Need a reality check from those who commute on bikes long distances
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Anonymous
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My husband commutes on bicycle about 20 miles a day, 3 days a week, for the past 5 years. In that time, he's had 6 accidents. 3 of which have landed him in the hospital with surgery. I bike about 5 miles a day, for about the past 8 years, and have had one accident, and that is when my husband actually ran into me. So one of his accidents was my only one.
Last night, he had an accident on the way home. He was fine (other than getting bruised up and thrown onto the back of a car), but the bike is toast. I was terrified. I told him (I admit bad idea, but I was freaking out and I'm topsy turvy from being newly pregnant with our 2nd) that I just did not think he was a cautious-enough rider and that I didn't feel comfortable with him riding anymore. He blew up and said that the distance and amount he rides and that he has had bad luck is the cause of all of this and that I was being "crazy." So my question for people who commute a lot in traffic is this: what is your accident ratio? What do you consider normal? I'm trying to figure out a way to get through to him. He is adamantly against taking any kind of defensive riding classes or admitting that this could be his problem at all. |
Anonymous
| I commute 9 miles each way 5 days a week. I have had a couple close calls, but never an accident. However, my commute is largely in dedicated bike lanes or on bike trails, which makes a huge difference. I would think I might have had one accident a year otherwise. What's his commute like? I agree that 3 accidents that landed you in the hospital seems like a LOT, and I would be freaking out also. |
Anonymous
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I did the same commute as he did for four years. 20 miles a day, most days of the week.
Zero accidents. One near-miss. Like PP, I was in mostly dedicated bike trails. |
Anonymous
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Thanks for this. We live in the city and he commutes to Arlington, so there are a few places with bike lanes, particularly once he gets to Arlington, but no great access to that.
It helps to hear what others are doing. And maybe it's worth blaming DC city traffic and telling him that if he can't find a way to do it on primarily bike routes, that it's just not safe. It may take him a bit longer (and 20 miles is far so he's not keen on adding that) but I can't take it anymore. But honestly, I think it's just him. He's just not cautious enough. |
Anonymous
Don't mean to be snarky, but this is probably true. I'm cautious to a fault. Never wear headphones, keep my speed under control, never drive near car doors, never run lights (i even stop for stop signs). |
Anonymous
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the car was invented to provide safe and a faster mode of transportation.
This is the year 2012 use technology and science |
Anonymous
Biking the 8 miles to work is faster for me than driving or Metro. |
Anonymous
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OP here, biking is only about 10 minutes longer for him. Plus it's his exercise and we save a ton of money on garage costs and gas. But I don't think it's worth it anymore.
For me, biking is FAR faster than driving. It takes me less than 20 minutes to bike and takes about 25 minutes to drive the FOUR miles. DC traffic is ridiculous. Anyway, I need to think of a way to bring him around. He is not willing to see that these accidents have anything to do with him, and attributes the fact that I have never had one (minus him) to the distance I ride only. |
Anonymous
| My husband bike commutes 5 miles each way about 2-3 x per week. In 5 years, he's never had an accident. Your situation would freak me out. I dont know if this will be a helpful perspective, but some routes just aren't safe to bike. My husband goes about twice the distance he needs to to avoid inappropriate roads. Is your husband too reckless? Who knows. Is the route unsafe? Maybe. But theres something about the combination that would be unacceptablely dangerous to me. |
Anonymous
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Yikes!
I bike, but only 1 mile to the trail and 1 mile off the trail, so a total round trip of 2 miles on the roads and a total of 28 miles on the trail. I'm terrified on the road for those two miles. People are NOT used to bikers and this entire NATION is biker UNfriendly with hardly any bike lanes and few and far between bikers, since American are so in love with their gas guzzlers. I would be scared for him too. No accidents for me, except when my pedal flew off and I nearly killed myself> |
Anonymous
I bet your can has a wide load sign on the back to accomidate your ass. |
Anonymous
Well, there is that! Glad you survived! 
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Anonymous
sorry i am pretty damn fit and I dont need to roll into the office sweating and stinky because I can exercise on my own free time. |
Anonymous
| I would blame it on DC traffic. I'm the PP with the largely bike trail commute - and it's pretty hard to have an accident on a trail. I've seen them, but very few. If there's a way to change his commute to get away from "scary" DC drivers (I really think you CAN be safe on DC streets, but you have to be super-cautious) and into bike lanes/trails, it might be worth a couple extra miles. And this takes some of the blame of him. I totally get why you're worried. |
Anonymous
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When is in in traffic, does he keep his place on the road? Does he stay in the middle of the lane, or does he weave in and out, passing left and right, ignoring stop signs, etc. like 9 out of 10 bikers I see? If it is the latter, then I am surprise his accidental tally isn't higher.
Also, I think it's ridiculous that he "refuses" to take a bicycle safety course. Sounds like the typical pompous cyclist. |