Car moving 70 in a 65 speed zone (rual highway) and the bike is moving 5.

 

In South Carolina the laws are pretty much the same as N.C.
Cycling is a popular sport in my area and the motorists here do complain some but, If all parties are obeying the rules of the road, the accidents are a lot less likely to occur.

 

> FACING TOWARDS traffic is safest because the rider can see exactly what is coming.

When living in MA, the stats in 1995 (or so) were that 90% of bike/car fatalities happened when the person was riding against traffic. Almost of these accidents happen at under 35 mph.

Though only less then 40% of vehicle deaths are on highways, it is just like highway traffic fatalities stats. They usually occur when the speed difference between the two cars going the same direction is 20 mph+. Why? Because when there is a speed difference of more then 30 feet per second between two moving objects there is a huge increase in the rate of fatal accidents involving cars.

If you see a bike 200 feet ahead doing 15-20 mph while you are doing 35 mph, you are over taking them at 15 feet per second so it gives you plenty of time to slow and move to the center of the road to avoid contact.

Also, it is harder to guage distance and space with an oncoming object (theory of relativity) then one you are overcoming.

 

I have logged a few thousand miles on my road bike including a couple triathlons and I always ride on the right. 'Course I have a neat little rear view mirror mounted on my helmet. The shoulder is absolutely out on 20-23mm tires w 100+psi. I figure that facing traffic I have momentum carrying me into traffic while as a pedestrian - or runner - I can just sidestep off the road. There is no pat answer but there needs to be a consensus so we are all on the same page. Actually the biggest hazard I face is the rednecks throwing beer cans at me (and a waste of good beer too).

 

Man, riding a road bike with such thin tires, probably sew-ups, you have my respect. I need at least 2 1/4" knobbies and 21 to 24 speeds and a big comfortable seat. o&o>

 

Besides a $10-15 mirror attached to the bike or helmet your ears are your best defense in avoiding traffic coming from the rear. Also that little blinky red light works well in the daytime especially when riding from sun to shady areas.

It terms of surviving the all to common bike/vehicle confrontation a helmet is indespensible. Of the 5 helmets I've cracked since I started wearing them in '89 I would have to say one saved my life and one kept me from being a vegetable(ok so that point is debatable) and the two others definitely kept me out of the hospital. The first one I broke split in two and was held together by the lycra cover . The fact that I was under the car looking up at the bumper didn't bother me so much wondering how I was going to get home with the bike folded in half. I'd have to say the driver of the car was a lot more terrified than me- he was white as a ghost and shaking when I pulled myself out from under his car and asked him for a ride home. Ahhh to be young and bounce well. Besides some serious road rash and a mild concussion I was well enough to make it to work the next day. Since that day riding through Stanford's campus I don't ride without one.

Riding against traffic scares me alot more than riding without a helmet and it's against the law.

I've found the times not to ride on the rode are weekdays 4pm and 6pm- people are just too concerned about getting home. The other time is around 2am- that's what time the bars close- hey if you haven't been night riding in the county parks around here don't knock it

 

We all know it ain't a perfect world. But still - if I'm so far gone that I'm barely moving my survival sense tells me to take the initiative as far as being aware of hazards coming towards me.

I don't ride in oncoming as a general rule, but when circumstances dictate the need to see trouble in advance, that choice should be available - not arbitrarily outlawed.

I can't possibly be the only one that has bit off more of a ride than they were expecting. There are times when some of the options have to be weighed in terms of specific circumstances. It has always been my belief that a cyclist is the only defence that a cyclist has out there - a rider is only as safe as a rider makes sure that they are.

Ordinary circumstances at full speed, yes. Ride on the right. But I've even seen school busses cross over the lines on the roads around here, not just the centerline, but the margins as well. On a blind curve I have even had to take my F-100 off the road to avoid some of these people, and it happens a lot!

It would be nice if bike lanes and trails were available everywhere, but it just is not something that can be counted on, and country roads are still the most dangerous place to ride that I have ever been.


~Wolf

 

pilot10 make a good point re. time of day. When I leave work I make a right hand turn onto a very busy street. Sometimes I wait for what seems like forever -- looking to my right -- for a break in traffic (I'm sure it's really less than 2 minutes, it just seems like forever). When that break comes and I step on the gas to go, the last thing I expect to see is a cyclist coming from my right riding against traffic. When I do, they have eyes the size of saucers, and I'm sure I do as well. So far I have had time time to hit my breaks. This hasn't happened often, but it is a firghtening enough to leave a lasting memory.

I consider myself a safe and responsible driver (don't we all), and had I been turning left my head would have been swiveling both ways and I would have noticed them approaching. Looking right before making a right hand turn is just a hard habit to develop.

 

I haven't been doing much riding lately, but the road I live on requires you to switch sides from time to time. Ther are some corners where a steep bank comes right down to the road with no shoulder, and if a rider were going with traffic he would be forced to ride in the traffic lane. Well, there are a few people who drive this road like it's LeMans, and tear around the corners, tires screeching. I'm sorry, but a bike just can't maintain those kinds of speeds, so if you're following the law going with traffic around one of those corners when some kid in his ricer comes blasting up behind you, you're gonna get punted into eternity. You just have no place to go, so you HAVE to switch to the other side of the road before you get to those corners, and then you have a nice shoulder to ride on safely, against traffic. -TD