Survey on bicycle lanes for Singapore

Via http://abetterride.wordpress.com/ a survey by a Singaporean student at LSE:

If you live or have lived in Singapore, it’d be great if you could do the survey. Whether you cycle or not, I’d like to hear from you. Got 15 mins to spare? Click here.

More numbers on safety in numbers

On 6 June I wrote about the safety-in-numbers effect.

There are some more numbers corroborating the effect from London, Copenhagen and the Netherlands. See this post on the "How we drive" blog.

Unsafe ignorance versus dangerous ignorance

A survey by the AXA insurance company paints a picture of ignorance and recklessness among Singapore motorists.

The finding that struck me most was that only 23% knew the speed limit that applies on most ordinary streets and roads (the ones that don't have speed signs). Do you know the answer? ** Most thought that the answer was 60 km/hr.

This was reported today by the Business Times and the Today newspaper (here and here). AXA surveyed over 500 Singapore motorists, including around 100 taxi drivers.

Large percentages also admitted to various dangerous acts, such as:

• Driving more than 10kmh above the speed limit (63 per cent)
• Tailgating (47 per cent)
• Overtaking, turning or switching lanes without signalling (46 per cent)

So few Singapore motorists have the high moral ground to attack bicycle users for their bad behaviour. Yet we do see many forum letters about bad behaviour by bicycle users in Singapore (like this one yesterday). Many online comments on these letters tend to demonize cyclists.

Of course, many cyclists ARE woefully ignorant of even the basics of safe cycling. But think ... What is the main result of unsafe cycling?

Answer: injured or dead cyclists are the main result. Cyclists are the main victims of their own ignorance or recklessness.

I don't want to deny that inconsiderate or negligent cycling can pose some hazard to others, especially to pedestrians. But we need a sense of proportion about the danger from bicycles. It is tiny compared with the danger from motor vehicles. Yes, bad behaviour by cyclists is a problem. But it is a problem primarily for the cyclists themselves.

Let us admit that BOTH motorists and bicycle users in Singapore have a frightening lack of awareness about road safety and road rules.

But while ignorant cyclists make themselves unsafe, ignorant drivers make the roads dangerous for everyone.


** Answer: 50 km/h is the speed limit on ordinary streets and roads without explicit speed markings. Did you get it right? If motorists stuck to this speed cycling would be much safer here.

Safety in Numbers

Cycling seems rather dangerous in Singapore. So are we crazy or irresponsible to be promoting more bicycle use?

I think not. The more people use bicycles the safer it will become for each individual bicycle user.

New York City cyclists seem to be getting the benefits of safety in numbers after some years of increases in the amount of cycling (and some effort to make it safer). This image comes via Streetsblog.


That there is safety in numbers for cyclists and pedestrians was the (more scientific) finding of a 2003 paper in Injury Prevention journal by Peter Jacobsen, which found:

A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking and bicycling if more people walk or bicycle. Policies that increase the numbers of people walking and bicycling appear to be an effective route to improving the safety of people walking and bicycling.

The safety in numbers argument reassures us that we are not being irresponsible to promote more cycling.

Green Transport @ Envirofest 2009

Chu Wa with his JZ88 foldable bike next to the Singapore Environment Council's booth at Envirofest @ HDB Hub, Toa Payoh, 23-24 May 2009.

Thanks to boonsong for the photo!

Ride of Silence Singapore - impressions from a car window

The Ride of Silence Singapore was held yesterday, Wed 20th May 2009 with cyclists gathered at Merlion Park at 7pm. I was unable to join them but instead observed the half the ride route from a car window. Several of my friends from Zendogs and Cycling in Singapore were riding do I knew I could exchange impressions with them later.

For me the ride meant commemorating Kroxy, an NTU student who was senselessly killed in 2003. He was the last man of a group riding back to NTU and was tragically run over at Jalan Bahar by a drunk driver just before the group turned into the relative safety of NTU.

I never knew Alvin Boey personally but he was a promoter of cycling in Singapore like many of us. I always think of him when I ride NTU's Round Island Bike Rally and each time I pass Jalan Bahar on the way to Lm Chu Kang or Sungei Buloh. The Ride of Silence is a good way to commemorate his spirit and to me it s a reminder that cyclists and motorists need to work at sharing the road safely.

The rest of this was posted last night on my personal blog and is reproduced here for the record. You can read all the posts on Ride of Silence (Paul Barter, Yap Chi Wei and mine) by clicking the "ride of silence" label. See also other impressions by:

• mrbrown,
• Azam's life,
• wang writes.
  
  Meanwhile congratulations to the organiser for bring this event to reality!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  My friends went down after work to Merlion Park today for the Ride of Silence Singapore. They reported a large turnout and cyclists were released in groups of about 10. We dropped in on the cyclists just as they left Merlion Park to thread through the city before heading out west to loop around Holland Village. 
  
  The route required them to make a few lane shifts and navigate through small, busy roads (see route). By Holland Road, the groups found the space and momentum to be tighter. The video clips below show two groups riding up the Holland Road slope before they head down through Orchard Road. Note how the first group is more disciplined about keeping to a single file. It was nice to see the groups crunch up the slope in silence with a few nods of heads to us as they cycled past.
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  From the short time we spent following the groups along the first half of the route, a few things were obvious:

  • White is striking at night! An all white t-shirt or jersey as ordered ("dress in white") would have really made the group stand out. The mixed coloured jerseys that some persisted in wearing are not noticeable and quite unsuitable or night cycling.
  • Rear helmet lights were prominent and in fact, critical for congested roads where cyclists ride in close proximity to motorists. However, few cyclists had rear helmet lights. The rear seat lights are less useful in these situations as they are more noticeable from afar.
  • Many were using pretty decent front white blinking lights. Surprisingly some were actually riding without front lights.
  • The few passerby-cyclists without lights were practically invisible to traffic!
  • Quite a number of cyclists were clueless about navigating lane changes safely - their timing and hand signals left much to be desired. Wish they sign up for some practical training somewhere, the sort motorcyclists get in preparation for their Class 2B license.
  • The ride was supposed to be a slow-paced ride. But I think I'd be hard-pressed to keep up with some groups who were whizzed past!

  
  
  I'm sure there will be more on my cycling lists later tonight and tomorrow. Hope it will help the organisers next year. Meanwhile, see news from Rides of Silence around the world and tweets from cyclists gearing up or after their ride.
  
  Some of my photos from the ride are on Flickr; see also VR-Zone.

  
  
  "Cyclists join thousands worldwide in Ride of Silence," by Tan Yew Guan. Channel NewsAsia, 20 May 2009.
  
  

  SINGAPORE: About 200 cyclists gathered at the Merlion Park on Wednesday evening to embark on a one-hour ride through Singapore's roads. They joined thousands of others in a world wide movement.
  
  Called the Ride of Silence, riders went at a slow pace throughout the 19 kilometre route.
  
  At the same time, they maintained silence amid the roar of traffic in honour of those killed or injured in traffic accidents while cycling.
  
  Last year, at least 20 people died in such accidents.
  
  The first Ride of Silence rolled off in Dallas in the United States six years ago.
  
  Then, it was just a gathering of one thousand cyclists to mark the death of a fellow cyclist who was killed by a school bus mirror.
  
  Throughout world, from Hong Kong to Spain and all across the United States, cyclists in over 200 locations are taking part in similar rides.
  
  Organisers hope that the event will make drivers more aware of the presence of cyclists on the roads. - CNA/vm

  
  

Ride of Silence Singapore - Chi Wei's impressions

Before midnight, Yap Chi Wei wrote to Zendogs (our cycling group) to recount the events of the night. I reproduce it here with his permission:

"I estimate that just over 400 riders turned up for this ride. Everyone gathered pretty much on time and the first group of 12 riders were flagged off at 7.20pm. With so many riders, the organiser(s) ran out of outriders/volunteer ride leaders after about 20 groups. So the rest (groups 21 onwards) had to wait for the lead pack to return to recycle the ride leader! This was accepted with mild groans here and there.

Catherine and I did a Zendog [our cycling group legendary for taking food beaks] and adjourned to the nearby Coffee Bean for some pasta and puffs. With our hunger assuaged, we rejoined the remaining mass of bikers and got flagged off well after 8pm.

Our ride grouping started out well but soon fell apart although the volunteer guide tried to keep things together. Inevitably, some of the group split into smaller groups without ride leaders. Some, who had not studied the route, got separated. But we continued on, sometimes joining groups that we caught up with and at other times, falling back due to traffic lights.

Along Holland Rd near the Botanics, a group of young riders on heavy jump bikes started to stand and sprint up the hill with little regard for traffic on their right. This caused a Volvo XC90 SUV to mount a center divider trying to avoid them! I don't think these kids even knew why they were there. It was more like a fun ride for them, yelling and screaming. So much for silence.

There were also unicycles in another group, which should not have been there as they had to struggle to keep up, did not have appropriate lighting, and it was harder for them to handle the evening rush hour traffic.

Ride of silence almost became a ride of attrition.

The good thing that the majority were well behaved. Motorists seemed to be quite tolerant of the large groups of riders on the road and there were very few horns directed our way.

We peeled off somewhere near High Street to head back to her office to pack her bike into her car. I rode back on the road. Total distance for me was 43kms.

The ride leaders from Joyriders were volunteers and roped in at the last moment to assist. They did the best they could, with some riding two loops of the route. Kudos to them.

Going to bed now..."