True or False: "I am a better driver, because I ride"

[tulip]

Absolutely. I think I'm a better driver particularly because I spent years commuting by bicycle in and around Washington, DC. Commuting by bike really makes you aware of rush hour traffic. My riding now is mostly on country roads at non-rush hours, and I don't think that would have the same effect on my driving as commuting by bike does.

[sgtiger]

Ha, bicycling has made me a more timid and frustrated driver. I think I am on a bike sometimes while i'm driving, and I watch intersections and cars like they are going to kill me! while I drive my car. And in stop and go traffic, I sit and stew because i know if i was on my bike I'd be far far down the road.

+1

I was a bit of a nervous driver to begin with, and the less I drive, I find the more my anxiety goes up when I do drive. I do think cycling has made me more aware of my surroundings, though, and made me slow down a bit too.

[indigoiis]

I know for certain it has slowed me down in the car. I used to get a speeding ticket a year. Knock wood, haven't had one since I started riding regularly.
I think it also helps me see peripherally.

I still can't gage properly the distance between the right side of my pickup and, say, a fencepost, while going through a tight driveway entrance on a curve... though. D'Oh!

[Cataboo]

I can't say I've slowed down when driving - On a highway, I still drive fast - in a city or in suburbs, I'm usually driving a bit slower and always have.

I know when driving in Europe, I had a really really hard time navigating roundabouts, trying to figure out which way I was going with foreign language signs, and dealing with cyclists and pedestrians everywhere... The combination of the 4 was stressful. If you add in driving on the wrong side of the road in Britian, it's just bad. I'm not sure cycling has improved that at all in me, because I haven't tried lately.


However, I've always had a habit of slowing down when I see a motorcyclist on the road and just putting distance between me & them. Some of them tend to be quite unpredictable and I really don't want to be the agents of their demise.

[ASammy1]

I would say true! Because I ride, I tend to be more aware while driving.

[smilingcat]

don't think it has affected my driving for the better or for worse. not sure

Then again, I have yet to collect a speeding ticket or moving violations. Only few parking tickets evar. one in NYC and one when I made the mistake of day of the week.

I've been taught to be keenly maintain situational awareness. Living in NYC makes you do this and also being an engineer. I think these two has made me a better driver.

[redrhodie]

"I'm a better rider because I ride"

I'm definitely better on a bike. I still get impatient while driving. That just doesn't happen cycling. But, I have improved in the car, so I guess "true" for me, too.

Good luck with the lessons! My mom tried to teach me, and lasted one short session. I went to driving school. She never did feel comfortable with me driving (the driving teacher taught me to be very aggressive--1st time out, we did the Thurbers Avenue curve ).

[Geonz]

Coming to the bicycle from motorcycle has simply planted, indelibly, the stamp of "vehicle" on my riding. I'll be sitting there at the red light (with cars there) while the cyclist across the street does the stop, check, and proceed because no, there isn't any traffic. I'm reasonably sure that if I hadn't had the years on the motorcycle in between the 'just riding around' on the bike that I'd have that "out of the mainstream" approach.
I also developed habits for perceiving when I'd been seen that come in handy - and perhaps most of all, got used to riding in the cold. Bicycles are infernos compared to motorcycles - except for those muffler burns...

When I drive (pretty rarely) I do, also, get this weird idea that I'm invisible, especially at four-way stops. I want to wave everybody else through