...and you thought your commute was dangerous?

[indigoiis]

I cribbed this off our local cycling board.

"I somehow had the idea that New Zealand was cycling heaven, but if you
follow this link to a YouTube video of one commuter's record you will
find some scary moments that will seem familiar to Rhode Island
commuting cyclists (keep in mind: in NZ you ride and drive on the LEFT):

http://http://www.stuff.co.nz/4433431a10.html "

Wow! There was like, five cars that pulled out in front of the guy. Yikes!

[mimitabby]

boy, that was a really bad link!


(take off the first http:// and it will work, but i can't find the video

[kat_h]

Story is at http://www.stuff.co.nz/4433431a10.html

Video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8RTXrMHt2A

There's definitely some close calls in it but it's two months of riding edited down to three minutes of video. Subconsiously it makes you feel like it's all happening in one ride, which makes it seem worse.

[bmccasland]

Two thoughts come to mind
- I wanted to bang my fist on the offending auto/bus.

- I see that kind of driving in my area all the time, and not car vs bicycle, many the day when I get home and double check my car for target symbols. I swear there is one the way some folks drive.

[GLC1968]

If that's 2 months worth of riding, I can relate. When I commuted in NC, I saw a lot of similiar stuff. In fact, except for the bus (and the fact that it was on the other side of the road) it looked familiar!

My theory was that in my town, people were not used to seeing bicycles durring the morning commute. They all figured a bike would slow them down (and everyone seem to always be late!), so they took risks that they might not otherwise take just to get in front of me. It was scary...no doubt about it!

When I rode home, it was a totally different situation. In the evenings, drivers were used to seeing cyclists and they were way more respectful.

[7rider]

This line from the article struck a note with me:
"He said mothers on the school run were the worst offenders.
"I try not to go anywhere near a school at about 3pm.""
I used to ride a route that went by a big field that was used for a flea market on Sunday mornings. Good grief, don't EVER get between a flea market fan and their parking lot! Those people have blinders on. They see nothing but bargains before them. I used to ride 2 miles out of my way to avoid the flea market.

I'm surprised he didn't have vids of getting door'ed.

[Melalvai]

This line from the article struck a note with me:
"He said mothers on the school run were the worst offenders.
"I try not to go anywhere near a school at about 3pm.""

I can believe that. Most times someone yells at me, it is 2 boys in an SUV. (Different boys, different SUV each time. I don't have a stalker. Yet.) Most times someone honks at me, it is a woman in a station wagon.

I've always wondered why it is that boys yell but moms honk?

[GLC1968]

I'm surprised he didn't have vids of getting door'ed.

Me too! I kept flinching as he rode by cars expecting a door to be his next issue!

[kiwi girl]

As a fellow Chrsitchurch bike commuter it was the clip of the pedestrian that struck home the most - people walk down the bike lanes as if they are part of the footpath. I also have a lot of issues with cars turning into driveways across the bike lane in front of me

[Pip]

The scary part is that Christchurch is probably one of the better cities in New Zealand for cycling. I'd like to attach a camera to my bike during an average ride around the streets of Wellington. I scared the life out of a pedestrian who wandered obliviously across the road in front of me last weekend. After braking hard I managed to find a small sliver of road between him and the centre line. As I slipped past I called out hello, inches from his ear. The guy jumped two feet in the air.

I really shouldn't do stuff like that. One of these days someone's going to chase me down and knock me over ...

[crazycanuck]

Ummm Auckland is waaaaaaaaayy worse Blech..Bicycle lanes painted green & noone pays attention!!!

No wonder we took up Mtn biking..mmm mtn bikin @ Woodhill...Rotovegas too

[DirtDiva]

I'm going to Rotovegas next month.

I've ridden down a lot of the roads in that clip and driven down all of 'em. Chch drivers are not patient! The biggest problems I have when out and about on two wheels all relate to people underestimating the speeds bikes travel at, and I've learned to be very assertive with my bike positioning at intersections so that I can be sure I have been seen. Notice how many bike lanes the guy had there to ride in though!

[Geonz]

"Engineering, Education and Enforcement." The bike lanes (when they're well designed and executed, whcih is anothe rissue) are only the engineering part.

[lph]

It was a bit hard to judge since we only got the field-of-view straight ahead, and if I'd been riding there myself I would have been scanning the side and rear view at regular intervals, but I felt he was riding a bit close to the side, almost in behind the parked cars instead of taking the lane. Which might explain some of the cars buzzing him - but not that honking huge bus passing him blinking left!

And the ones who swept across in front of him, of course... geez.

[DirtDiva]

Yeah, I think the guy definitely needs to take the lane more at intersections. and ride a bit further out from cars when there's no bike lane. Won't stop people driving dumbly, but it does force drivers to overtake properly rather than just squeeze past dangerously close by.