BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Sometimes conditions are particularly unsafe to drive, but people do it anyway. Avoiding the roads under those conditions is pragmatic, just like not riding during a tornado warning.

I've posted in favor of rear reflectors here before, but lights are clearly superior in fog. And bright ones can be quite visible.

I'll be heading out shortly, but I have rush hour on my side.

It's not _too_ evil out at the moment. Other than wet leaves, no traction problems on road or trail that I saw. As far as visibility goes, well, it ain't pretty.

Some jagoff parked his SUV in Station Square such that his rear cargo rack laden with cooler and grill is blocking most of the trail, though.

yeah i'm not biking in this shit. i have enough trouble having faith that these distracted morons will see me when it's clear out much less in the soup.

Guy stopped me in Giant Eagle

"You're a trusting soul to ride in this weather"

Isn't there some statistic around that less accidents happen in inclement weather because people actually pay attention to what they're doing?

I usually love riding in fog, but not fog this dense. I took the bus in to downtown. Crossing the Seventh Street Bridge, I could barely make out the outline of the Ninth Street Bridge to the left. Could not see the Sixth Street Bridge at all. Even with good lights, I want cars to have a better sight line of me than what's out there this morning.

I biked in at around 8:30am. It was super dense, especially going across the greenfield bridge. You could hardly tell that there was a bridge there. No problem with the cars, and usually they are super impatient at 8:30am. Lots of morons out driving cars without headlights though, yikes.

I decided to walk in so the fog didn't matter. But it was a really great time to smell the evergreens, and run through the leaves in friendship park.

I rode in, and I have to say that my experience was pretty good. I got extra space when I was passed and traffic was generally sane.

Then again, I'm adorned with a bunch of lights and they were all flickering this morning... so there was no doubt I was being seen. (helmet, backpack and seat lights, and on the front a notice-me and illumination light)

I meant to add... AFAIAC, there is no "wuss" and no "badass." Riding should be fun & safe and the minute it stops being one or the other, you shouldn't ride... and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it.

I tried to bike at 7:30 this morning. Three blinkies, but I barely managed to avoid getting run over. (At least the driver was apologetic, but if there had been a second car on the road, I'dve been in big trouble.) I ended up heading back home and skipping the bike today.

I dont like driving in heavy fog either, but I think I felt safer surrounded by my car rather than nothing if I was hit by a car.

@pierce Isn't there some statistic around that less accidents happen in inclement weather because people actually pay attention to what they're doing?

I would be shocked if there was such a study. People on freeways drive at 10 miles over the speed limit, even when there is snow or fog so heavy you cannot 50 ft in front of you.

+1 myddrin:

there is no "wuss" and no "badass." Riding should be fun & safe and the minute it stops being one or the other, you shouldn't ride... and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it.

I ride for transportation. I have fun most of the time, but I ride whether it's fun or not.

what about safe and not scary?

I dont know about wuss or brave. I have ridden my bike more in the fall this year than I have ever ridden before. When things got chilly I always put my bike away till things warmed up. Now I dont ride alot in general but over all I have been riding more than ever

thanks to all the people here and the fine fun rides that I never even knew about, encouraging me to saddle up and ride.

Still you have to take you're feeling of personal safety very seriously. No matter what if you don't feel safe don't ride.

just my 2 cents.

I did use my lights this morning in the fog, but have not been all week at that time. I felt as safe as I always do. My general feeling is that if someone is going to run me down because they are distracted, so be it, and the conditions won't stop that from happening.

In response to Mick, I also ride to work for transportation, but had I been planning on a "fun" ride, the fog would not have stopped me. And if the weather kept people to only 10mph above the posted limit, that would be a good thing.

I did notice safety yellows and oranges stood out a lot more than dark and muted colors.

last time I biked in a thick fog I stopped at an illuminated plastic pumpkin I mistook for a stop sign reflecting my headlight. It was early enough that nobody else was out, so I didn't feel unsafe in general, just stupid for stopping at a pumpkin.

In general I've decided that if it's unsafe for me to bike, it's unsafe for me to drive - including weather conditions and fellow travellers of all persuasions (bike, walk, drive, bus, etc). This morning wasn't so bad, but I had to drive due to logistics.

@Mick "I ride for transportation. I have fun most of the time, but I ride whether it's fun or not."

Same here, I'm going to work regardless

I take safety serious in that I consider what is the safest way to get somewhere. I've ridden in times and places that I've considered less than safe.

But then, any morning between 2 and 3 AM is unsafe on the streets in any mode of travel - bus, taxi, walk, ride, drive, whatever.

+1 ejwme - the fact this is even an issue is just one more ludicrous example of car-centric (or perhaps self-centric) BS. If people driving cars can't see well enough to avoid running into bicycles, they shouldn't be driving. Or at least they shouldn't be driving more than 10-15mph or whatever speed is necessary to compensate for the reduced visibility (the same speed restriction applies to cyclists, of course).

But, of course if you suggest something like that in mixed company, *you're* the crazy one.

In general I've decided that if it's unsafe for me to bike, it's unsafe for me to drive

Resounding heck-yeah in agreement.

In conditions that scare me on the bike (e.g. ice/sleet), I don't want to be out at all. 'Bout the only exception is heavy rain when the temps are in the low 30s...then, I'll drive or bus, because I'm concerned about hypothermia, not road conditions.

i had to drive today in the fog. i saw a LOT of morons with no headlights.

I was prepared to leave on two wheels around 8 to get where I was going by 9, but opted to put the bike in the car, get dropped off, and bike back. Reasoning: Not the fog so much as little icy patches, and not so much other cars as being worried about skidding on ice. I figured the ice would be gone by 10:30, and it was.

Fog: Even at 9 in McCandless and Richland, it was super thick in spots, but out on Route 8 you could see two miles clearly. Very odd.

"In general I've decided that if it's unsafe for me to bike, it's unsafe for me to drive"

In general. But my car handles poor road conditions better than my bike does, and better tolerates being run into by morons who go out in the snow with bald summer tires, or who drive too fast for the conditions. In an ideal world, this would not be an issue.

Hrm..... agreed here. If one doesn't feel safe, one shouldn't bike or drive -period. I rather liked the fog a lot, but was going slower than usual, with blinkis, lights & all. I don't know about the trails near the rivers and around the bridges, but the streets seemed safe to me (all flat streets).

Maybe this is just me, but even when it rains, snows, or there is fog; I feel --safer-- on my bike than on a bus or car, because I can react faster, go slower/faster as applicable, and can go into the sidewalk or 'park' the bike if I don't feel safe.

But that's just me..... riding at 6am is a whole-other animal than riding at 8-9am when I go to work.... in the mornings I'm trying to not leave my house until there is enough visibility, while in the pm I have to drive in darkness, but then I lit-up like a christmas tree....

Ultimately, I feel safe and I know-and-look forward to the ride regardless, I do it

I couldn't see the neighboring houses when I left this morning. It got better heading out of the city; visibility going from 50 feet to maybe 200 feet.

Pea soup to be sure. And shockingly, it had no taste.