Another one involving a cyclist, near my work place. This time the cyclist seems to have been luckier than this one.

Any accident is not pretty. Accidents will happen, thats why they are called accidents. No one plans for it nor does any one want to be involved. But they do happen. And when it does, it is sad and makes one wonder how to make things better.

Education is one.

Respect for another persons life (over your time) is one.

Better infrastructure is another.

I don’t know what was the cause of this accident. Was the cyclist at fault? Or was it the truck? All I know is that the cyclist is in the hospital and the truck driver is no where to be seen.

The problem in this case I think is a combination of bad design and bad driving combined. The ramp up ahead leads to an expressway and as a consequence the left lane is ironically the fastest. Secondly, Drivers do not seem to realize which lane they should be taking and since this is an exit that can save a few additional minutes by avoiding a detour, most people seem to decide to switch lanes in the last minute (The white car revved past to jump lanes as I was taking this picture). With disastrous consequences again.

There is a lot of evidence of impatient driving at this crossing. I work around here but I have no need to ride on this road. Even if I have to, I guess I will have to spend time understanding the traffic conditions or find a way to avoid this route.

There are many a times when drivers do not bother checking the traffic signals. I can count 4 instances of trying to cross this road under Signal when Somebody decides to jump the red and scare you to the bone.

I guess nothing can be done given the ramp cannot be moved out. However, cyclists and pedestrians should exert caution, given that none of the drivers along here seems to care. As a matter of fact, the LTA does not seem to care either. Many serious accidents have happened here and no one wants to re-look at the design of the lanes

Whenever I speak with people regarding my choice of commuting by bike, the consistent issue in discussion is risk. It is not a discussion but a statement to the effect “It is too dangerous on the roads.”. This always comes from people who do not bike at least not on roads. The reality I face and I make it a point to tell them is that it is silly to think it is dangerous. This has come up so often that now a days, my response is that of the road is not safe, it is because you as a driver are not keeping it safe.

It is an issue I dont think about much since I do not feel threatened when biking on the road. I feel pretty much integral part of the traffic. Rarely I get squeezed for space. I usually follow that with a fist pumping or if I can, I knock on the offending drivers window and ask him to give me space. Usually that results in driver apologizing (note this works in Singapore, I might not try that in some country where people are allowed to carry guns).

So I dont actively think about safety issues and since I do not bother with advocacy, I dont feel the need to raise the issue for others benefit either. But of late, when I went to the movies, I saw a traffic safety ad that bothered me much.

The reason why it pisses me off is not because they show reckless riding by the motor cyclist but because they do not point the finger at the truck. This is a classic fear mongering campaign which is effective in deterring people from motorbiking. The same attitude is extended towards cycling and cars are made out to be a safe habitat.

Well, I think the Traffic Police should balance the views and if they are threatening one section of the population, they should also produce videos and threaten the rest of the bunch too. As in this traffic safety ad.

My personal feel is that education about traffic safety should be more positive instead of showing death. Promoting gracious driving, stopping at the stop line, allowing pedestrians first etc.. should be the focus. I suppose that will slowly promote a gracious culture. Anyway, it anyone is interested in stats, I found the following from SPF site. Funnily, they mention that so many people died in a particular type of vehicle. I think It would be nice to know who was the other party involved in the accident. I that the reverse perspective will show a lot more cars / trucks involved in causing fatal accidents. That is the stat the police should be paying attention to. People how cause accidents and live to drive another day.

Anyway, do me a favor and pay attention when you are driving on the road.

I regularly am enthusiastic about the prospects of cycling and have commented on the merits and general goodness of riding cycles. I usually write under the assumption that my audience is fairly sensible in terms of understanding and following traffic. I have made comments in earlier posts on selective jumping of red lights, claiming lanes etc… that should be followed only when one is extremely confident of the traffic situation.

Extreme confidence about traffic stems from extreme caution and high awareness of surroundings. If in doubt, a sensible cyclist would not break any traffic rules.

Personally, I do not consider my commuting route to be dangerous. It is probably because of my reasonably developed traffic sense (I used to ride in rules-free Indian traffic) and my awareness of how others behave on the road (I have spent many years riding cycles, motorbikes and cars).

In the past several months, I have come across notices of fatal accidents 3 times along my commuting route. The latest was this morning, near my work place and the victim was a cyclist. Judging from the time of the accident, it is probably someone on their exercise route. I pass by this junction every time I am on the bike to work and would not dare jump the lights (the junction is complex with lots of blind spots and heavy trucks turning).

Though the incident is regrettable, I have seen a pattern with these accidents:

1. They happen in the wee hours – potentially because people are not at their attentive best or the cyclist is not visible enough. Solution: Keep your yes open, If you are tired, try not to be on the road. Get reflective tapes and lights. They can help to draw attention.
2. They happen in large / complex junctions. My theory is that someone was trying to avoid the red and rushing through the junction. If it is night / early morning, there is probably little or no traffic and it is easy to catch up lost time at a junction. There is no need to rush through signals. But drivers seem to not understand this simple rule of catching up. it is also likely that the cyclist did not wish to stop (to keep the heart pumping and the muscles warm or being irreverent to the traffic rules). Either way, it is not worth while.

When I speak to people about cycling, I generally get the attitude of “it is too risky for normal people and I am some kind of adrenalin junkie”. While in reality, it is my means of getting home and if I choose to be safe I can. Anyone for that matter can commute safely without encountering trouble – all it needs is a safe approach to following and breaking rules. End of the day, I find the risks are probably similar to the ones taken by pedestrians and they regularly break rules too.

So if you are planning to incorporate cycling into your work commute or for recreation, do not be disheartened by stories of accidents and take a safe approach to staying on the road.

I was riding up to work this morning and was along the usual route. My rout passes though downtown and with all the construction going on now, the roads are merging and splitting at odd locations. I was pedaling hard after a bus gave me room and wanted to get away from a particularly messy junction. Just then, I had a distinct sound of something metallic hitting the tarmac and I looked down to see something shiny fall off my bike. I managed to get to the side of the road and I wanted to check what dropped off my bike. I looked at the bike and everything seemed intact. So I had no choice but to se what actually fell off.

Luckily for me, the signal went red and I could go over to lane 2 to look for my stuff. As I was busy looking, I did not realize the lights changed and I was left stranded in the middle of the road with a flood of traffic heading my way. I almost bumped on an SUV and mildly shocked the driver. Well I managed to get to safety and saw the shiny metal piece in the middle of the road. I waited till the next red and ran over to pick it up and realized I had risked my limb for this.

A hook I was playing with over the weekend on a domestic project. Darn these bits and pieces. I suppose the lesson is that I should not leave things hanging on the bike. Everything needs to be fastened and strapped in. More importantly, I should not be foolish enough to jay-walk up and down busy downtown streets with high traffic volume. At least, if I have to do it, I should pay better attention to the traffic situation. Oh well, we live and we learn.

Accidents are a statistical certainty. No matter how much rules are in place (and how closely people follow them), everyone is eventually going to be involved in a few accidents.

I met with one this morning. Not all accidents are collisions but this was one. The last time I had a collision was probably 10 years earlier (I would tell the story some other day). First off, I am fine, Have a sore knee but I am fine none the less. Well enough to be up and running already.

The term Door’d is usually “doored” but I prefer it my way. It is a common problem for cyclists and usually happens due to careless attitude of motorists. My commute takes me along Collyer Quay and at the junction where it becomes Raffles Quay, there is usually a mix up of traffic. The left lane is Left turn only and there are vehicles entering and leaving NTUC Centre. The NTUC Centre Building is like a drop off point and the traffic is busy around there. I have observed this for a while and am usually careful around here.

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This morning was different. As I was riding from Esplanade dr, I heard a couple of honks and one was from a pickup in my lane. This feller was getting closer to me and I suppose he wanted me out of the way. I was trying to see if he is too close and raised my hand asking him to slowdown and stay behind. At the same time, I was getting closer to this car in front and since I had enough space, I moved to the left. Then it happened. Some dumb-arse decided it was ok to jump out of a car when at traffic junction and happily opened the passenger side door. The result – my handlebar smashed on to his door and I did a minor somersault on to the asphalt.

As with any accident, my first reaction was to see if things are ok. My panniers were still on the rack and so was my front bag. The cycle computers were in place and I was clipped out. Apart from a slight pain in the knee, I was visibly alright. One of my snap-on glasses snapped off and was on the floor. I picked it up and moved out of the traffic first. The arse-hole of a driver did not stop to apologize. He drove on. I did not even have the chance to note down his license plate – damn.

The accident happened simply because the the driver did not want to spend 2 minutes to move to the Drop-off point in NTUC Centre to Drop-off. I wonder if his time was worth more than another person’s life or limb.

Accidents usually are not isolated incidents. It is a consequence of numerous things going wrong at the same time. It has very little to do with how comprehensive the rules are but more with how people understand and use them with sense. It is usually difficult to pin the blame on one person (though, the drop-off was illegal). The onus is on the person who is most likely to suffer (aka me the cyclist) to avoid accidents. I will be more cautious now when getting closer to vehicles.

I learnt my lesson, I wonder if the car driver did.