Results of Poll on Bike Safety

1. Fascinating to read all the comments, highlighting that these are all real people responding to the poll with useful feedback.

   However, as you acknowledge, this poll likely skews heavily younger and pro-bicycle. I commute from Watertown to Cambridge daily for work, but I see that generally that the public at large has neutral if not negative views of cyclists.

   My biggest takeaway from the poll is that bikers will be more respected if they follow the rules of the road, and legislation to enforce that would be widely beneficial for public perception of cyclists (and safety!)

   1. There’s a growing feeling that cyclists’ “rights” are yet another elitist cultural issue being foisted on working people who don’t get a voice in the matter. There are countless cycling advocates in the area and essentially none for motorists.

      This rarely ends well for the cultural elites, in case somebody hasn’t read a news story in the past two years.

   2. I tried following the rules of the road for decades, it didn’t make much of a difference. I still follow them out of habit, but at this point, I feel that I am owed boatloads of respect. I tried riding after a couple of people who ran stoplights once, caught them (it’s hard work, I ride a heavy bike and I’m not young and somewhat overweight despite all the biking), and their response to “you’re making us all look bad” was a grunt, both times. So I’m not doing that again, it was useless, and didn’t change things for me one bit.

      In my experience, the claims about “most cyclists breaking the law” are not true. Maybe people only remember things that anger them. I bike every day, Waverley Square to Kendall Square, and what I overwhelmingly see is bikes stopping at stop lights, and waiting. I see practically no wrong-way cycling (it happens, but it is very rare), and I see not much illegal sidewalk cycling (slow sidewalk cycling is legal in most parts of Cambridge, except for Harvard, Porter, Central, and Inman Squares).

      And I have video. This is not selective memory, I have gone back and looked.

      And, when I do see cyclists breaking the law, it is usually careful. Some people ride through pedestrian scrambles, but they all do it slowly, always. I’ve seen a little sidewalk cycling in the squares — but it’s always slow.

      I’ve checked this on video, too — I do have some examples of bad cyclist behavior, but they are legitimately rare.

      For crosswalks, things are more mixed, but things are more mixed for cars, too. It’s quite scary, riding a bicycle, to stop for a pedestrian and hear the car approaching from the rear not stop.

      One thing that baffles me is the focus on perceived rule breaking instead of on actual crashes, and the severity of those crashes. Cars are far more likely to kill or cause serious harm — nationwide, last year car crashes killed almost 6000 pedestrians, versus I think maybe 1 killed in bicycle crashes (if bikes killed at the same rate, we’d expect to see 36, not 1).

      I also don’t understand how I as one law-abiding cyclist am somehow responsible for what law-breaking there may be by other cyclists. We don’t have weekly meeting where we talk about how to break traffic laws. I really have no way of influencing those people, other than by setting an example, and that seems to have a very minor effect. I’m NOT going to ride after any of them to tell them off again, that was really hard work and I got nothing for it.

      At the same time, nobody says “well, drivers really have to do something about their bad apples, we can’t widen 128 as long as they’re killing so many pedestrians in crashes”. Or even “too much speeding on the Mass Pike, we won’t take out the tolls until drivers show more respect for the laws”. Nobody says stuff like that about drivers. So why do we say it about cyclists?

2. Thank you so much for sharing these results!

3. The rental bikes should be subject to a requirement that all riders wear helmets. Helmets are the most important safety measure but most rental bikers do not wear any protection.

4. Funny interpretation, Will. The results also say that 68% of people are worried about motorists breaking the rules!

   Studies into actual behaviour show that motorists break the rules even more often than cyclists.

   https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/01/03/study-cyclists-dont-break-traffic-laws-any-more-than-drivers-do/

   I think the takeaway is that people are people, and roads should be designed with the knowledge that human beings are imperfect, rather than demanding perfection. That is the root of principles such as Sustainable (or Systematic) Safety in the Netherlands, and I highly recommend contacting Prof. Furth at Northeastern University if you want more details!

   https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2017/01/10/sustainable-or-systematic-safety/

   I should also note for the sake of Ryan Sullivan that the quote ‘that bikers will be more respected if they follow the rules of the road’ is a widely known red herring!

   As demonstrated above, motorists frequently break the rules of the road, but that does not seem to affect the perception of motorists by the wider public.

   We should not be withholding safety improvements because of some perceived need to ‘punish’ people. That is a childish and counterproductive impulse. For example, the vast majority of motorists speed (most everyone admits it too), yet that does not stop us from building safer and better highways.

   What does change perception is infrastructure. The reason why the Netherlands is the safest country in the world for cycling, and the reason why it is the place where cycling is most popular amongst all segments of the population (all ages, all abilities), is because they build sensible and safe infrastructure that works for everyone. Whether you are driving, walking, cycling or taking transit, their well-designed infrastructure gives you the opportunity to conduct yourself safely and conveniently. Thankfully more and more planners and engineers are learning about this and hopefully they will apply those safety principles in the USA too!

   1. I hear from a lot of people who are concerned by cyclist behavior. That is just a political fact that this poll speaks to. It is the challenge we face when we seek to pass cycling safety legislation. Consider that other legislators are hearing from constituents who are generally less sympathetic to cyclists than my constituents.

      I agree with your emphasis on infrastructure.

5. Every day, I commute to Davis Square in Somerville, where there are loads of cyclists. I’m always aware and on the alert, and make sure I check before switching lanes or opening my door.

   However, I’ve noticed that the majority of cyclists I see are practing very dangerous behavior, such as swerving into lanes and around cars, cutting cars off who are making a turn in an intersection, not wearing helmets, and not looking before they pull out in front of someone. Or, taking up the entire road and going 10 miles an hour.

   While I agree that cyclists and motorists need to be safe on the road, there needs to be consequences for both. I don’t think that cyclists are held accountable in the same way as motorists, and they should be, because in the instances described above someone could really get hurt or be killed.

6. I have no issue for fines and penalty s for cyclists at fault, but to require insurance/registration for cyclists will make me give up the bicycle and go back to the car (no cost savings)after all we live in Taxachusetts. another privatized “tax” deal for the insurance industry and fees for registry of who knows what.

7. I am all for cyclist safety but cyclist creating very dangerous situation by not respecting the traffic laws and I see this every day. They should be subject to the same fines as a car drivers if not more.

   1. Be fair and say that you also see motorists flouting traffic laws as well. . .because it is true.

8. I would like to see stricter regulations for both cyclists (me) & drivers. I frequently cycle at night with the brightest lights l can get reflective clothing & a helmet. Despite this, drivers drive in bike lanes pretending not to see me as l return home from the lab where l work. I am a 58 year old woman. I cycle like the old woman l am! I do not endanger pedestrians. Why do automobile drivers continue to endanger me?
   When on sebatical in Austria l had better cycle lanes & fewer incidents of drivers in bike lanes. Surely we can do as well.

9. Drivers ed should be universal, I say that before I let my children ride their bikes to school. I drive into Boston daily because there is no safe way to run/cycle/otherwise. I watched as my kids friend’s father got a job in the city without a parking space and thought he would cycle past BU. I knew what would eventually happen and pleaded with him not to do that to his 3 kids. He thought I was just an old fuddie duddie. Three cars hit him in under three years, and then he was not even wanting to work, he was in so much pain. I marvel at the insanity I see each day on my commute. Today it was a unicycle going warp speed at rush hour going against traffic rules through South Station area towards downtown. Plus a woman on a child’s razor scooter whipping around lane to lane to cut off cars. Yesterday there was that guy from Watertown on the cycle where he lies down and is barely 3 feet off the ground, riding fast in the middle of a one way going the wrong way as I was entering that street going the posted direction. I grew up at the Harvard GSDesign, and I believe firmly that good design will make this all work but I have looked at mentioned options and trials for decades and I think we need to throw the whole of known models out and start George Jetson fresh. We have structural understanding now and materials at access like never before. Elevated, space frame style. Only in Mass would the DOT tell you that would take fifteen years and 30 billion dollars. That aside, I want you to know that with each poorly executed improvement, there is economic fallout. I now order supplies from California because I cannot find time to wade through the calm traffic of Mass Ave in Arlington. At least a dozen businesses I no longer bother spending at because traffic makes it take too long. Lastly, Will, I pass you on my commute occasionally but I never see you take the safer faster back way around Mt Aub Bridge. A lot of bikes do and it’s got the space they need. Glad to know you’re all in to suffer “with the people” in the jam at Mt Auburn Bridge. ? keep up the good fight.

10. I’m so sick of hearing from motorists who are upset about being passed on the road by bicyclists. oh are they crossing with the pedestrian signal? we do that because it’s often safe for us to do so and better than crossing the intersection at the same time as your two ton inefficient choice of commuting.

    You’re butt-hurt that you’re stuck behind the rest of your lazy kind, trapped in your air conditioning at the red light. You’re even used to shouting at other cars as though people weren’t at the wheel at all! Move lady! Consider that when it’s raining or really hot bikes are outside. should cyclists be made to stand at a red light in the rain while it was perfectly safe for them to continue on their way? you’d like to see that because you’re sadistic and lack empathy. in reality cyclists are making highly attentive decisions about intersections based on the entire cycle of the light while you’re just waiting to be told when to move your toe.

11. I’m a former competitive cyclist. I wore the stars and stripes representing our country in international races, and I was a bike messenger in NYC. I spoke in front of the Connecticut state legislator when I was younger on the subject of bike safety.

    So I have a little bit of credibility in this matter.

    Both groups — cyclists and motorists — need to learn to respect each other’s rights to the road and to fulfill their responsibilities. I can’t tell you how many times growing up I had a motorist tell me, “You need to be riding on the sidewalk! Get off the road.”

    But with that, there are a LOT of cyclists that amplify the resentment and make the issue worse.

    You have the same rights to the road as a cyclist, and anyone who disagrees with me on that has no clue. But with that, comes the same responsibilities. You don’t have a right to be an a##hole. Idaho stops aren’t legal, and more importantly, they cause resentment.

    “Why doesn’t he have to stop yet I’m sitting here at a light? I hate those cyclists.”

    While it may seem it doesn’t cause any harm. It does. Because we lose credibility and we cause resentment and anger.

    Just yesterday, I was coming out of the driveway to my son’s school into a long line of slow to a crawl traffic. The person behind me let me in, but with them letting me in I had to make a sharp turn to not block the other direction (long story, hard to describe). As a result, I ended up slightly in the shoulder. Not a bike lane, but a shoulder, on a back suburban road.

    We’re all sitting at the light waiting. Five minutes later an old dude on a bike (a weekend warrior…he had a jersey and some SPDs, but he wasn’t thin) starts railing that I’m slightly in the shoulder and I’m blocking his way. He then continues to just scream. I just kept silent, and closed my window.

    It’s traffic dude. We’re all stuck in this mess. I didn’t cut you off. I didn’t push you over. I was in a position where there were too many cars to fit in a small space. And this isn’t the city where you need to be extra careful to not block bike lanes. It was a rural shoulder on a back road.

    My point on all of this is he has the same rights to the road, but he doesn’t have “extra” rights. He doesn’t have a right to lose respect for fellow drivers.

    And his attitude endangers me when I’m on my bike (which I can guarantee you I’ve done 1000x more miles in my lifetime than he’s done in a year).

    I’ve seen this time and time again. Ask yourself, if a driver gets wrongly cut off, is it appropriate for him to start railing on another driver? No.

    We all have to respect each other. Motorists have to respect the cyclist’s right to the road, and their extra vulnerability. Cyclists have to respect laws so we all have credibility and aren’t causing havoc. All of this is a culture change, and all of it needs a calm conversation.

    Right now, we don’t have that. We have bitterness, resentment, animosity and a lack of accountability. All are a recipe for disaster.

12. Your survey said that 20% of the respondents commute by bike. This seems high and begins to suggest that the results are skewed by an unusual amount of pro bike responders. Is their any way you could shed more light or verify the accuracy of this statistic. If this number is even close to accurate for all commuters it would be a very important statistic.

    Thank you for making this effort.

    1. Agreed. Cyclists disproportionately wanted to take this poll.

       That’s why I also reported results for motorists only.

13. I’m always frustrated to read comments by people fixated on scofflaw cyclists. I am baffled when we have so many examples of death and injury to cyclists being caused by inattentive drivers and yet so many people are quick to find a way to blame the problems on cyclists not following rules. We should not waste our time writing laws to solve the problem of people being offended by someone else’s arrogant and reckless behavior. We should be designing programs that reduce the chance of accidents that result in death to a cyclist and a life-altering experience for a driver who had no intention to cause harm. We should focus on physical infrastructure improvements: separated bike paths, roadway design that reduces speed, finding and correcting roadway conditions that endanger cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers.

    1. Some of those deaths are caused by cyclists. There was one a few years ago in Boston where a cyclist wasn’t paying attention (or he was an he didn’t respect the road) and tried to sneak on the right past a tractor trailer who was turning right. That truck ran him over. He died. Very sad. The truck driver did nothing wrong, yet he’ll have to live with that his whole life.

       I wholeheartedly agree with “We should be designing programs that reduce the chance of accidents that result in death to a cyclist and a life-altering experience for a driver who had no intention to cause harm.”

       Point is not all laws are meant to punish. Many are meant to protect.

       That said, laws and enforcement likely aren’t the answer. First is to get everyone on the same page about rights to the road and responsibilities. Second, is infrastructure.

14. “99.9% of cyclists ignore the traffic laws” Cars break rules all the time but it’s “normal” Bikes are new and visible, so its “99%” this comment above is ridiculous.

    BTW, yes we don’t need more laws.And this shouldn’t be a war on cars. When a car has to parallel park, it causes backups and rear end accidents. There is no “go around” option.
    AND “Stop messing with the roads for something that is not, nor will ever be, anything more that a seasonal/occasional mode of transportation in a New England city.” For 5 months of the year, the number of bikes is low, yet we’re going crazy to accommodate the squeakiest wheel. THis is not how to set policy and spend $ I’ve biked in the city for many many years. I use my brain, eyes, and caution all the time. Never had a problem. Yes some improvements for bikers are good; painted lanes for example, but enough is enough!

15. Being an avid bicyclist for the last 20 yrs and a retired professional driver for 50 yrs, I have experienced all the joys, aggravations and yes near catastrophic accidents of the shared road experience from both sides of the equation. It did not take much time for me to learn that riding bikes in town/city traffic is too dangerous, even on bike paths. Commuting to work on the MBTA was the only possible answer for me and bike riding off road and in rural back roads in the early morning hours of the weekends was the only way to enjoy a scenic ride. The point being that we as a commuting society are in a long term transition period from roadways that are dominated by single passenger autos trying to share poorly designed roads with unprotected and often dangerous bike riders…Good luck to all and be safe…there is no fool proof immediate solution until auto traffic is fossilized into history and pedal powered transportation evolves.

16. As a cyclist I will RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK in places where it’s too dangerous to be out on the road.
    My safety trumps objections of
    pedestrians; but I fully accept
    my obligation to give their safety
    top priority.
    This means that yelling “ON YOUR LEFT” and then barreling past is
    not acceptable. Cyclists must first confirm that the pedestrian acknowledges
    the signal. I was (as pedestrian) recently confronted by an angry cyclist for inadvertently blocking his path (he was going way too fast on the sidewalk)

    In urban areas of Japan
    (esp. Tokyo ) cyclists are
    required to stay OFF the road. And
    the penalties for motorists killing
    cyclists or pedestrians is severe
    (and applied regardless of the circumstances, or excuses).

17. I have seen in Evanston Illinois that they have forbidden bikes on at least 1 road.
    This seems to be a good technique which I have not seen in Boston. By eliminating bikes on some roads it will encourage use on the other roads which have bike lanes.
    In Watertown if they were excluded from Arsenal they would use the other safer routes, particularly the dedicated bike lanes. Bike people need to compromise some times on only going the shortest route.

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