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submitted 8 months ago by Showroom7561@lemmy.ca to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca

The only outfit associated with a significant change in mean passing proximities was the **police/video-recording jacket. **

Notably, whilst some outfits seemed to discourage motorists from passing within 1 metre of the rider, approximately 1-2% of overtakes came within 50 cm no matter what outfit was worn. This suggests there is little riders can do, by altering their appearance, to prevent the very closest overtakes

This is quite discouraging, but it seems to ring true in my experience. I've had quite a few drivers, who have come close to hitting me (even while walking at a crosswalk), claim that they "didn't see me" while I wore high-viz everything and had lights to further improve visibility.

How do we, as cyclists, even deal with “driver blindness”?

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[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 25 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

The only real solution is to campaign for better infrastructure, such as:

  • protected bike lanes
  • separate bike paths
  • Dutch-style raised crossings

What has worked the best for me is taking the lane. If the infrastructure isn't good, ride in the middle of the lane so cars are forced to treat you like a car. Don't use crosswalks or sidewalks, take the place cars are looking for other cars.

Yeah, it'll tick off some drivers, but at least they see me. I'll usually move right every so often if I'm blocking traffic and let the cars past (they'll usually go slowly), then go back to taking the lane. At the end of the day, my life is more important than etiquette. At least I'm my area, it's also legal because I just need to be within 3' (1m) of the edge of the road, which means the rightmost lane market, not the edge of the asphalt, so I can be pretty close to the middle of the lane while following the law, but I will break the law if it keeps my safe.

[-] villasv@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago

Indeed! Everyone that yearns for this infrastructure, engage the local Vision Zero community!

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this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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