Defensive cycling
Written by: Dan Empfield
Date: Thu May 22 2008
Let me put it this way. In a 2006 survey of 18- to 24-year old Americans, barely a third could find Iraq on a map; just over 1 in 10 could find Afghanistan; fewer than half could locate Ohio or New York. While you're on your training ride these very people are driving directly at you, cell phone in one hand, iPod in the other, steering with their knees.
This year marks the completion of three decades since I first (as Phil Liggett might say) turned the pedals in anger. In thirty years of cycling I've made ballistic contact with foreign objects my fair share of times.
But most of those occurrences took place during my first half-decade as a cyclist. I've been relatively crash-free over the last two-dozen years, excepting the odd equipment failure, or an ill-fated maneuver on deceptively slick pavement.
Upon reflection, I and my fellow veterans of the road agree that it's defensive riding that has stood us in good stead. One develops instincts that come from this truism: You can drive a truck between what motorists ought to do — what they're legally obliged to do — versus what they actually do. Just because I have the right of way does not mean I can proceed apace in the comfort that my rights, and my life and limb, will not be violated.
When I hear that another of our sport's compatriots is hit by a car, whether in training or in a race, two things come to mind: Yet another oblivious or impatient driver has taken out one of our own; and I wonder whether the cyclist was inattentive to the distance extant between a motorist's appropriate versus his actual behavior behind the wheel.
To that end, presented here is an overview of a certain few signs of danger — moments that should provoke heightened awareness — in the hope that the reader might avoid mishap.
This year marks the completion of three decades since I first (as Phil Liggett might say) turned the pedals in anger. In thirty years of cycling I've made ballistic contact with foreign objects my fair share of times.
But most of those occurrences took place during my first half-decade as a cyclist. I've been relatively crash-free over the last two-dozen years, excepting the odd equipment failure, or an ill-fated maneuver on deceptively slick pavement.
Upon reflection, I and my fellow veterans of the road agree that it's defensive riding that has stood us in good stead. One develops instincts that come from this truism: You can drive a truck between what motorists ought to do — what they're legally obliged to do — versus what they actually do. Just because I have the right of way does not mean I can proceed apace in the comfort that my rights, and my life and limb, will not be violated.
When I hear that another of our sport's compatriots is hit by a car, whether in training or in a race, two things come to mind: Yet another oblivious or impatient driver has taken out one of our own; and I wonder whether the cyclist was inattentive to the distance extant between a motorist's appropriate versus his actual behavior behind the wheel.
To that end, presented here is an overview of a certain few signs of danger — moments that should provoke heightened awareness — in the hope that the reader might avoid mishap.
CARS TURNING RIGHT
I can't begin to estimate how many times a motorist has passed right by me only to turn right at an intersection, cutting me off. But I don't tend to smack into those cars anymore, like I did when I was in my 20s. That's because I assume he's going to make a right-hand turn in front of me, whether or not he's activated his directional.
You'd be amazed how much you can divine of a motorist's knowledge and intentions through a microsecond glance at him through his car's window. Did he see me? Is he looking in his rear view mirror, or side mirror? Is he slowing down, in anticipation of executing a turn? Is he looking left at the oncoming traffic — certainly a signal of an intent to turn right — without looking back toward me?
I'll be honest. When I was a young hothead, I'd almost dare drivers to do that to me. I would get mad in advance of the act that would trigger getting me mad, because I knew it was going to happen. I was yet again going to be cut off, in contravention of my rights as a cyclist. I had not yet learned that my own high standards do not apply to everyone. Even if my standards of behavior were righteous or reasonable, they were not universal. All my railing and hand-wringing would not make it so. No, those drivers should not be turning in front of me. They should also know how to find Saudi Arabia on a map, by God. But, I live, work, and ride my bike in a world where people either choose ignorance or have it thrust upon them. Selah.
I can't begin to estimate how many times a motorist has passed right by me only to turn right at an intersection, cutting me off. But I don't tend to smack into those cars anymore, like I did when I was in my 20s. That's because I assume he's going to make a right-hand turn in front of me, whether or not he's activated his directional.
You'd be amazed how much you can divine of a motorist's knowledge and intentions through a microsecond glance at him through his car's window. Did he see me? Is he looking in his rear view mirror, or side mirror? Is he slowing down, in anticipation of executing a turn? Is he looking left at the oncoming traffic — certainly a signal of an intent to turn right — without looking back toward me?
I'll be honest. When I was a young hothead, I'd almost dare drivers to do that to me. I would get mad in advance of the act that would trigger getting me mad, because I knew it was going to happen. I was yet again going to be cut off, in contravention of my rights as a cyclist. I had not yet learned that my own high standards do not apply to everyone. Even if my standards of behavior were righteous or reasonable, they were not universal. All my railing and hand-wringing would not make it so. No, those drivers should not be turning in front of me. They should also know how to find Saudi Arabia on a map, by God. But, I live, work, and ride my bike in a world where people either choose ignorance or have it thrust upon them. Selah.
CARS TURNING LEFT
Let me tell you the story of one of my vintage crashes. I'm riding on Highway 50, in South Lake Tahoe, during a circumnavigation of that lake with a group of friends. We're one mile away from finishing our 72-mile journey.
It was a typical Summer day, with cars bumper-to-bumper on both sides of the road. We're riding on the right-hand shoulder at 20mph or better. All of a sudden, a Volvo appears out of nowhere, and we all plow into him, the whole paceline of four or five guys. We all go down. What happened? A motorist traveling in the other direction desired to make a left-hand turn across traffic. Obliging motorists traveling in our direction made a space for him. He didn't see us. We didn't see him.
Who was at fault? Technically, the driver of the Volvo turned into oncoming traffic. But a case could just as easily be made that we were guilty of "unsafe passing on the right." If a policeman is predisposed against cyclists, he's likely to see it that way.
If you have to ride in traffic like that, look for an opening in the traffic in front of you. The likeliest reason for this space is to allow a vehicle to cross the road, right in front of you.
Let me tell you the story of one of my vintage crashes. I'm riding on Highway 50, in South Lake Tahoe, during a circumnavigation of that lake with a group of friends. We're one mile away from finishing our 72-mile journey.
It was a typical Summer day, with cars bumper-to-bumper on both sides of the road. We're riding on the right-hand shoulder at 20mph or better. All of a sudden, a Volvo appears out of nowhere, and we all plow into him, the whole paceline of four or five guys. We all go down. What happened? A motorist traveling in the other direction desired to make a left-hand turn across traffic. Obliging motorists traveling in our direction made a space for him. He didn't see us. We didn't see him.
Who was at fault? Technically, the driver of the Volvo turned into oncoming traffic. But a case could just as easily be made that we were guilty of "unsafe passing on the right." If a policeman is predisposed against cyclists, he's likely to see it that way.
If you have to ride in traffic like that, look for an opening in the traffic in front of you. The likeliest reason for this space is to allow a vehicle to cross the road, right in front of you.
CAR DOORS
The scenario above is the sort of thing that might happen to cyclists who live in beach communities. An overwhelming number of triathletes and cyclists live and ride along the Pacific Coast Highway corridor. I used to be one of them in my younger years, and most of my crashing took place on that stretch of road.
Laguna Beach was my particular bad luck city. I crashed into cars, or they into me, in North Laguna and South Laguna indiscriminantly. In retrospect it was due to three enabling causes: PCH was thoroughly busy and subject to cars exiting and entering that road; this stretch of PCH was hilly, so I had less opportunity to avoid a collision when I was descending at high speed; and I was inattentive to the bad habits of motorists.
Certain cities like Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, the South Bay area of Manhattan and Hermosa Beach, feature parallel parking on Pacific Coast Highway, which grants you precious little space between cars on the number-2 lane on the left, and parked cars on the right. Again, you'd be amazed at what you can see with a quick glance: people seated in those parked cars; people's faces in their side mirrors; and of course back-up lights. When you see those back-up lights, that means the car has just backed into its parallel parking space. When the lights go out, the driver has just turned his car off. What's next? He's got to exit his car. Will he see you before he opens his door? Will he even look? Probably not.
INTERSECTIONS
Look, I don't care how much time I lose in a race. I'm just not going to assume an intersection — even one that is controlled, even one that is barricaded — is safe for my passage. Remember, people are ignorant. They are just barely smart enough to pass a driving test. Or not. You don't think that a simple lack of a valid license is going to stop someone from driving, do you?
Besides, what do you think people at 7AM are doing on the road on a Sunday morning? They're probably engaged in one of two activities: They're on their way to church, for which they will be late because of the intersection at which they're now unexpectedly sitting; or they're on their way home from whatever it was they were doing Saturday night. The truest thing you can say about these people is that they are not thinking of the consequences of your bike hitting their passenger-side door.
Here are a few things we know. Police do not show up at the intersections they're supposed to control. When they do show up, they have no training in, and so no idea about, how fast oncoming triathletes ride their bikes. They'll certainly waive through a motorist when they should not have. Even those who do understand the speed at which you ride your bike have no control over how fast a motorist will step on the gas pedal and get his vehicle through the intersection.
This is the case when in fact the police are taking care of traffic control. It's just as likely that your life and spinal cord are in the hands of 85-year-old police volunteers or 15-year-old quasi-junior police volunteers. Or by no one.
And barricades? They've never stopped a motivated driver.
Look, here's the sad truth: There is no such thing as a controlled intersection. I don't care of there's a $100,000 prize for first in my age group, and I'm in the lead. Some things are just not worth it. Some races I just don't do, because there are so many intersections with cross traffic. When I do find myself in this position, I sit up, get out of the aero bars, with my hands on the pursuits. Of course I do so in a fashion not to cause the person behind me to slam on his brakes, but my main concern is not meeting the driver face to face as I fly through his side window.
CARS COMING FROM BEHIND
It seems like a lot of my fellow cyclists are getting hit on their training rides by vehicles the cyclist cannot see, that come up from behind. This is the sort of dynamic I'm faced with most often around my house, because I live in a rural area.
I live in horse country. That means trailers. Horse trailers. Utility trailers. Trailers hauling hay. Hauling debris. Wide trailers, with tail lights that are pitched wide — wider than the trucks towing them. Pick-up trucks with trailer mirrors that stick out past their normal passenger car width.
I ride to the right, of course, but I don't move way to the right to allow the truck or car to pass. Not right away. I tend to ride 18 to 24 inches in from edge of the road, as we all do. When I hear a vehicle coming up behind me I stay right there, allowing him room to pass. When the vehicle is just about on top of me, then I move all the way to the right, as far as is safe and practical. This gives me an extra foot or so of room, to grant me the space the driver meant to grant me, but did not because he misunderstood how wide his trailer is.
The real danger on the two-lane roads where I live is when I'm going to get passed by a car at the same time a car reaches my whereabouts in the oncoming lane. Now, two cars and a cyclist inhabit the same width of road at the same time. I have no hard and fast advice for this, except to say that drivers catch a tremendous amount of information in split seconds just like cyclists do. Looking the driver of one or both vehicles in the eye, just for a second, alerts them to the danger you sense, and which they will comprehend.
NON-VEHICLE-RELATED ACCIDENTS
I was riding with a group of friends in the Santa Monica Mountains not long ago. I was near the back of the group, as we were all descending at a rate commensurate with a bike race. A lot of the turns on these roads have decreasing radii, that is, they get sharper as the turn progresses. More than once I noted that riders in front of me overshoot the turn, ending up on the other side of the yellow in the middle of a blind turn.
Defensive cycling is not simply a case of protecting oneself against bad or inattentive drivers. It's protecting yourself against roads that are imperfect or badly designed, or built with undesirable but necessary elements because of the terrain. I speak to this with a method of descending I prefer, especially on the very curvy roads like those found in mountainous areas, and which has stood me in good stead. The link to this method follows this article.
ATTENTIVE POSTURE
Those of us who've ridden for decades all know fellow athletes who tend to crash more often than others. At first, you assume it's motorist error. When it happens over and over again, or when they ride their bikes into the backs of parked cars, it's a little harder to blame the other guy. Typically, these are the inattentive riders. This might be excused but for the consequences. At some point inattentiveness, and the disinclination to practice defensive riding, shifts the onus onto the cyclist. When you decide to engage in the sport of cycling, you're the one who'll pay the steepest price in an accident, regardless of whom is at fault.
The list of problems and dangers a cyclist might face on the road are legion. They each require a tactical response, and I've listed some of them above. But, I've barely nicked the surface. The message here is strategic: what is your current posture when contemplating a road shared with motorized vehicles? The safest posture is to assume the worst from those on the other side. Then, you'll be pleasantly surprised when these drivers do the right thing and, more to the point, you're more likely to arrive home safe and sound and able to ride another day.
The scenario above is the sort of thing that might happen to cyclists who live in beach communities. An overwhelming number of triathletes and cyclists live and ride along the Pacific Coast Highway corridor. I used to be one of them in my younger years, and most of my crashing took place on that stretch of road.
Laguna Beach was my particular bad luck city. I crashed into cars, or they into me, in North Laguna and South Laguna indiscriminantly. In retrospect it was due to three enabling causes: PCH was thoroughly busy and subject to cars exiting and entering that road; this stretch of PCH was hilly, so I had less opportunity to avoid a collision when I was descending at high speed; and I was inattentive to the bad habits of motorists.
Certain cities like Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, the South Bay area of Manhattan and Hermosa Beach, feature parallel parking on Pacific Coast Highway, which grants you precious little space between cars on the number-2 lane on the left, and parked cars on the right. Again, you'd be amazed at what you can see with a quick glance: people seated in those parked cars; people's faces in their side mirrors; and of course back-up lights. When you see those back-up lights, that means the car has just backed into its parallel parking space. When the lights go out, the driver has just turned his car off. What's next? He's got to exit his car. Will he see you before he opens his door? Will he even look? Probably not.
INTERSECTIONS
Look, I don't care how much time I lose in a race. I'm just not going to assume an intersection — even one that is controlled, even one that is barricaded — is safe for my passage. Remember, people are ignorant. They are just barely smart enough to pass a driving test. Or not. You don't think that a simple lack of a valid license is going to stop someone from driving, do you?
Besides, what do you think people at 7AM are doing on the road on a Sunday morning? They're probably engaged in one of two activities: They're on their way to church, for which they will be late because of the intersection at which they're now unexpectedly sitting; or they're on their way home from whatever it was they were doing Saturday night. The truest thing you can say about these people is that they are not thinking of the consequences of your bike hitting their passenger-side door.
Here are a few things we know. Police do not show up at the intersections they're supposed to control. When they do show up, they have no training in, and so no idea about, how fast oncoming triathletes ride their bikes. They'll certainly waive through a motorist when they should not have. Even those who do understand the speed at which you ride your bike have no control over how fast a motorist will step on the gas pedal and get his vehicle through the intersection.
This is the case when in fact the police are taking care of traffic control. It's just as likely that your life and spinal cord are in the hands of 85-year-old police volunteers or 15-year-old quasi-junior police volunteers. Or by no one.
And barricades? They've never stopped a motivated driver.
Look, here's the sad truth: There is no such thing as a controlled intersection. I don't care of there's a $100,000 prize for first in my age group, and I'm in the lead. Some things are just not worth it. Some races I just don't do, because there are so many intersections with cross traffic. When I do find myself in this position, I sit up, get out of the aero bars, with my hands on the pursuits. Of course I do so in a fashion not to cause the person behind me to slam on his brakes, but my main concern is not meeting the driver face to face as I fly through his side window.
CARS COMING FROM BEHIND
It seems like a lot of my fellow cyclists are getting hit on their training rides by vehicles the cyclist cannot see, that come up from behind. This is the sort of dynamic I'm faced with most often around my house, because I live in a rural area.
I live in horse country. That means trailers. Horse trailers. Utility trailers. Trailers hauling hay. Hauling debris. Wide trailers, with tail lights that are pitched wide — wider than the trucks towing them. Pick-up trucks with trailer mirrors that stick out past their normal passenger car width.
I ride to the right, of course, but I don't move way to the right to allow the truck or car to pass. Not right away. I tend to ride 18 to 24 inches in from edge of the road, as we all do. When I hear a vehicle coming up behind me I stay right there, allowing him room to pass. When the vehicle is just about on top of me, then I move all the way to the right, as far as is safe and practical. This gives me an extra foot or so of room, to grant me the space the driver meant to grant me, but did not because he misunderstood how wide his trailer is.
The real danger on the two-lane roads where I live is when I'm going to get passed by a car at the same time a car reaches my whereabouts in the oncoming lane. Now, two cars and a cyclist inhabit the same width of road at the same time. I have no hard and fast advice for this, except to say that drivers catch a tremendous amount of information in split seconds just like cyclists do. Looking the driver of one or both vehicles in the eye, just for a second, alerts them to the danger you sense, and which they will comprehend.
NON-VEHICLE-RELATED ACCIDENTS
I was riding with a group of friends in the Santa Monica Mountains not long ago. I was near the back of the group, as we were all descending at a rate commensurate with a bike race. A lot of the turns on these roads have decreasing radii, that is, they get sharper as the turn progresses. More than once I noted that riders in front of me overshoot the turn, ending up on the other side of the yellow in the middle of a blind turn.
Defensive cycling is not simply a case of protecting oneself against bad or inattentive drivers. It's protecting yourself against roads that are imperfect or badly designed, or built with undesirable but necessary elements because of the terrain. I speak to this with a method of descending I prefer, especially on the very curvy roads like those found in mountainous areas, and which has stood me in good stead. The link to this method follows this article.
ATTENTIVE POSTURE
Those of us who've ridden for decades all know fellow athletes who tend to crash more often than others. At first, you assume it's motorist error. When it happens over and over again, or when they ride their bikes into the backs of parked cars, it's a little harder to blame the other guy. Typically, these are the inattentive riders. This might be excused but for the consequences. At some point inattentiveness, and the disinclination to practice defensive riding, shifts the onus onto the cyclist. When you decide to engage in the sport of cycling, you're the one who'll pay the steepest price in an accident, regardless of whom is at fault.
The list of problems and dangers a cyclist might face on the road are legion. They each require a tactical response, and I've listed some of them above. But, I've barely nicked the surface. The message here is strategic: what is your current posture when contemplating a road shared with motorized vehicles? The safest posture is to assume the worst from those on the other side. Then, you'll be pleasantly surprised when these drivers do the right thing and, more to the point, you're more likely to arrive home safe and sound and able to ride another day.
Articles related to this one
Descending
This popular tutorial on descending was first written in 2000 and has been reworked and updated for today. 2.14.08
This popular tutorial on descending was first written in 2000 and has been reworked and updated for today. 2.14.08
Comments
defensive riding
honoluludon
Reviewed by: don mueller, Sep 26 2009 11:39AM
follows my own experience exactly. got nailed by a right turning car about 5 years into my cycling career (about 30 years now.) it taught me to be a much more defensive, alert rider anticipating trouble. so far it has helped me avoid many catastrophes. however, lately i've had a lot of drivers racing around me to make right hand turns. been some close calls. i think the major cause is i don't ride nearly as fast as i used to (recent pacemaker has slowed me down) and they feel they have time to get around me.
Bike paths
Cyclists should have their own roads
Reviewed by: Gerard Terwisscha van Scheltinga, Sep 25 2009 1:21AM
When it comes down to cycling I'm glad to be living in The Netherlands where almost all roads are lined with special bike paths. Biking is so common all drivers are used to bikes and probably bike themselves (if the're not driving). Don't think Dutch cyclists are completely safe from motorists, but if they can't reach you, they can't hit you. Also, in accidents involving cars and cyclists the motorist is always the guilty party.
...and don't forget to thank considerate drivers!
Reviewed by: Joe Werner, Apr 30 2009 1:49AM
Nice article. Yes, I too have had my share of close shaves, so far I always could anticipate erratic driver behaviour, so no crash with cars ensued. After getting my driving license, I realised that I started to be a more considerate biker, seeing both sides of the story.
Yesterday something strange happened to me: at the city limits of a small village I pass during my commute there is a constriction (right word? not a native speaker...) where a car can barely pass a bike. Regardless, most drivers (even trucks) do so. Not this one. I heard him approaching and prepared myself to move a bit more to the right, should he get any closer. This is a bit difficult at that point, since the road is quite bad there (and I ride a road bike). However, the truck slowed down and let me pass first. Since it was a commercial truck I noted the www-address on the back and later dropped the company an email. This event was a nice start for the day and I think this guy deserves some feedback (usually the only feedback you can provide is criticism by filing a complaint...).
So: if a driver respects your rights and needs, try to thank him.
Yesterday something strange happened to me: at the city limits of a small village I pass during my commute there is a constriction (right word? not a native speaker...) where a car can barely pass a bike. Regardless, most drivers (even trucks) do so. Not this one. I heard him approaching and prepared myself to move a bit more to the right, should he get any closer. This is a bit difficult at that point, since the road is quite bad there (and I ride a road bike). However, the truck slowed down and let me pass first. Since it was a commercial truck I noted the www-address on the back and later dropped the company an email. This event was a nice start for the day and I think this guy deserves some feedback (usually the only feedback you can provide is criticism by filing a complaint...).
So: if a driver respects your rights and needs, try to thank him.
Good review of car/bike crashes to look out for - not as good in how to avoid them
CyclistLorax channel on YouTube
Reviewed by: Brian DeSousa, Feb 2 2009 10:26PM
(Reposted without links, as I think the spam filters may have caught it the last time I tried posting my review. All videos below are on the "CyclistLorax" channel on YouTube.)
Being further left and "controlling the lane" discourages right hooks, makes you more visible to left turning motorists, and keeps you far enough away from parked cars so you don't have to worry about being "doored", as shown in "The Rights and Duties of Cyclists" video, filmed in Long Beach, CA.
I agree with the concern about the two lane road scenario, where motorists are approaching from opposite directions, leaving the possibility of two cars and a bike in the same space at the same time. The trick there is to be far enough out in the lane - more than the 18 to 24 inches from the edge you mentioned - so that the driver approaching from behind doesn't think even for a second that he can squeeze between you and the oncoming motorist. The driver coming from behind slows down, and once the oncoming motorist passes, then you can move over to let the driver behind pass.
The author mentions problems with dealing with the traffic in Laguna and other Southern California beach cities. When Pacific Coast Highway is congested in the summer, I've seen cyclists filter forward on the right, putting them at risk from turning motorists and parked car doors. If you're going to filter forward, it's better to do it like a motorcyclist and split between lanes (legal only in California), as shown in the "Lane Splitting in Laguna Beach, CA" video. If you're not in California, or don't want to lane split, then you can wait in line with the motorists.
Being further left and "controlling the lane" discourages right hooks, makes you more visible to left turning motorists, and keeps you far enough away from parked cars so you don't have to worry about being "doored", as shown in "The Rights and Duties of Cyclists" video, filmed in Long Beach, CA.
I agree with the concern about the two lane road scenario, where motorists are approaching from opposite directions, leaving the possibility of two cars and a bike in the same space at the same time. The trick there is to be far enough out in the lane - more than the 18 to 24 inches from the edge you mentioned - so that the driver approaching from behind doesn't think even for a second that he can squeeze between you and the oncoming motorist. The driver coming from behind slows down, and once the oncoming motorist passes, then you can move over to let the driver behind pass.
The author mentions problems with dealing with the traffic in Laguna and other Southern California beach cities. When Pacific Coast Highway is congested in the summer, I've seen cyclists filter forward on the right, putting them at risk from turning motorists and parked car doors. If you're going to filter forward, it's better to do it like a motorcyclist and split between lanes (legal only in California), as shown in the "Lane Splitting in Laguna Beach, CA" video. If you're not in California, or don't want to lane split, then you can wait in line with the motorists.
