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Please don’t forget that a bicycle is a dangerous vehicle that can harm people.

9 Comments

Maki Kitakata, who represents Wa-Life Labo, an organization providing classes for safe parent-child bicycle riding. (Yomiuri Shimbun)

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My favorite barber, an obasan I've known for many years, was injured by a cyclist. Despite surgeries and therapies she is unable to lift her right arm, and had to learn to cut hair left-handed. She still tears up when talking about it. She's worked hard all her life, and will suffer the rest of her life because of somebody else's carelessness.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Having been hit from behind on a sidewalk, knocked over and seriously bruised (nothing broken, thank Buddha!) all I can say is get on with it!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I have dozens of videos from my drive recorder of cyclists riding along the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of traffic, running lights, and seemingly switching from driving mode to riding mode as they cross in front of traffic at junctions, and the worse seem to be parent-child bikes - the infamous mama-charis. And have a greater number of motorists displaying even more dangerous activities; running lights, stopping in dangerous positions on junctions and main roads, tail-gating, passing on the left hand side of cars, and many more. Respect from anyone traveling at a speed faster than walking would be helpful.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

In crowded cities, bicycles shouldnt be ridden in sidewalk pedestrian space, and bike riding moms and dads with kids cant be riding in roads built for large, fast-moving, motor vehicles. With no place for people on bikes to go, conflicts and accidents are unavoidable and negative perceptions are formed.

But, what to do? - restricting, regulating, discouraging, bicycle use will only have the effect of encouraging far deadlier, dirtier, and space-wasting, automobile use.

What is necessary is a paradigm shift away from outdated, automobile-oriented planning that gifts massive amounts of urban space to highways, roads, and parking. More human-scale planning that puts a priority on walking and biking will result in healthier, cleaner, safer, and more livable cities.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I recently bought a bicycle for the first time is years, but I remember why I stopped cycling around Tokyo for so long. Other cyclists are just dangerous idiots. Cycling with a phone, umbrella and even a book in one hand. I can't stand it. Then there's the motorists..

0 ( +1 / -1 )

sorry but cycles are not pedestrians and do not belong in pedestrian space. they are vehicles and belong on the road and should be subject to all rules of the road, i.e. stopping at lights, not using keitai, not going against flow of traffic, tickets for violations.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The most common cause of cycling fatalities is actually the misperception that a cyclist has no rights on the road and a fatalistic belief that cycling in traffic is dangerous Per Se and that traffic accidents are unavoidable. However the cyclists have full rights to the road and the cyclist is also safer on the road than the motorists. In other words a bike can avoid collisions with motor vehicles because a bikes rider has an excellent machine with a 180 degree of unobstructed vision at all times. He can easily scan another 45 degree on either side. He has stereo hearing, so he's not only aware of how far away the approaching car is, but also if it's passing him safely. He has excellent brakes at his normal cruising speed and can stop in less than a car's length. He even has faster turning ability and can slide off of a steep shoulder without harm if necessary. In the end operating a vehicle only six feet long and 18 inches wide, he presents a small target for another vehicle to hit.

1 ( +3 / -3 )

Novenachama - that`s well and good for many sports cyclists, but no mother is going to take her kids out for a ride with the lorries on Route 1.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@novenachama - not with devices plugged into his ears, isolating his auditory senses from the environment; a smartphone, umbrella or a tray of take-away food in his hand, shopping bags on the handlebars, children front and back, degrading his turning and stopping ability and disrupting the balance of the bike. NB, his also can mean her.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

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