Probably the main deterrent to riding a bike in Sydney is safety amongst the traffic. This page is for us to share our ideas on staying safe while riding. I’ll start off with a few but i’m relying on your stories in the comments below to get a real pool of knowledge going. Also, CHOICE Magazine has an excellent article on commuting by bike.
- Use a Bike Buddy.
- Be visible! When motorists see you sooner, they not only have more time to avoid hitting us, they also have a few more seconds to get over their instinctive desire to kill us. This means wearing a vest, and having lights front and back. Bicycle Victoria has recommended the following lights:
Front: BASTA Polaris BA3 ($40)
Rear: TIOGA 600 TCL 54 ($20)
- Know the rules. They are not all the same for bikes and cars. For example, did you know that you are allowed to take a whole lane and you can ride next to another cyclist? Did you know that you can overtake cars on the left if they are stationary? Maybe you didn’t know that you have to walk your bike across pedestrian crossings. You can find a list of bicycle-specific rules here.
- Know that the rules don’t always apply - the motorists don’t know all the rules and they don’t always follow them anyway. Experience on Sydney roads is very important. Start by riding with someone else who is used to the road (but is aware that you aren’t!). You can also gain experience at critical mass, on the UNSW Bike Bus or Massbug’s Bike Bus.
- Take safe routes. Check out www.bikely.com and look for routes tagged ’safe’. There is also a great book of Sydney bike routes called Bike-it. Maurice has a copy of this book.
- Wear shoes!! Riding in thongs increases the chance of slipping off the pedals and also makes the consequences of crashing much more gruesome. If you’re really determined to not wear socks, maybe you could ask for some riding sandals for your next birthday.
April 29, 2007 at 10:11 am
I’ve found that although we’re legally allowed to ride two or three abreast and take up a lane, that it’s doing that that gets us the most abuse. Perhaps its safer theoretically, but it makes drivers so angry that I almost wonder if its very safe at all…
Much easier to ride single file at the edge of the road, as it allows everyone except sydney busses and australia post vans to get past you…
Another tip is watch out for the australia post vans. They are by far the most dangerous vehicles to ride with in my experience.
April 30, 2007 at 12:16 am
Good points Tristan, it’s definitely a dilemma for cyclists - take a lane for safety and cop abuse or leave room for the cars and then they kill you. make sure you keep in mind though, that over 40% of serious bike accidents are caused by car doors opening into traffic and hitting the cyclist. So it’s not much safer to ride at the edge of the road because when someone invariably opens their door without looking, you get to choose between being run over or impaled on a door.
The other week a cyclist went right through the window of the open door!
May 20, 2007 at 11:25 am
It’s true. I’ve had one accident that way, though i blame myself because I was riding at dusk and I didn’t have lights…
I guess when you’re riding in the path of the car doors you have to be aware of the traffic still, so you can swerve into the traffic lane when you need to…
The other thing, since you mentioned that we should describe accidents we’ve had here, is the crash I had on campus that I ended up with stitches in my lip for:
Don’t ride your bike at top speed, standing on the pedals, when you haven’t adjusted your gears in a year or more and they keep slipping. ALSO don’t wear a USB drive around your neck without a cap on, because it’ll end up going through your lip when you fall off cuz the gears slip and your face hits the pavement.
May 20, 2007 at 11:39 am
Wow. Come on all you others. If i know six of you personally that have crashed last month, there must be many many more out there. I’m thinking the most harrowing/darwin award type crash story teller gets a free reflective vest… Maurice
May 20, 2007 at 11:57 am
My housemate rob, a cycling newbie, came flying off his bike the other week a few blocks from our place (on botany rd) he was car doored and then apparently close to being run over after he hit the ground. i gave him the car door lane lecture.
i had to step/push off a car with my left foot as it was turning against a green bike signal near my place as well, and i would have otherwise run into it.
May 21, 2007 at 9:55 am
The other day I was racing up the walkway from the co-op, dodging and weaving between pedestrians. I got as far as the steps outside the new Chem Eng building, tried to cut across the grass toward the path next to the sports oval, and realised that there were dudes in the way and I was riding too fast on grass and mud with road tyres. I braked and ended up on the ground, landed on my phone, and now it doesn’t vibrate.
Also, a few days ago, when it’d been raining and the road was slick, I was riding down High St behind a car. The driver saw a parking spot and stopped suddenly; I realised I couldn’t stop in time, so I squeezed between the car and a bus that was coming in the opposite direction. Not an accident but pretty scary.
The moral of the story: the uni needs bike-only paths so I can go fast!
May 21, 2007 at 11:36 pm
For the last two years i have been wearing thongs nearly every day, evern through nasty winter rain. But recently have started wearing shoes as i have started to really mess up my feet.
The incarceration of my toes has taken a few days to get used to but must admit there are betfits to shoes. So if there are any hard core no shoe types out there, give shoes a chance !
Maurice could you post the gore photo’s ?
May 22, 2007 at 1:39 am
Ok, gore photos now in main body. Thanks for the stories, very entertaining so far. Still waiting on Barson, Andrew Scerri, Anna & Scarlett.. I think Tristan and Dylan’s mate are in the running for the vest, but Jaga gets extra points for having photos of gore. Maurice
May 22, 2007 at 5:06 am
So, i’m a little late for uni and riding down Doncaster pretty fast down the bike lane, some big SUV thing just past me and i’m pedalling back up to top speed coz the dam thing had to stop and turn a corner as soon as it over took me when. click, fuck CAR DOOR!!
I swerved a little and avoided running straight into the thing, but it clipped me nailing my leg and arm at high speed bending the corner of the door! next i’m flying through the air landing with a perfect commando role in the middle of the lane. Luckily there where no cars or squish i would have been in more trouble.
all in all the perfect crash, no majour injuries and the car was damaged more than my bike wich only needed handle bars realigned. not very fun though.
May 27, 2007 at 9:30 am
What do you do when your girlfriend is moving house and the last things left to move are her bike, your bike and a box of food and toiletries. Of course you try and take everything at once. For those who haven’t seen my little green bike, it’s the small neglected green girls bike that’s been sitting outside the front of the PV office for the past month, currently with an exploded back tube.
Anyway, back to the moving.
I’ve loaded up the milk crate on the back of the litle green bike with box of food. It was pretty heavy and I had a full backpack on which was also quite heavy. I jumped on ol swifty (my bike) milk crate and bag full and holding the other bike next to me as I rode along.
I was heading quite well along Anzac parade from maroubra to uni, with only a few wobbles from the other bike. All of a sudden the other bike hits a pot hole and starts getting some serious wobbles. Lo and behold I crash the other bike into my front wheel, ending up horizontally airbourne and landing in a heap of bikes and bags and boxes against a parked car.
It was a bit of a mess. Elbow and knee skin on the road, both of each. A jar of pesto and a packet of pasta spread across a lane and under a parked car. Cars around, but they missed me luckily.
After picking myself up from under the heap of bikes I sat on the kerb for a bit, then started picking up the random bits of food and toiletries which were still okay and putting them back in the box.
The bike handle bars were a bit twisted but the bikes otherwise okay. The milk crate had come off though so i was left with a little less skin, two bikes and an unattached milk crate. I was about to lock up one of the bikes and limp the rest of the way when a kind old man offered to put the bikes in the back of his station wagon and drive me.
In the end not much lost except some pasta, skin and pesto. Will I try that again? Probably. I’m a slow learner sometimes, and practice makes perfect.
May 28, 2007 at 2:38 am
I was on my way home from uni a few weeks ago when I had my stack. I was flogging it down the path beside centenial park when I noticed there was a class of primary school students crossing in front of me.
I have a habit of leaving breaking to the last minute, dont know why. I also didn’t have any back breaks. I wasn’t really paying any attention to what was on the ground, so I didn’t notice the small patch of sand that was going to cause me a whole heap of embarrassment and pain.
So, I slamed on my front breaks about 10m from the kids. My front wheel slid out, and I ended up on the pavement with a chunk taken off my elbow, knee and foot - It was pretty painfull.
Bike came out of it alright, I just had to deal with a massive festie scab for about a week
May 30, 2007 at 8:12 am
Accidents…..hahaha…I think I’ll have to trace back my first “Pizza Delivery”~!
I’ve got my bike 2 years ago and start riding in Kogarah, Brighten Le Sand….and loved to ride to the Domino in Rockdale for a pizza take away and enjoy in home with the Pizza still hot and crunchy~! I was riding a road bike without a crate so the best place to put the pizza is on top of the handle bar~! I’ve also prepared ropes to secure the pizza onto the handle bar…..
I was riding on the pavement and so excited with the hot pizza right in front of me, can’t wait to enjoy it back home. I rode near the Fire station in Princes Highway, went pass a pedestrian light and didn’t know there was a sudden elevation on the pavement~! I went pass it but then the pizza started to wobble on the handle bar. My first reaction was to “protect” the pizza but then realise that there was a circular wall right in front of me~! I knew what will happen and then there was a split second in my mind talking to myself ” em…….I haven’t had a bike crash for a long long time, why don’t have a go…~!” Then BOOM….I went flying 180 in the air, with my right hand still griping on the breaks. I landed on the ground with the bike falling right on top of me. I got up feeling where the hell am I and the first thing was to check out whether the pizza was alright or not (not the bike or myself). Luckily all the pieces remained in the cardbox but all squashed into one piece~! Still eatable~! Bike was badly damaged but it was great fun and experience, hahaha
NEVER try to deliver pizza with it laying ontop of the handle bar~!
June 4, 2007 at 4:30 am
Okay guys, time to vote for favourite crash. Winner gets a fluoro vest! Start voting in comments below.
June 4, 2007 at 5:41 am
Vote one for Adrian’s pizza story - full of visual and comedic potential.
Many of the other tales of terror just go to prove that you really should get along to bike love on a Wednesday and make sure your brakes are working!
June 4, 2007 at 10:50 am
on my first day of work, i borrowed a mate’s $600+ bike to get there. I got kept at work a lot later than i had expected and when work finished, it was well dark. my fellow first-day-at-work collegue had driven, and suggested i hold onto his car and he tow me home.
After a few turns and a few sets of wobbles, i thought it was going to be all good, and he started to speed up. unfortunately, got a major set of the wobbles, and it looked like my front wheel was going to go into his back tyre. so i let go, but the wobbles kept coming, and ended up stacking it, loosing a lot of skin, tearing a t-shirt, demolishing the seat and brake levers. Ended up walking the bike home, in the cold and dark, dripping blood, and costing me over $100 in repairs.
June 11, 2007 at 7:26 am
Becareful when riding on Anzac Parade in Kingsford, cars just carzy for spaces on the kerb…….Don’t go too fast, you’ll never know when they’ll stop~!
June 25, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Did you know that you can report cars that you can report vehicles to the Environmental Protection Authority if their exhaust smokes for more than 10 seconds?! http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/esdsmoky/startup.asp
The things you find when you’re cramming for an environmental impact assessment exam…
Ok so you need to have your wits about you and write down the number plate, remember the time of day, location etc., but it would be a cool action to get lots of cyclists doing, revenge for lungs full of exhaust smoke…
June 25, 2007 at 2:56 pm
What with the lovely weather of late, thought I’d ask people what their attitudes are to riding in the rain? do you think it’s safe? Anyone got statistics on this? A couple of friends have had a minor tumble in the past couple of weeks, luckily with no cars around. If it was just a matter of getting wet I wouldn’t mind, but the roads can be slippery and oily, and drivers are extra impatient. But then when it rains for 3 weeks… you just go crazy if you don’t ride!
According to Ani DiFranco ‘the rain is no place for a bicycle ride, try to hit the brakes and you slide an’you slide an’you slide an’you…’
July 26, 2007 at 3:21 am
Hey guys.
Safety story.
My new rule for everyone is MAINTAIN THREE SECOND DISTANCE FROM CAR IN FRONT.
Travelling South behind Taxi on the way past St Vincents’ Hospital on Victoria St. Approaching intersection at Oxford St, the single road changes to 3 lanes as described below.
, ,
We are travelling in the central lane at 12km/h going straight ahead. I am 1 1/2 metres behind the taxi. A car makes a sudden change from the compulsory right hand turn lane into the taxi’s lane 15 metres before corssing oxford street.
The taxi is forced to slam on his brakes and come to an immediate stop. My bike and I travel straight in to the back of the taxi before I even have time to brake.
I am wearing a helmet but my chin and lips smash the back glass of the taxi and I fall to the ground. The severe facial lacerations as shown below also result in severing my sensory and motor nerves to the lower left left lip. I will unfortauntely remain without this sensation and control for 6 months to 12 months. Total bummer. I am a trumpeter in 5 bands so this puts me out for a WHOLE YEAR at least. I have an 80% chance of getting sensation back.
PLEASE be careful everyone. It doesn’t need to be said how damn dangerous it is out there on the roads. Hang back 3 seconds. Who cares if you get passed my aggressive cars. It’s simply not worth not having the stopping distance when you need it.
Best wishes,
Tom Hilliar.
0409 446 787
TomTHilliargmailcom.
July 26, 2007 at 3:24 am
P.S. This silly blog removed my link to the image of my face in the article and several other bits automatically
The part it removed was the bit about the roadway
It went in to three lanes,
One: Compulsory Left or Straight Ahead,
Two: Compulsory Straight
Three: Compulsory Right
Here is an image of my face;
http://musoc.exofire.net/images/Damagedgoods.jpg
July 26, 2007 at 11:55 am
There’s a new smoky vehicles website here:
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/esdsmoky/index.htm
I just reported a car, it’ll be interesting to see whether anything comes of it.
July 28, 2007 at 8:14 am
Wow, Tom, that’s a horrendous crash story. Your photo didn’t come up for me when i tried. From now we can put photos straight onto the Flicker photo account, i just have to remember the password!!
July 28, 2007 at 8:15 am
If anybody is ever frustrated in the future with blog permissions, let me know and i’ll make you an author so you can post stuff.
September 18, 2007 at 5:56 am
Hi there,
I’m not a member of this club but have recently started my research at UNSW (Safety Science) to do with pedal cycle accidents and helmet effectiveness. Just wondering if any of you guys would like to be involved in a part of the study.
I need to collect some data on typical riding speeds (recreational riding and commuting), bike style, frame size, ride height, helmet style and size, height and weight. Am thinking of purchasing a GPS to log speed and road profile – if anyone has recommendations for a suitable system please let me know.
I’ll keep you posted but any suggestions are welcome at this stage. Thanks!
October 3, 2007 at 5:36 am
Hi Kim,
If you come along to our Wednesday workshops (12pm-2pm on the Quad lawn) you can ask everyone there any questions you have, as well as getting those kinds of data. A few of us already use bike computers if that would be helpful… They yield data like maximum speed, average speed, time riding…
Contact me on christophermoore a t gmail.com
February 15, 2008 at 5:29 am
Please never ride in the car door lane….
Even when Bicycle Victoria continue to publish crap about riding slowly, or checking for rear brake lights etc. I only heard/saw my 1st one last month and it was sickening. And one of my friends just got doored, lucky to be alive. Many Councils are incouraging car door death riding by placing bike pictures in the car door zone. They look like bike lanes and motorists and cyclists think they should ride there.
Yes I admit motorists get angry when you take the lane, but they don’t know the dangers of car-door-death riding. Why don’t I just make motorists happy, and ride in car door lane? Answer is I don’t want to die. I’d rather be safe and ride in the traffic lane, and then other cars travel at safe speeds behind me. Win - Win situation for everyone
bike-safe-fun-hugs
Dan