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Today it is widely recognised that additional use of heavy motor vehicles is bad for society. Bicycling is increasing seen as a heathly and environmentally attractive transportation alternative. Government transportation plans often have targets for increased cycling trips, but presently there's little hope of those being met because cycling in or near heavy motor vehicle traffic is widely perceived as being too dangerous.
Policies to promote cycle use are nearly all based on reducing danger in order to get more people to cycle. Hence the widespread emphasis on segregated cycle facilities and personal safety gear. However, if you keep telling people that special arrangements are necessary to cycle in safety then they are bound to construe that cycling is inherently an unsafe activity and avoid it.
| What | Training for roadway cyclists | Maintenance classes | Training for Police | Training for Motorists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How | Study, expert demonstration & supervised skills practice | Study & expert demo | Study, expert demo & supervised skills practice | Study |
| Provider | Triangle Roadway Bicycling | Local Bicycle shops | International Police Mtn. Bike Assoc. | NC DOT |
| Where | See TRB's "Street Cycling course" web page | See NC Bike Club's "Sponsors" web page | See IPMBA's web site | Driver's Handbook |
| When | After 5 or more students commit | Call or email the bike shop | See IPMBA's web site | License exams |
In the U.K., the average cyclist can expect serious injury only once in every 80 lifetimes, and death due to cycling in more than 4,500 lifetimes. Cycling is 20 times more likely to lengthen life than shorten it, and cycling is safer than many sports and common activities. Cyclists live some 7 years longer than people who do not cycle, and during that time they lead much healthier lives, with fewer illnesses and less time off work.
"The fear that bikes and cars are incapable of mixing safely has led to the popular belief that for cycling to be a practical mode of transport, cyclists should keep – or be kept – out of the way of motor traffic as much as possible. This has led to a concentration on engineering measures to promote cycling, and in particular on measures that segregate cyclists, in varying degrees, from other traffic.
So strong is the perception that cycle paths and other facilities must be safer than riding in traffic that few people look further. But where this has been done – and in particular where account has been taken of unreported crashes, which are much more common off-road, although they are not necessarily less serious – the statistics are not comforting. From across Europe and America there is much evidence of cycle facilities being the least safe place to cycle."
"Whilst changes are needed to some roads to make them easier for all users to share, especially by reducing speeds at places of potential conflict, for the greater part the road network already provides the best infrastructure for cycling. With better guidance and encouragement on how to cycle well, through the development of appropriate skills, not only could more people cycle more widely, but cycling might enjoy a higher status as a practical means of transport that people aspire to adopt for themselves."
LAB's "The Law's for All" program encourages Law Enforcement personal to enforce the traffic laws for bicycling. The materials, consisting of a handout pamplet and a 12-minute VHS video tape, were written by an Officer, a Trooper and a bike program director.
The International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA) was formed in 1992 as a resource for departments to share ideas, training tips, patrol tactics, information about uniforms, and safety concerns regarding bicycle patrols. IPMBA's annual conference has a mix of interactive sessions covering basic, intermediate, advanced, and certified bicycle handling skills; workshops covering practical, legal, economic and community oriented bike issues.
Some of the Triangle area bike shops offer education to the public about bicycle maintenance. Most are free, but some (like The Spin Cycle's overhaul course) have a fee. None of the shops I requested information from responded by the deadline for this presentation, so you'll need to contact the shops directly for further information. The NC Bicycle Club's "Sponsors" web page has a nice table that lists most (if not all) of the Raleigh/Cary shops.
The purpose of the Bike Ed course is to teach people how to cycle with confidence and enjoyment in reasonable safety. See the "Bicycle Driving" link on the NC Bicycle Club's home page.
The Cycling Activity "bible" is John Forester's "Effective Cycling" book, from MIT Press. For Transportation, the reference book is John's "Bicycle Transportation" (same publisher).
"Effective Cycling" is a handbook for cyclists. Almost everything that a bicyclist needs to know to use his bicycle on roadways is covered. EC starts with the selection and care of the bicycle. It progresses to the methods by which the cyclist controls his bicycle, and then to the techniques for using the bicycle in its normal operating environments.
The section on cycling in traffic is the heart of the book. Contrary to popular belief, cycling in traffic is neither particularly difficult nor particularly dangerous. Traffic operates according to rational principles that are embodied in the traffic laws. Cyclists who operate in accordance with the rules for vehicle operators encounter fewer problems and have a lower accident rate. The Effective Cycling principle is: "Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles."
The traffic section is followed by chapters on cycling at night, in the rain, and in cold. Cycling is much more fun when you enjoy it, so there are chapters on enjoying commuting and utility cycling, mountain riding, cycling with a club, touring, and beginning to race. The last section considers cycling in its social setting.
"Bicycle Transportation" was written for two different audiences: the government employee with cycling responsibilities, and those citizens who wish to influence such people."BT" presents scientific knowledge about cycling, cycling transportation, cycling accidents, traffic engineering with respect to cyclists. BT also describes and analyzes governmental policies, programs, and research concerning bicycle transportation.
"People tend to fear most being hit from behind whilst cycling – the only type of crash best prevented by segregation – but this risk is very small, especially for someone who rides conscientiously. Most crashes are as a result of turning or crossing movements, and occur because the cyclist is not seen, or his actions not predicted. All drivers give most attention to those parts of the highway where there is risk to themselves, and see much less easily anything, or anyone, outside of a quite narrow field of vision. A cyclist is safest riding within this zone of maximum surveillance, not outside it."
"A lack of discipline – not following the established rules of the road – often leads to crashes. A failure to keep right is common on off-road paths, as is cutting corners where visibility is poor. Minimum danger from others does not necessarily lead to minimum casualties. The extra discipline enforced by the presence of a greater perceived danger, such as motor traffic, generally results in the safest cycling environment overall."
"Cycling safely on the roads is not simply a matter of luck, and it does not depend solely upon the behaviour of motorists. Safe cycling is mainly about adopting sensible techniques, for cyclists can cope with a wide range of traffic conditions by learning a not-onerous set of cycling skills. Furthermore, skilled cycling is not the province of only the super-fit. Integrating safely with traffic depends much more upon technique than physical strength, which is a decisive advantage in only a few situations."
"To progress further a cyclist needs to learn how to negotiate with other drivers, which is the skill of establishing co-operation with others to facilitate progress and to protect you from the dangers which might otherwise be present. There is nothing awesome about negotiation nor, practised properly, is it at all unsafe. In all facets of life the great majority of people respond willingly to a direct appeal for assistance. Negotiation is such an appeal. It does require, however, that the cyclist seeks deliberately to integrate with traffic. In this, and other aspects of skilled cycling, the biggest hurdle to overcome is putting aside the prejudice that cyclists and motor vehicles should not mix.
The cyclist who learns positioning, negotiation and good judgement is able to share most roads in most places with a minimum of difficulty. Although such skills are seldom taught, they have been the stock trade of experienced cyclists for decades. They confer safety, mobility and freedom for cycling in a way that no form of separate infrastructure has yet succeeded in achieving, and this explains why, in countries where cyclists have the choice, most cyclists of wide experience prefer to do most of their cycling on the road."
www.mindspring.com/~brucewr/ec/educate.html