up an entire lane. Bicycles do not. Many thousands of deaths per year caused by automobiles in the US. For bicycles, it's vanishingly small. I've never met a cyclist that doesn't slow, look both ways, etc, at city intersections. This demand that we come to a complete stop every 30 seconds while navigating dangerous city roads could only come from those who do not use this vastly safer and greener form of transportation.
    - sandworm101 5y ago
      > Cars weigh many tons and take up an entire lane. Bicycles do not. Nor does my motorcycle, which is narrower than many of the bicycle+cart/recumbent bike combinations I see these days. And my car weighs far less than "many tons", less than two in fact. > This demand that we come to a complete stop every 30 seconds Maybe for pushbikes. But "bicycle" now includes all the electric bikes that, imho, are getting close to motorcycles in terms of speed (ie they can maintain the speed limit). Stopping every thirty seconds is just the price of using the road. If you don't want to stop then lobby for and use separate bicycle paths away from the street.
      - chitowneats 5y ago
        You've misunderstood my position. I'm not talking about vehicles with motors. Your original comment refers to "bicycles".
- iso1631 5y ago
  Absolutely, and slowing down on a bike is also the way. You can generally see if someone is in a car and about to exit into the road. I personally wouldn't filter up the left of traffic in a place like London because of the danger of the Grayling situation (or left turning lorries with no signals etc), but it's not illegal.
dkarl 5y ago
I think it helps a lot if oncoming cars slow down a lot, like they do when passing another car in a tight space. When an oncoming car slows down I feel safer passing closer to them, which lets me keep further away from the parked cars. That video, whoof, there is just no space there. It seems like an inherently dangerous place to be. There's no bike lane, so it's just overtaking cars in the same lane, which I don't feel safe doing. Filtering is not common in the U.S. (in most places it's illegal, at least for motorcycles and scooters) so I don't feel safe doing it; people don't expect it so they don't watch out for it. I don't know the traffic conventions in London. If I had to ride on a street like that in the U.S., I'd probably stay in the center of the lane and stop behind the stopped cars like the other traffic is doing. Sometimes I just accept that traffic is slow or blocked. That's just me, though. I get crazy looks from other cyclists when I stop in traffic because the cars in front of me are stopped.
BuildTheRobots 5y ago
To be fair, that's Failing Grayling; the minister who awarded a 14 million pound ferry contract to a company with no boats. Cluelessness, lack of attention and obliviousness to reality is his raison d'être - I'm not sure his ability to exit a vehicle should be representative of the rest of the population.
brnt 5y ago
> If you were in a car, what would you do? Cars have airbags, cyclists and pedestrians don't. On such routes, I drive prepared to slow down/stop or evade into oncoming traffic.
Someone 5y ago
> you can slow right down and check the parked car occupants to see if they are there. I don’t think you always can. At some distance, the view through the car’s rear window can be obscured by another parked car. At closer distance, because your eyes are higher up than a car driver, the car’s roof can be in the way. Finally, slowing down a lot to get a good view can make you swerve. That adds risk. In general, the view from a bicycle is better than that from a car, but not for looking into other cars. (I’m talking _car_ here, not the monstrosities common in the USA)

acdha 5y ago

> If you were in a car, what would you do? The biggest thing I do is simply slow down — most of the problems come from people in a hurry to spend more time waiting at the next intersection bit of traffic. Speeding exacerbates problems with many drivers not having an accurate understanding of the size of their vehicles — thinking they have enough room to maintain high speed by staying in the middle of the road, crowding the cyclist because they want to leave 5 feet of space on the side at risk of being damaged by another car, etc.

colpabar 5y ago
I always get a kick out of a driver angrily speeding around me on my bike just to get to a red light.
- acdha 5y ago
  My favorite around here (DC) are the drivers who get angry that I'm going 19mph in a 20mph zone, floor it playing chicken with the oncoming traffic to pass me, and then spend the next 15 blocks tailgating the same bus I was following. I must admit I do laugh and wave when they do that only to end up sitting behind an illegally double-parked UPS truck which a bicyclist has room to pass.
sandworm101 5y ago
When it comes to slowing down or stopping, getting car drivers to slow down or stop is nothing compared to trying to get bicycles to so do. The vast majority of cars will stop at an intersection. The vast majority of bicyclists will not. Ask a car to respect a very slow limit in a school zone? No problem. For fear of tickets most every car will slow down. But ask a bicyclist to respect a school zone or stop at a pedestrian crossing and they will stare in bewilderment. A speed limit? For a bicycle? (As a kid I was ticketed while on rollerblades for speeding in a 15kph zone. In many jurisdictions the rules apply to everyone.)
- chitowneats 5y ago
  Cars weigh many tons and take up an entire lane. Bicycles do not. Many thousands of deaths per year caused by automobiles in the US. For bicycles, it's vanishingly small. I've never met a cyclist that doesn't slow, look both ways, etc, at city intersections. This demand that we come to a complete stop every 30 seconds while navigating dangerous city roads could only come from those who do not use this vastly safer and greener form of transportation.
  - sandworm101 5y ago
    > Cars weigh many tons and take up an entire lane. Bicycles do not. Nor does my motorcycle, which is narrower than many of the bicycle+cart/recumbent bike combinations I see these days. And my car weighs far less than "many tons", less than two in fact. > This demand that we come to a complete stop every 30 seconds Maybe for pushbikes. But "bicycle" now includes all the electric bikes that, imho, are getting close to motorcycles in terms of speed (ie they can maintain the speed limit). Stopping every thirty seconds is just the price of using the road. If you don't want to stop then lobby for and use separate bicycle paths away from the street.
    - chitowneats 5y ago
      You've misunderstood my position. I'm not talking about vehicles with motors. Your original comment refers to "bicycles".
iso1631 5y ago
Absolutely, and slowing down on a bike is also the way. You can generally see if someone is in a car and about to exit into the road. I personally wouldn't filter up the left of traffic in a place like London because of the danger of the Grayling situation (or left turning lorries with no signals etc), but it's not illegal.

dkarl 5y ago

I think it helps a lot if oncoming cars slow down a lot, like they do when passing another car in a tight space. When an oncoming car slows down I feel safer passing closer to them, which lets me keep further away from the parked cars. That video, whoof, there is just no space there. It seems like an inherently dangerous place to be. There's no bike lane, so it's just overtaking cars in the same lane, which I don't feel safe doing. Filtering is not common in the U.S. (in most places it's illegal, at least for motorcycles and scooters) so I don't feel safe doing it; people don't expect it so they don't watch out for it. I don't know the traffic conventions in London. If I had to ride on a street like that in the U.S., I'd probably stay in the center of the lane and stop behind the stopped cars like the other traffic is doing. Sometimes I just accept that traffic is slow or blocked. That's just me, though. I get crazy looks from other cyclists when I stop in traffic because the cars in front of me are stopped.

BuildTheRobots 5y ago

To be fair, that's Failing Grayling; the minister who awarded a 14 million pound ferry contract to a company with no boats. Cluelessness, lack of attention and obliviousness to reality is his raison d'être - I'm not sure his ability to exit a vehicle should be representative of the rest of the population.

brnt 5y ago

> If you were in a car, what would you do? Cars have airbags, cyclists and pedestrians don't. On such routes, I drive prepared to slow down/stop or evade into oncoming traffic.

Someone 5y ago

> you can slow right down and check the parked car occupants to see if they are there. I don’t think you always can. At some distance, the view through the car’s rear window can be obscured by another parked car. At closer distance, because your eyes are higher up than a car driver, the car’s roof can be in the way. Finally, slowing down a lot to get a good view can make you swerve. That adds risk. In general, the view from a bicycle is better than that from a car, but not for looking into other cars. (I’m talking _car_ here, not the monstrosities common in the USA)