BV's "Self regulated code of conduct"

[Jorgen]

http://www.bv.com.au/download/COC.pdf

Is this guide written by car drivers or bicyclists? I suspect the former. The picture under "rule"
number 10 shows a clear non-understanding of the tendency certain people have to slam their doors
open. BV's implicit recommendation [by hosting the guide on their web site] to ride _within_ that
door-slamming distance is _dangerous_.

I have personally come very close to being taken out on several occasions, have witnessed the guy
behind me not quite making it [sprawled on the bitumen, bleeding, front wheel a perfect figure
eight]. And consequently, I now refuse to go within one metre of parked cars, seeing as that I can't
visually check every single car ahead at the same time as keeping an eye on my mirror to see if
those guys behind aren't going to hit me out of general boredom.

Shame on BV for recommending that you risk your personal safety just so that cars can get past a
little bit easier.

Posted to aus.bicycle and bicyclevic at bv dot com dot au .

 

[Tim Jones]

"Jorgen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> http://www.bv.com.au/download/COC.pdf
>
> Is this guide written by car drivers or bicyclists? I suspect the former. The picture under "rule"
> number 10 shows a clear non-understanding of the tendency certain people have to slam their doors
> open. BV's implicit recommendation [by hosting the guide on their web site] to ride _within_ that
> door-slamming distance is _dangerous_.
>
> I have personally come very close to being taken out on several occasions, have witnessed the guy
> behind me not quite making it [sprawled on the bitumen, bleeding, front wheel a perfect figure
> eight]. And consequently,
I
> now refuse to go within one metre of parked cars, seeing as that I can't visually check every
> single car ahead at the same time as keeping an eye
on
> my mirror to see if those guys behind aren't going to hit me out of
general
> boredom.
>
> Shame on BV for recommending that you risk your personal safety just so
that
> cars can get past a little bit easier.
>
> Posted to aus.bicycle and bicyclevic at bv dot com dot au .
>
This is the item:
10. Cyclists are permitted to ride two abreast however, in some circumstances it is safer to ride
single file. At times, it may be preferable to use more of the lane to deter traffic from
squeezing past. Give clear signals of your intentions.

The picture shows a person swinging out into the road to avoid a car - what they are suggesting is
not to ride as close as possible to parked cars, but to be predictable in your riding.

As it says above, you may use more of the lane if required - it's up to you. They are just asking
you not to swing around on the road, as unpredictability for drivers behind you can lead to
accidents.

I can't see any great problem with this.

Tim

 

[Baka Dasai]

On Tue, 7 Oct 2003 13:21:57 +1000, Tim Jones said (and I quote):
> This is the item:
> 10. Cyclists are permitted to ride two abreast however, in some circumstances it is safer to ride
> single file. At times, it may be preferable to use more of the lane to deter traffic from
> squeezing past. Give clear signals of your intentions.
>
>
>
> The picture shows a person swinging out into the road to avoid a car - what they are suggesting is
> not to ride as close as possible to parked cars, but to be predictable in your riding.
>
> As it says above, you may use more of the lane if required - it's up to you. They are just asking
> you not to swing around on the road, as unpredictability for drivers behind you can lead to
> accidents.
>
> I can't see any great problem with this.

The picture seems to suggest that you *should* ride close to park cars, and that swinging out to
avoid an opening door is the correct thing to do as long as you single your intentions first.

That seems like very dangerous advice to me. It would be far better if the picture showed somebody
riding outside the "door-zone" instead of swinging out to avoid a dooring.
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