The Rights and Duties of Cyclists - Bicycle Safety

League of American Bicyclists certified traffic cycling instructors demonstrate the rights and duties of cyclists in the United States. The video shows cyclists acting as drivers of vehicles making normal vehicular maneuvers including lane control, lane sharing, left and right turns, through movements and a freeway ramp crossing. This video is intended to show cyclists and motorists how it looks when cyclists act and are treated as vehicle drivers in normal urban traffic in the City of Long Beach, California. We used mirrors to scan for traffic so the video would not be jumpy from frequent head turns. These traffic cycling skills are taught by the League of American Bicyclists, Smart Cycling program, as well as the Cycling Savvy program. You can find LAB instructors and classes in your state at the education area of the League website:
http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/ed...
Or check out the Cycling Savvy website:
http://cyclingsavvy.org/

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  Education

[Paul Martin]

Err... Brian is 'driving'? Motorists 'drive', cyclists 'ride' or 'cycle'.

...and as for the riding in the middle of the lane, avoiding the door zone - I think not. He's still VERY MUCH in the door zone! Sheesh...

Vehicular cycling is a coping strategy (like putting makeup on if you're a victim of domestic violence) in a car-centric, ugly world.

[CyclistLorax]

Bicyclists who follow driver rules are in fact driving. Bicycle driving is what the law allows and is a best practice for bicyclists who seek to minimize crash risk while using public roads. To refer to driving as a "coping mechanism" is little more than anti-bicycle driving propaganda. And what is the alternative on the streets in the video? Also note that we were outside the door zone, and to think otherwise is to imagine doors much wider than they are in reality.

[citizenavatar]

Lane control good

But , he hardly ever checks behind , very careless !!!

[CyclistLorax]

If you had read the other comments, you would notice that this has already been answered:

"We use mirrors to look, otherwise the head turns create very bad video."

[CyclistLorax]

I also added the fact that we used mirrors to description of the video.

[thehtgrts]

2:11 hey thats belmont shore

[CyclistLorax]

Yes. Nearly all of the footage in this video was shot in Long Beach, CA.



[CyclistLorax]

Owning a car has nothing to do with using one, or using a bicycle. And what makes you think bicyclists are not also car owners? Your words indicate a prejudice against bicyclists.

[CyclistLorax]

Some motorists don't know the law and want cyclists off the road, so no matter how well you ride, a smaller number of those jerks will honk and/or shout insults. It's more pathetic than anything else...

[Alvaro Lopez]

. Now I am riding an electric bike at a constant 20mph and wow what a differance. I'm glad you put this video. Very helpful. Cars never seem to put it together that I am on electric bike and approche them much faster than they think. I don't get angy because I can understand ther surprise. I'm stilll scared to try some of the things you said. Lane control and not going all the way to the right in a right turn lane when I;m going straight. I do stop at all stop signs and wait for a green light.

[Gary Christmas]

There are some excellent points in this video about how bicyclists should interact with traffic. I especially liked the mention of proper lane position and signaling.

[Osiris Siriso]

This is very true and driving your bike dead on in NYC traffic is very scary specially at night.

[Nathanael Roberts]

Question: If you are going down a street and your driveway is on the left side of the street, and there is dense traffic on both sides of the street, should you pull over and allow the traffic to pass or wait until there is a safe opening and cut through the yellow line?

[Nathanael Roberts]

My biggest problem is that in thin lanes, cars actually illegally swerve passed the double bar line and go around me when i'm going slow. Many times I've recked into parked cars and fell off because of this from fear. It's also hard when there is much traffic, so I "parallel park" to let the cars go by, but then I'm stuck waiting for ten minutes. I've heard this many times, but is it true that if you just ride the same path that you would if you were driving, everything should be fine?

[Draycos99]

On one hand you have the right to the road as much as they do - the horn should not be used as intimidation!

On the other hand it's polite to let traffic pass if you are holding up a number of vehicles that cannot overtake for some reason.

UK Highway Code 169:

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

[mrsoouter]

This is considered good? He hardly shoulder checked!

[anassgame]

Bycycle need some designe rebuild

[jjovereats]

and he is part of the drivetrain so in a mechanical sense he is driving. just a technicality! :D

[Patrick94GSR]

To anyone who thinks this is unsafe riding, just go look up some videos of bike messengers or alley cat races. Those guys make these guys look like the safest cyclists on the road. BTW good interview with Dan on the Outspoken Cyclist radio show the other night.