5 Reasons You Should Never Ride Against Traffic

But first, a word about where to ride:

Path vs. Road? Many people prefer to ride on paths, because cars. Understandable. But in my opinion, riding in the road is the medically safer option for everyone during this pandemic time. Even in normal times, paths can be pretty crowded, and more so now that exercise is one of the few socially acceptable reasons to leave the house. Can you always keep proper distance on a path? At bicycle speed? It can be difficult. On the road, you have plenty of room to keep your distance from any other people you may encounter outside of cars. And you'll be leaving a bit more space on the multi-use paths for the pedestrians.

But what about those cars? We'll talk more about how to keep a safe space around you on the road in later posts, or you can skip right to the chase here. But now, on to our featured topic:

WHY DO WE WALK AGAINST TRAFFIC, BUT BICYCLE WITH?

Riding against traffic is one of the most common mistakes that many beginning bicyclists make. Absent any other information about safe bicycling practice, many people figure, not unreasonably, that riding against traffic is good because they can easily see the traffic coming towards them instead of from behind them. We tell people to walk facing traffic for just that reason. So it may seem natural to extend that logic to biking.

Unfortunately, statistics show that riding against traffic is actually one of the most dangerous things a cyclist can do. According to one study, riding against traffic was over 3 times as risky as riding with traffic. And on the sidewalk, over 5 times as risky!

So if walking facing is traffic is good, why is riding facing traffic so bad? The primary reasons have to do with the increased speed of bicycling versus walking, and the different operating characteristics of riding a bike versus walking. These differences create severe disadvantages to riding against traffic which far outweigh the single advantage of "seeing them coming". Walking largely does not have these disadvantages, due to its slower speed and greater maneuverability.

So here are the top 5 reasons you should never ride against traffic.

5. Approach From Unexpected Directions

Motorists (and bicyclists!) develop habits over time for the most common situations they need to handle. For example, when approaching an intersection, motorists look in the travel lanes for other cars. If they're good, they also look for pedestrians near corners. They don’t generally look for bicyclists 50 feet away from the corner, coming the wrong way. But at 15 MPH, a bicyclist will cover 50 feet in just over 2 seconds.

To take the most common example, a motorist turning right out of a side street spends most of their time looking to the left, for a gap in traffic in the lane they're turning into. Their focus to the left increases the closer they get to finding their gap. Even if they look to their right one last time before making the turn, as they should, they're not really expecting anything new at that point, certainly not a bicyclist who wasn’t there just 5 seconds ago, coming towards them on the wrong side of the street!

Driver is looking to the left, could easily overlook the wrong-way cyclist on their right

 (CyclingSavvy.org)

A similar problem exists when traffic is turning to their left from behind you, traveling in the same direction but on the other (correct) side of the road.

 4. Maneuverability Challenges

If you're the wrong-way bicyclist encountering that right-turning motorist in the last example (whether on the sidewalk or the road), what do you do? If you anticipated the conflict, maybe you slowed down to see what the motorist would do, and were able to stop in time when they pulled out. If you didn't anticipate it, or thought the motorist saw you (maybe you even locked eyes with them, but they underestimated your speed, assumed you would yield, or you didn't actually even register with them), then suddenly you're in an emergency situation. Even at slow cycling speeds, you can’t stop instantly as you can while walking. You also can’t jump backwards or to the side.

What if you’re riding against traffic between intersections, and the car you need to avoid crashing into is coming straight towards you? On a wide road, there may be enough width for you both move away from each other, especially if the adjacent lane is clear.

Worst case, no room to move over, either both you and the motorist need to come to a complete stop, or you need to leave the roadway. If there is no curb, that's probably possible, although there may be dirt or a ditch to contend with, which could cause you to fall. If there is a curb, good luck if you don't have mad bunny-hopping skillz (or even if you think you do).

Compare this to having cars coming up behind you. If a crash from behind is imminent, at least the motorist has to only slow down to your speed, not stop completely, and you can speed up. They might still hit you, but it's less likely, and at a reduced closing speed (see next point).

Maybe you have anticipated that the road ahead is too narrow, and opt for the sidewalk instead. Sidewalk riding presents many of the same intersection dangers as wrong-way riding, double if sidewalk riding against traffic. There is not space to get into all that here, but suffice it to say that sidewalk riding is only safe at very slow speeds (barely above walking) and with extreme care at intersections. Remember that you are obligated to yield to pedestrians at all times on sidewalks, and it is not always legal, depending on the town.

3. Closing Speed

Here's an easy example I use when I talk to kids about this. Pretend you are riding your bicycle at 10 MPH, around cars going 30 MPH. If you are riding against traffic, how fast are the cars getting closer to you? (If necessary, I prompt them to add 10 and 30.)

Now pretend you're riding at 10 MPH with cars coming up behind you at 30 MPH. How fast are they gaining on you?

That's right! When you ride against traffic, it's coming towards you twice as fast (using these numbers) as when you ride with traffic. Twice as fast means half the reaction time, and twice the impact if there is a collision. It also means more encounters in a given time period.

2. Collision Type

Taking into account the prior considerations of maneuverability and closing speed, it seems reasonable to presume that if a crash is completely unavoidable, you are more likely to survive being hit from behind at the difference of your speeds, than head-on at the sum of them. One pedestrian fatality study suggests that a pedestrian has a 93% chance of surviving being hit by a car at 20 MPH, but only a 55% chance of surviving at 40 MPH. Would you rather be hit from behind at 20, or head-on at 40?

1. Legal Liability

In every state or province in North America, the law says that bicyclists should follow the same rules as other drivers, and that includes riding on the same side of the road. Regardless of your opinion on the safety argument, both the law and the insurance companies will find you at least partially at fault if you get into a crash with a motor vehicle while riding against traffic. You may be ticketed, and more importantly, your chances of recovering any damages to you or your bike are drastically reduced.

Want to see who's behind you?

Still feel uncomfortable with traffic coming up behind you? Get a mirror! Bicycle mirrors are available at any bike shop, either handlebar-mounted, or that attach to a helmet or eyeglasses. Even better, practice looking behind you without swerving, because even bike mirrors have blind spots. You can actually see more with a head turn. Sometimes that will also give anyone behind you a clue that you might be about to do something.