Cycling in Sydney Australia
Hey Girls, Apparently You Need to Ride More Manly Like.
full story
To stay in one piece, ladies, cycle like a macho man
Katie Law
Boris Johnson yesterday announced more plans to improve cycling safety in the city
to get killed?
It's a strange and disturbing statistic, especially given that the same set of figures also show that male cyclists have more collisions and
crashes than women, and are also more likely to be seriously injured.
Is there anything that women cyclists can do to reduce their risk, other than waiting for Boris's new measures, which include the possibility of
cyclists being allowed to turn left while the lights are still red, to
become law? The short answer is yes: behave more like a man.
For there's no doubt that by and large a bloke on a bike, like everywhere else in life, is more aggressive, more confident, takes more risks and
goes faster than a woman does. My advice is that, for once, it may pay
to take a leaf out of his macho rulebook.
You have only to wait with a group of fellow cyclists at a light to observe the complete range of gender characteristics. It's the men who park
themselves squarely out in front of the waiting traffic; it's the men
who fly ahead at top speed; it's the men who get into arguments with
drivers. It is also more likely to be the men who shoot the lights,
ride the pavements and squeeze through potentially dangerous traffic
jams. I'm not saying that women don't — but they are less likely to.
While these characteristics hardly constitute a superior moral code of behaviour, they almost certainly go some way towards asserting the
rights of the cyclist to occupy the same turf as the driver. In so
doing, they may also offer better protection against the lorries that
have been responsible for most of last year's cycling deaths.
I only fully came to realise all this after I was fined by the police for shooting a red light, even though at the time there was not a
pedestrian in sight. I didn't question or challenge the offence but I
did make the decision that if I was going to be treated like a
motorist, I was jolly well going to behave more like one in future. And
a male one at that.
Since then I have become a veritable road hog in a fluorescent jacket, perfectly happy to pull right ahead and claim the middle section of the middle lane whenever I go round a
roundabout, even if it means making the cars and lorries behind me slow
down. They can honk all they want to, but the point is that they can
see me.
Nor do I have any hesitation in pulling out to cross a lane, having made eye contact with the driver behind me, holding out my right arm, to slow him down with imperious confidence. I've even
started rapping boldly on the car windows of drivers who drive and talk
on their mobiles.
Perhaps when we can turn left on red, I might be able to return to being a little more ladylike. Until then, staying alive seems more important.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Doddsy on -
Lorries seem to be a big killer in London.
Not sure why Londons cyclists love cycling up the inside of left turning vehicles.
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Permalink Reply by Matt D on -
London is a great place to ride! Spring/summer tend to bring the less regular cyclists out. They tend to be less assertive so instead of moving to the front of the lights like everyone else they often sit in the narrow cycle lane at the left front wheel or in the blind spot just in front left of the truck..... not a good place
At many intersections there are so many bikes (15+) we can't all fit in the green box that spans all the lanes at the front and that causes problems too when bike shuffling to the front are stuck between vehicles when the lights go green.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFFON0UTyvM&feature=related
and something a little more typical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kCAfuQBtd8&annotation_id=annota...
Matt
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Permalink Reply by Edward Re on -
This is why separated bike lanes are so dangerous at intersections. If you're going quickly, then someone decides to turn left without indicating. Cars and bikes need to share one lane at left turns to avoid this.
One time I was going straight on a 4 lane road. A truck overtook me in the right lane, then turned left into a driveway from the right lane. The truck driver was either a p$$% or did not see me.
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Permalink Reply by Matt D on
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Agree.
I've been driving in the UK for a couple of years now after 20+ years in Sydney. Looking in the left wing mirror before turning left is essential, bike lane or not. Doesn't mean that everyone does it though :)
With many more wider, single lane roads than Sydney, overtaking slower moving cars on the left is pretty much standard (and within the law as I believe it is in Sydney).
The same goes for bus lanes.... unless specifically marked, cars turning left are not permitted in the bus lane. The turn left happens directly from the second lane from the kerb, requiring very carefully mirror checking to give way to any traffic in the bus lane.
Matt
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Permalink Reply by MadameBike on -
I am afraid I just do not get this "manly" / "feminine" issue at all. Seriously. I have always thought there is one way to ride. It is, after all, a fairly unisex activity, isn't it?
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Permalink Reply by noelbike on -
Sorry mbhwudy but you have this quite wrong. The study referred to in support of the original contention in this thread says...
(4.2)"...The data suggests that, even when allowing for greater exposure, males are somewhat over-represented, particularly among fatal casualties, with males being 1.7 times more likely to be killed and 1.4 times likely to be KSI than females."
And vehicular cycling is not a gender-specific method. Generally, please don't tell our sisters they are more at risk. They are not.
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Permalink Reply by MadameBike on
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mbhwudy,
you shouldn't need me to spell it out but I clearly didn't mean "there is only one way to ride" in a "global" sense.
I think it is obvious that I meant there is not a "female" way and a separate "male" way.
The whole point of this thread is male/female disparity, so you can't put that aside.
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Permalink Reply by noelbike on
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You have to read not only the newspaper article but the report it is claiming to quote. As I thought I pointed out, the newspaper article is not a fair representation of either the data or the government report. Just more media spin. Rather like what the SMH gave us last Saturday. More attenion gathering spin at the cost of truth.
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Permalink Reply by Cate on -
Ditto. I just ride.
I see men who play it safe and men who ride aggressively and likewise with females.
More ways to create stereotypes methinks.
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Permalink Reply by Edward Re on
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I agree. Taking the lane is the same regardless of body parts. I'd like to ride a step through too, except I'm scared of just how much crap I'd cop at work.
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Permalink Reply by MadameBike on
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The fact that a step through is an option on bikes is OK, but many (most?) women don't ride them. Plenty of women ride horses and you can't get a step-through horse.
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Permalink Reply by Martin Geliot on -
London is relatively good.
Nowhere is ideal. London is less ideal than a lot of places. Even in Germany there are problems.
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