Riding craze is on the rise, how to ensure safety？

In recent years, cycling has increasingly become the endorsement of people’s pursuit of freedom and health. However, these pursuits often conflict with the complexity of the real environment.

On August 11 this year, a father in Hebei rode with his child. After the child fell, he was crushed by the opposite vehicle and died unfortunately. On September 15th, a mainland woman unfortunately lost control and fell while riding on Lantau Island in Hong Kong, and was crushed to death by an oncoming tourist bus.

These accidents reflect the potential safety hazards faced by cyclists when they enjoy sports and explore the scenery, and also make us think deeply, how can we find a balance between freedom and safety in cycling?

Behind the craze, cycling accidents continue to increase.

The concept of cycling is no stranger. Different from the bicycle culture full of pragmatism in China in 1970s and 1980s,Nowadays, cycling has developed into a highly respected sport.

According to the "Survey Bulletin of National Fitness Activities in 2020" issued by the National Physical Fitness Monitoring Center, cycling is one of the main sports for adults in China, and the proportion of women is higher.

The rise of cycling groups and cycling activities makes cycling add social attributes to sports. Yaya, who has participated in cycling activities for many times, told us: "Riding has made me make many different friends, and I enjoy this free state." Health, relaxation, pursuit of freedom, social interaction … Riding itself has been given more meaning, and it has also become a personalized choice for people to pursue self-expression at present.

With more and more people participating in cycling, especially in complex scenes such as cities and traffic roads, the number of cycling accidents is also increasing.According to statistics, in recent years, the incidence of bicycle traffic accidents in China has been increasing, and the number of injuries and deaths has also been rising.

The recent cycling accidents have also pushed cycling to the forefront and exposed its potential safety risks.

Multiple factors are superimposed, and the hidden dangers of riding safety are highlighted.

Behind the frequent cycling accidents, there are many factors, such as environment, man-made and equipment.

In the feedback about riding risks from the People’s Daily Online leaders’ message board,Inappropriate road conditions and the lack of dedicated cycling lanes are important factors affecting riding safety.Dahai is the founder of the bicycle organization in China Renmin University. In his view, the road conditions have a great influence on riding safety. The smooth roads in some cities are one of the reasons for the rising cycling fever. In other cities, there are many bumps in the downtown roads, which are easy to cause riding safety hazards and make people flinch.

The smoothness, width and visibility of the road surface all play an important role in riding safety, but some roads lack special bicycle lanes, so cyclists usually need to share narrow roads with motor vehicles, which increases the risk of collision. The sea also tells us that electric bicycles, as a common means of transportation, are numerous, and their irregular driving has caused great safety pressure to cyclists. At present, the domestic electric vehicle management is relatively loose, which makes this problem more prominent.

In addition to the imperfect cycling infrastructure, there are often contradictions between cyclists and other road users. We coded and analyzed 988 comments under the four most typical posts on the theme of "Riding to Quit" in Xiaohongshu, looking for a spit point. In the comments, the opinion on "too fast" is the biggest. Others mostly focus on cyclists’ behaviors that do not obey traffic rules, such as occupying roads, running lights, retrograde, etc. Some people are worried about cyclists’ lack of professional knowledge and safety equipment.

For mature cycling groups, experience, equipment and professional knowledge seem to be no longer a problem. There are many cyclists in the G318 Sichuan-Tibet line, including many large and small motorcades. Xiaojin, who once rode the line, said that this kind of cycling group usually has experienced riders as the "head car" and "tail car". The "head car" will observe the situation ahead in advance and give tips in the way agreed by the team when encountering special circumstances such as uneven road surface or about to turn. They are usually well-equipped, such as preparing lighting facilities to deal with the situation of entering dark sections such as tunnels. The leadership of experienced people, full preparation and orderly management all add a safety guarantee to cycling.

However, the popularity of modern high-performance bicycles makes many cyclists have a higher pursuit of speed. The control ability of cyclists in high-speed state is weakened, and the reaction time of judging and dealing with emergencies is greatly shortened. More importantly, riding accidents caused by high speed have greater impact and more fatal damage to cyclists.

When talking about the riding accident in Hebei, Xiaojin said: "The reaction speed and strength of children are still different from those of adults. His father may treat him as an adult."

From the unfinished construction roads in Hebei to the winding mountain roads in Hong Kong,When cycling becomes a contest between high-speed sports and complex road conditions, the imbalance of safety becomes particularly obvious.

How to ensure riding safety within the rules?

In practice,Some bicycles can easily ride at a speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour, and the speed can even reach 50 kilometers per hour when going downhill.[1]. This has far exceeded China’s regulations that the maximum speed of electric bicycles in non-motor vehicle lanes should not exceed 15 kilometers per hour.

Compared with electric bicycles, China’s "Regulations on the Implementation of Road Traffic Safety Law"(hereinafter referred to as the regulations)The regulations on cycling are relatively broad, and there is no clear regulation on the speed of cycling and whether it is necessary to wear a helmet. However, the regulations stipulate the minimum age for cycling, the lanes that can be driven and how to borrow roads in an orderly manner. At the same time, there are clear prohibitions on traction, climbing and parallel chasing.

At the same time, some cities in China also put forward management measures for racing cycling. On July 25, 2024, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Traffic Management Bureau issued a message to strictly investigate the "racing" behavior of cyclists on urban roads. Since August, 2023 illegal behaviors of non-motor vehicles chasing and racing have been punished on the spot.[2]. In March, Chengdu issued the Measures for the Management of Greenway Riding in Chengdu’s Ecological Zone around the City.(Provisional)",clearly stipulates the" greenway speed limit ",and requires that the warning sign of safe riding speed should be set according to the principle that the maximum speed of high-risk sections and crowded areas is not more than 15km/h, and the maximum speed of other sections is not more than 20 km/h.[3].

In terms of helmet wearing, some foreign cities have legislative provisions. For example, at present, 22 states in the United States and Washington, D.C. have legislation on wearing helmets when riding bicycles, mostly to protect the safety of young cyclists.[4]. The laws of Sydney and New South Wales in Australia require all cyclists to wear helmets that meet the standards, and wear and fasten them firmly to ensure the safety of cyclists.[5].

Abiding by the rules and ensuring safety are the principles that everyone should jointly safeguard. Failure to take appropriate riding methods should be disciplined and reminded, and even worse, bear relevant responsibilities.At present, some uncivilized and even illegal cases have brought negative effects to normal cycling exercise groups, leading to the public’s stereotype and stigma of cycling groups. Within the scope of the rules, cyclists should not be looked at and questioned as a separate group.

Whether it is legislation, infrastructure or public awareness, cycling needs to be better embraced and accepted.But at the personal level, civilized riding is still the premise of ensuring safety, and it is also the responsibility of every rider to himself and others.

To this end, we have also compiled a cycling tip, hoping that every cyclist can always enjoy peace while pursuing freedom.

Note: At the request of the interviewee, Yaya, Dahai and Xiaojin are all pseudonyms.

References:

[1] Beijing News. (2024). Racing groups rush lights and ride friends, please take it easy and get acquainted with the city experience officer. https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1724307395129793.html.

[2] Shangguan News. (2024). Beijing strictly investigates cycling racing, and public roads can’t tolerate "violent riding groups" rampaging. https://export.sheobserver.com/baijiahao/html/790329.html.

[3] The Paper. (2024) The frequent accidents of urban cycling groups have attracted attention, and police in many places have rectified the chaos of "violent riding". https://m.thepaper.cn/newsdetail _ forward _ 28421377

[4]IIHS HLDI.(2024).Bicycle helmet use laws.https://www.iihs.org/topics/pedestrians-and-bicyclists/bicycle-helmet-use-laws-table

[5]NSW Government.(2024).Wearing the right cycling safety gear.https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/roads-safety-and-rules/bicycle-safety-and-rules/wearing-right-gear