bikeseattle.org

From the Seattle Times Sunday Magazine

Don’t segregate the cyclists, he says. Train them to ride safely in traffic.

Since then, he’s tested his techniques at the city’s worst intersections. “I really tried to push the limit in more and more difficult traffic,” he says. Left turn onto Dearborn by Goodwill. The Aurora and University bridges. Westlake at rush hour. He’s pedaled 70,000 miles without a crash.

His secret? Behave like a vehicle. Follow the rules of the road, ride straight, look sharp, use body language, a sort of pantomime, to let motorists know your intentions.

“You need to learn simple social skills for the traffic environment,” he told me the afternoon I rode along to watch his techniques. “Realize that motorists are watching you and trying to figure out what you’re going to do.”

On city streets, riding about where a car’s right tire normally tracks gets you out of the dangerous “door zone” where cyclists get bonked when people in parked cars open their doors. It removes you from the blind spot of cars pulling away from the curb and out of driveways. Theoretically, it also forces motorists to change lanes when passing, instead of squeezing by.

To my amazement, the techniques worked; cars gave us wide berth. Then it was my turn to go it alone. Smooth pedaling — until a left turn required occupying the entire left lane, which would slow a line of cars headed by a huge SUV. Hot radiator grille in my mirror. Instead of holding ground, I bailed out to the shoulder.

“What happened there?” Smith asked during a sidewalk conference.

I’d lost my nerve.

Full article