What is the most dangerous city to bike in?

[boomer11]

Hi boomer.

No youre not the only "fool" there's lots of us ride the Tai Po Road.I live near Tuen Mun so went TST ,Kowloon Tong(for the show) Shek Kip Mei,Lai Chi Kok and over Castle Peak Road to Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan....its the only way and have done it loads of times.I commute by bike everyday but admittedly Im in the NT but I had a friend who went from Pokfulam to Hung Hom everyday.

Its all possible.See you on the massride sometime
Phil

Hey Phil,

Thanks for this thread. The way that the trucks and buses have been close passing me and tooting I was thinking that riding roads like Castle Peak and Tai Po was illegal! I know that there are no signs banning bikes but I have found it very easy to break the unwritten HK laws that apply to cyclists.

I have already been kicked off an empty MTR at 6 am on a Sunday for daring to take my bike on this precious mode of transport. This was nowhere near any of the busy stations either! Looking at your route. Does this mean that you can ride on Ching Cheung? Perhaps we better trade emails so I can get the unofficial tips!

See you.

Paul (boomer11, gropog and anything else that I have to use to join forums )

 

[nurgles]

Hi Paul
No you cant ride on Ching Cheung or at least I have never heard or seen anyone riding on it.It doesnt matter because CP Road...all 50+ Km of it ...is legal.Try to tarce its route on the map.Its the longest single road in HK

I dont know how long you have been in HK but the MTR has been an issue for some time.We had meetings last year with MTRC management but to no avail.They still dont allow.The airport espress is ok but pretty useless unless youre flying and the Tung Chung Line is ok with the bike bagged

 

[Chris516]

Ive only ever ridden in the Greater Manchester region (UK) and thats pretty bad but no where near as bad as London i hear.
The general publics overall impression of the commuting cyclist seems to be one borne out of basic ignorance and the actions of a few mad couriers with a death wish. There was a recent daytime radio program on the BBC discussing cyclists and the general concencus was that they were a nuiscance.
You are absolutely right about the hit and run issue, the statistics of bike related incidents should be made public so everyone can see the real need for improved cycling facilities on the roads, arent we all supposed to be using our cars less? People are simply not going to bother if the roads are as dangerous for the cyclist as they are!!

London is horrendous because, I lived there during the late-70's and, the speeds at which people drove was awful!!!!!

 

[Don Shipp]

London is horrendous because, I lived there during the late-70's and, the speeds at which people drove was awful!!!!!

I cycle in London and thought that if I could cope there then I could cope anywhere. But when I cycled in Bristol I found it very much worse.
London is no longer gridlocked, and there are now more cyclists because of the congestion charge. I actually liked it better before.

 

[Sham]

wow. i thought that detroit might be aweful to ride in... seems like the more people there are the more idiots there are.. the more idiots, more likely cyclists are going to be targeted on the road...

 

[mountbkr]

I would have to say Bagdad

 

[huhenio]

Y'all make Philadelphia look like Shangri-La

 

[scotty72]

After living in S. Korea, I would have to nominate Seoul. I suspect any large Asian metropolis can be substituted.

There, red lights seem to mean slow down a bit.Being swiped by mirrors is routine. If this happens in front of a traffic cop the biggest reaction you'll get is a shrug of the shoulders.

I used to think Sydney was bad, now I put Sydney in perspective.

Scotty

 

[Zikke]

I say Bangkok makes a good candidate for top-10.

I live in Singapore, and here the topic about bike safety on the roads is quite hot. The government doesn't do much. Once the topic came up in the parliament, but was quickly dealt with as one parliament member said Singapore is too hot to cycle in, so no use to support it. Well, we have a strong community of cyclists that support each other. However, the rest of the population is a bit bitter - When on the roads we get honked at, and when on pedestrian paths (which is illegal, but used by some because of the danger on the roads) cyclists get yelled at from pedestrians. The good thing is that it's getting better and better, slowly. I commute to work every day without any problem, and in eternal summer!

 

[Bigbananabike]

I commuted in Birmingham, UK which was relatively calm. Then I moved to London which is so gridlocked the traffic doesn't move that fast in places, so you're prety safe. I now live in Auckland NZ, and this definitely the worse place of the three. People have no idea how to handle cyclists and the quality of driving is very poor.

Auckland.... come on - it's not that bad. I've done a lot of commuting here and it's not that bad. Only been side swiped once(didn't actually come off) and heaps of near misses but generally car drivers are ok. There are some good cycle lanes/cycle paths that are well placed too.

 

[Bigbananabike]

Come on boomer and badboy things can only improve.I know its not so easy but you only have to look at these messages to see that everyone thinks his city is the worst.Yesterday I cycled from TST to the NT accompanied by a solo and a tandem for part of the way.It is possible even in rush hour.Just been to RTHK to listen into a programme on ....cycling in HK. Get involved both of you and campaign for better faciliities etc
Check out
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/massridehk/

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Use a HELMET MIRROR - I find it such a help and a comfort when I hear that truck or whatever booming up behind me.

 

[dot]

More importantly, what can be done about it. The Mobile, Alabama metro area is one of the worst. My guess is you don't hear about a car hitting a cycle unless there's a death. Hit and run is standard, and the public doesn't seem to mind:

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1103019463147650.xml

Moscow has the highest road accidents rate.
Cyclists here are nothing on the road. Motorists hate them, abuse them and think cyclists should not be permitted to use the city roads at all.

I've been to London this spring. It looked like heaven for a cyclist. Other europian cities are even better.

 

[Jeytown]

i would say my biggest problem is finding good cycle paths in beirut right now

 

[craigdurkee]

i live in melbourne and that can be nightmare

bad drivers and bloody tram tracks

 

[mikesbytes]

I commuted in Birmingham, UK which was relatively calm. Then I moved to London which is so gridlocked the traffic doesn't move that fast in places, so you're prety safe. I now live in Auckland NZ, and this definitely the worse place of the three. People have no idea how to handle cyclists and the quality of driving is very poor.

Having lived in Auckland and Sydney, I find Sydney more dangerous, so its got my curious liguidatorwolf, where in Auckland do you ride?

 

[chephy]

Moscow. Russian drivers are quite something else...

 

[PearlJamFan]

I commuted in Birmingham, UK which was relatively calm. Then I moved to London which is so gridlocked the traffic doesn't move that fast in places, so you're prety safe. I now live in Auckland NZ, and this definitely the worse place of the three. People have no idea how to handle cyclists and the quality of driving is very poor.

This echoes my thoughts entirely. I grew up in London (UK) and the traffic there is so bad that you can't go very fast, there are some good cycle lanes and generally considerate drivers. I moved to New Zealand two years ago thinking it would be cycling Nirvana. Man, was I wrong. There's a big petrolhead thinking here and people just have no consideration for cyclists. Driving is appalling - don't get me wrong, I'm about a 10 minute cycle from empty country roads which is fantastic, but generally I'd rather cycle in London anyday than most parts of New Zealand. Mind you, I've visited Paris and Cairo and I wouldn't even think of cycling there...

 

[Ny Cykel]

All I know is Where I live its bad, Interviewing folk I am leaning that there is a type out there, that thinks they own the road, they drive 4 wheeled vehicles and they hate Trucks, Motorcycles and Bicycles, and they don't hesitate to say it.