Dangerous Cycling

There is a fundamental issue in cycling these days, and it doesn't involve cyclists who know what they're doing and log a lot of miles. Instead, it involves people on bikes who apparently don't know the right side of the road to ride on, and a host of other rules that increase their safety, could increase their enjoyment, and make cycling a sport viewed more widely as safe and pleasant.

Why is this a fundamental issue? Because the statistics and stories these novices generate are cycling statistics and anecdotes, and any accidents or near-misses these people have increase the perception that cycling is inherently dangerous. This continues the downward dynamic that has made cycling less mainstream than it should be, as people avoid something that is not only strenuous but also (they perceive) dangerous. It also makes more cycling novices to drive the statistics further down.

This problem becomes clearest when I see parents -- many of whom might not have been on bikes for years -- riding along sidewalks with their kids, going the wrong direction (against traffic). Not only that, but often the parents send the children out ahead, so the parents can (ostensibly) observe them and herd them along.

Let's think through the myriad problems with this particular configuration.

First, there are the problems of riding on the sidewalk, notably the poor condition of many sidewalks, limited range of options in case something unexpected occurs, competition with pedestrians, and lack of visibility to cars coming out of driveways and intersections.

Second, there are the problems of going against traffic, mainly that drivers coming out of driveways and side-streets will first look the other way (toward oncoming traffic) as they emerge, and be unaware of approaching sidewalk (or road, for that matter) traffic coming from a direction it shouldn't.

Third, there is the problem of sending children ahead -- they are the smallest, least-visible part of the parade, and also the least experienced at anticipating and avoiding collisions.

Added up, this configuration has the smallest, least prepared, and most unsteady riders approaching intersecting traffic from the wrong direction with few escape routes.

Why do parents persist in riding this way? Well, it seems the safest way to the uniniated I suppose: you are keeping your kids off the road, where cars are; you are riding behind them, so you can yell a warning or command if you need to; and you can see on-coming traffic so no worries about being struck from behind.

Yet, the chances of being hit from behind by a car when you ride with traffic are very small. In fact, it's one of the least-common cycling accidents. To keep kids off the road yet allow them to still ride "in traffic" (with cars coming in from intersecting streets) doesn't make sense -- either they are ready to ride in traffic or they are not. If they are not, keep them on rail trails or bike paths and completely out of traffic. Once they are steadier and more mature physically, ride on some nice streets with wide shoulders. Finally, the illusion that a parent can use the rear guard position to adequately warn a small rider about a car that is coming out of a driveway is just that -- illusory. A more realistic picture is that a parent can provide a riding companion with traffic, and both will be more likely to be seen riding with the flow that intersecting drivers are first to observe and most likely to acknowledge.

So, please ride correctly, parents. Keep your kids off the roads until they are ready. Use bike trails and rail trails and the local cul-de-sac until they are steady and confident. Once they are, ride on the road, with traffic. They are safer this way, because they are more likely to be seen, they will have more escape routes, the roads will be in better shape than the sidewalks, and you won't be sending them out like canaries in the coal mine with empty "I'll be right behind you" reassurances as they ride against the grain and nearly invisible to cars coming from all angles. And then the next generation will have more cyclists who know the rules, and we move back into a virtuous cycle for cycling.