If you’re fearfully quivering at the prospect of having to vacate the sidewalks of Whyte Ave and move by way of the road proper, then you should do two things:
1) Enroll in our upcoming CANBIKE 2 course. This course teaches effective and safe cycling. You learn how to navigate turns, proper road position, communication with drivers, basic mechanics, and how to deal with exceptional situations, among many other things. It has a discussion portion as well as an on-bike portion. You’ll leave with the knowledge and confidence to ride down the road knowing that you’re riding in a way that’s legal, and, more importantly, safest for yourself and other road users. You’ll also get where you want to go much much faster (for the same amount of work) if you’re not stuck on the sidewalk.
Click here to read more or to register. It starts Thursday, so don’t put this off, or you’ll miss your chance!
2) Understand that while sidewalk cycling may feel safer, you’re greatly increasing your risk of being in an accident with cars as well as with pedestrians by riding on the sidewalk. Here’s a message from John, the instructor for the upcoming CANBIKE 2 course:
Safety and feeling safe are difficult things to define as the terms mean different things to different people. By and large, the general public is most concerned with being run over from behind while cycling. This is easily understandable as loud noises approaching rapidly from the “invisible” behind triggers the fight or flight response mechanism in inexperienced cyclists. As you and I know, this is a very uncommon type of bicycle/car collision and is most easily dealt with by riding out in the road a half to a full meter from the curb where the cyclist will be much more visible in relation to the surrounding vehicles. It is ironic that the common response of hugging the curb and riding close to parked cars actually increases the likelihood of being hit from behind and from other directions.
The number one type of accident experienced by cyclists are simple falls. These are due to inattention, lack of skill, surface defects, etc. and involve no other vehicle. The second-most common type of accident are collisions involving turning movements by other vehicles. A left-turning vehicle hitting a straight-through cyclist being the most common, but right-turning vehicles are well represented, too. This makes intersections the most common location for bike/vehicle collisions by a large margin. The best strategies to deal with intersection collisions are to place yourself where you are most visible, and to be aware of vehicles in front of you and ready to take action if things start to go awry.
The reasons sidewalk riding has a much higher rate of collisions are twofold. Firstly, you approach any intersection in a position that is not easily visible from vehicles on the street. They may scan for pedestrians but will always double check for other vehicles on the roadway before proceeding. The cyclist is usually moving quickly enough that they are not noticed approaching the intersection and appear in the intersection after the driver has scanned for pedestrians, rescanned for other vehicles and then executed their turn. This gives rise to the all-too-common, “I just didn’t see you!” They didn’t see you because you weren’t there when they looked, you were further back and hard to spot in amongst the other visual clutter on the sidewalk.
Secondly, sidewalk riding multiplies the number intersections you have to navigate. Every driveway, alley and parked car with opening passenger doors becomes yet another intersection. You also have to deal with all the shop doors that pop open as well!
Everyone rides on the sidewalk at one time or another. Being aware of the increased risk and proceeding slowly and cautiously will help a great deal. When riding with children always, always, always walk your bike through any crosswalk. Perhaps you are sharp enough to judge the risks properly but children do not have the mental ability to properly judge a complex traffic situation. The next time, with someone else or by themselves, they may make a fatal mistake.