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It always amazes me how many cyclists I see riding without helmets (and anecdotally they seem to be the ones who typically ride in a less safe/defensive manner
by kohanz 12y ago
It always amazes me how many cyclists I see riding without helmets (and anecdotally they seem to be the ones who typically ride in a less safe/defensive manner as well).
My wife works in healthcare and has worked in settings looking after patients with acquired brain injuries and she always tells anyone (even if she barely knows you) to wear a helmet. She's met too many young people turned into living vegetables or something similar to idly stand by and watch people take that risk.
- carlob 12y agoI'm not sure riding defensively is always the best thing to do. For example, say you are in a narrow road, and a car behind you has barely enough space to overtake you. A defensive rider would move as far to the right as possible to be overtaken, which is very dangerous, while the correct answer would be to ride straight in the middle of the road so that the car driver is not even tempted.
- darkstar999 12y agoI disagree. The defensive move would be to take the whole lane and not give them room to pass.
- mertd 12y agoDefensive riding does not mean running away from cars. Taking the lane when it is unsafe for others to pass is in fact one of the most important rules of defensive riding.
- markvdb 12y agoDefensive cycling 101: disambiguate. Your intentions as a cyclist should be crystal clear to all other traffic participants. Make it very clear the motorist will not be able to pass you.
- kazinator 12y agoYou should signal everything using Lisp S-expressions; no confusing infix where the motorists wonder whether you're being left-associative or right-associative, and what the precedence is.
- Schweigi 12y agoEspecially inside roundabouts its recommended to drive in the middle in order to not give any cars an insensitive to overtake and taking the next exit while you as a cyclist want to take the second next one. Despite driving in the middle it still happened to me when I was younger and I could luckily jump of the bike when the car hit me as he took the exit.
- kohanz 12y agoYou've got a good understanding of how to ride safely, but perhaps a poor definition of cycling "defensively". You're confusing "defensive" with qualities of meekness or lack of assertiveness.
- jarek 12y ago> It always amazes me how many cyclists I see riding without helmets (and anecdotally they seem to be the ones who typically ride in a less safe/defensive manner as well). Interesting, the opposite is true in my case. In London (England) it's usually the Lycra-and-helmet set I see lane splitting and light-jumping.