Cycling in the city

Last week my son Cameron was knocked off his bike. On his way to work, he was making his way (straight) through a roundabout when a car (wrongly) entered on his left and hit his rear wheel before he had exited the roundabout. He fell off, of course, and ended up with some nasty scrapes and bruises. (His wheel was ruined, bent all out of shape by the force of the vehicle.)

Fortunately he was assisted by several people on the spot, one woman going out of her way to transfer her kids to another person's vehicle (it was the morning school run) so she could take him to work to get bandaged up. The driver of the vehicle that hit him, a young woman, also stopped and it turns out that she was distracted because her father had died the previous day. She probably shouldn't have been driving.

I've been thinking of writing a piece on cycling in the city for a while because incidents like this happen every day. Chris got knocked off his bike a few years ago at a different roundabout in similar circumstances. In both cases, the driver was simply not looking for cyclists so didn't see them.

Roundabouts are particularly tricky for cyclists because there is little space on the road and cars entering from all directions. The big urban roundabouts often have separate safer crossing points that cyclists can use (shared with pedestrians). But many roundabouts don't have these.

My approach is to 'take the lane' at roundabouts, positioning myself in the middle of the lane so cars cannot squeeze up beside me. This is the only safe way to make a right-hand turn at a roundabout (if you are not bunny-hopping through pedestrian crossing points). But drivers don't like cyclists doing this, and you have to be quick (and assertive) and clearly signal your intentions to claim the space.

I also take the lane in other situations where there is limited room on the road - for example, when the road has been narrowed due to roadworks. Some cyclists try to keep to the left but, in my view, this invites motorists to try and squeeze past (and I have seen this happen), which is dangerous. I put myself right in the middle of the lane so there is no doubt. I also cycle as fast as I can to minimise driver frustration, and move back to the left as soon as the road widens again. (Given reduced speed limits at roadworks, I am usually not much slower than the cars anyway.)

I have never been knocked off my bike but I have had some near misses. (Every cyclist has.) Usually they involve a car overtaking me and then turning left across my path. Or racing past me to a ninety degree (left-turning) bend and turning sharply in front of me. I am not sure where they expect a moving cyclist to go. (Scarily, cars will also race past cyclists coming up to a narrow right-turning bend, crossing into the other lane to do so, despite the risk of oncoming traffic.)

Many Christchurch intersections now have red no turning-arrows to give cyclists a chance to get safely through before cars turn left (or right). These seem to be mainly on designated cycleways, although cyclists can also benefit from no turning-arrows triggered at intersections by pedestrians.

But cyclists always need to be on high alert and be prepared to take evasive action (eg, brake suddenly or turn out of the way). Although I am assertive in claiming my space on the road, I also try to cycle defensively. I watch carefully for any signs that a car might pull out or pull in immediately in front of me. I slow down in places where there is heavy traffic, parked cars, shops, or uncontrolled intersections. My hands are always ready to press my brakes.

I am particularly wary about cycling up the inside of a line of cars (even if I am in a cycle lane). Drivers do not hesitate to cross a painted line if they make a sudden decision to pull in or pass a car in front of them that has slowed to make a right-hand turn.

I also think carefully about my route, bearing in mind the time of day. There is a school in my street so I make sure I go out on my bike before or after the stream of cars dropping and picking up children. If I happen to arrive back at school pick-up time, I will take a less direct route to avoid the chaos.

I try to minimise the number of right-hand turns I need to make. At busy intersections, I will make a hook turn, crossing straight through the lights and pulling into stationary traffic so I can continue my turn by going straight through the other way when the lights change.

I make use of separate cycleways when they are available. I try to take the safest route rather than the quickest or most direct route.

I am not a big fan of wearing fluoro-coloured clothing for every ride. In my view, people should be able to wear normal clothing if they are cycling to work, or the shops, or making some other short trip from A to B. However, I do take care to avoid dark clothing on especially dim days (and use bike lights) and I wear bright-coloured tops for my recreational rides.

These are all things that cyclists need to think about when cycling around the city. But of course that is only one part of the equation and none of these things would have stopped Cameron from being knocked off his bike.

Drivers need to be much more alert to cyclists and be prepared to encounter them on the roads. Just as they do for cars, drivers need to think about how much room cyclists need on the road and look for them before turning or pulling in. They need to be aware of how fast they might be going (and e-bikes can go very fast) before they turn in front of them.

Drivers should be aware of any parked vehicles or other upcoming obstacles that mean cyclists will need to merge with traffic to get safely by. They also need to slow down and consider letting cyclists go first rather than roaring past them, and leaving cyclists with nowhere to go.

There are four of us in my household. All of us have been cycling for years and are out on our bikes four or five days of the week. We all get frustrated with the behaviour of (some) motorists and each have our own stories of the accident that nearly was.

However, collectively, we have been involved in very few accidents - surprisingly few given the amount of cycling we do. And the near-misses aren't enough to stop us from cycling.

There are so many good reasons to cycle around the city - it's cheap, convenient, fun, and good for your health and the environment. We just need everyone to take a bit more care so we can all do it safely.