Austin's best bicycle traffic and roadway bicycle safety class.

Bicycle Methodology index page

The standard way in which bike safety has been taught is to give the student sets of instructions for how to deal with common traffic situations. These methodologies are interesting to anyone who cares about bike traffic safety, but we advise that each be taken as being to some degree idiosyncratic. One size does not fit all. We are pleased to note that many of the newer professional publications on method take this fact to heart.

It is up to the student to develop a coherent method that works for him/her, so here we present several methods presented by articulate cyclists and safety professionals. Review them to give yourself an idea of what considerations go into a well thought out method for dealing with traffic. Some of the pages linked to from here will also access more traffic cycling resources. These are just a few obvious picks that we have found. (If you have a problem loading any of these pages, please let us know).

Books - References to published books about cycling in traffic

• The Art of Urban Cycling, by John Hurst - This recently published book is the best book to ever come out about how to ride in traffic. It gathers up all the progress and problems that resulted from the vehicular cycling concept propounded over a quarter century ago in Effective Cycling (below). The book has its shortcomings, as did Effective Cycling, and as would any book breaking lots of new ground into a topic not easily described in text.
• Effective Cycling, by John Forester - This enormous book (not available for download), running to nearly 600 pages, details many of the author's views on how to ride a bicycle. It includes well over 100 pages of traffic cycling method, along with many other subjects relevant to operating a bicycle and being a cyclist in modern American society. This book is significant for several reasons. It is an outstanding example of a coherent and well-documented system. Granted, every reader is bound to disagree with (or be outright pissed off by) something in Effective Cycling, but the depth to which the act of cycling in traffic is analyzed makes it a model for anyone trying to develop their own coherent method. Forester's concept of "vehicular cycling" cleared away a lot bad advice being dispensed by authorities, and is still the core concept of bicycle education. Forester's uncompromising and didactic style make the book a difficult read at times, but it will help the student understand the (occasionally strident) attitudes of many bike safety pundits. In this way it may be something like the lengthy appendicies to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which only the truly hard-core afficianados of the genre can fully swallow.
• Bicycling Street Smarts by John Allen - Allen's slim and concise booklet is becoming a standard issue for American bike safety advocates. It is being reprinted in several states to detail bike laws particular to those states, and is supplied with more safety-conscious brands of bikes. The whole book is available as a download.
• Review of three cycling handbooks (PDF) by Stewart C. Russell - This review, written from a UK perspective, appeared in issue 2 of the cutting edge British Cycling magazine Velo Vision. It reviews three books about cycling in traffic: Effective Cycling, Cyclecraft (a UK book comparable to Bicycling Street Smarts), and Urban Riders' Tricks and Tips (a rogue's guide to urban cycling).

Professional advice - Publications by public and private organizations on how to bike in traffic.

• The Bicycle Transportation Institute: This is an organization of bicycle safety advocates, including several of the authors of the books listed above and of websites listed below. It is strongly based on the techniques of "Vehicular Cycling," and it is quite critical of separated facilities (bike lanes, etc.). It gives references to several professional studies that demonstrate the problems caused by separated facilities. It also has an index of public awareness programs for on-road cycling safety. The website is a bit short on detailed advice, however the page for the Institute's board of directors has links to several well-developed websites where advice is dispensed freely.
• The Pennsylvania DOT's cycling handbook - This web page is uncommonly hip for a DOT publication.
• Transportation Alternatives: New York City's bike and pedestrian advocacy organization has quite a bit of information about riding in the USA's most urban of environments. Their website contains reprints of many articles from their print magazine. Of particular note are "How to Survive New York City Cycling: Nine Classic Rookie Mistakes" and the lengthy and detailed "Guide to Streetwise Cycling in New York City."

Personal Essays - "How to bike safely" essays by various authors who took the trouble to write it all out and post them to the web. The similarities and differences between these pieces are perhaps the most interesting parts of these essays.

• Ken Kifer's Bicycle Traffic pages - This is an index to several essays on difficult situations. This site is recommended by many cyclists.
• Michael Bluejay's "How to not Get Hit by Cars" - Bluejay examines 10 common collisions and recommends strategies and tactics for avoiding them. He also gives several general tips, including a couple of controversial ones, which offhandedly highlight some of the strident disagreements among bike safety pundits as to what advice is "good" and "bad."
• Wayne Pein's Road Vogue - Featuring several references to the North Carolina traffic code, this online booklet has a flair for alliterative allusions. Pein quoins the term "Ride Big."
• Fred Oswald's (LCI #947) index of resources from crankmail.com - Features his essay "Ten Tips for Safe and Enjoyable Bicycle Commuting," among many other things.
• Tom Revay's "Bike Lane Contrarian" page - Criticism of seperated bike facilities is a trend of bike safety advocates that found its voice with Forester's Effective Cycling. Revay's web page makes another case for this view. While there are plenty of people who like seperated facilities, it is always possible to find cases where poor design creates a more complicated traffic situation. Naturally, individual cyclists will make up their own minds about their preferences toward separated facilities, but the criticisms are worth noting.

back to the essays index