Recumbents riders - How do you feel safe in traffic?

[DavidT]

Hi there
Please could recumbent riders explain how on earth you feel at all safe riding in traffic?
I ride a conventional road/audax bike. Also drive a lot (I'm advanced level so please no stick on that front).
Two days ago in Leicester, in heavy rain, and plenty of traffic I saw a recumbent manouvering around. I cringed at the sight, as buses and trucks made their way in the same traffic stream.
Sitting in that low position, how on earth do you feel at all confident in traffic? I consider myself a confident rider, but I'd be needing changes of underpants all the time to go for this particular form of transport.
Of course no end of drivers make similar comments to me about simply riding a bike, but surely the complete lack of visiblity - to see and to be seen, makes recumbents incredibly vulnerable, - or am I missing something?
Anyone care to educate me, or agree with me? I accept I'm probably wrong - I'm listening!?

[byegad]

I'm sure there will be many replies, so just to start with.

Motorists see us all that way down there the way they see white and yellow lines on the road, but we're higher.

Because we are in a minority motorists don't know how to treat us so in my experience, give us more room than you'd get on your Diamond Frame bike.

You'll have to ask Ferrari drivers how they manage to see from down their, I can see OK. I've the same eye height as a small car on my two wheel 'bent and am just below the Ferrari driver's eye height on my Trike. I need to deal with blocked sight lines on the Trike more often than you on your DF, I just deal with them the same way you do when behind a Luton Van.

To be honest it's not so much of a problem except when pulling out when there are a lot of parked cars as we need to stick out feet out before we can see rather like a car with a long bonnet. That is a disadvantage.

[700c]

I sold my recumbent as the traffic around Gloucester just did not know how to deal with a bike rider who wasn't riding a "bike".

Many times the driver would be looking at the bike I was riding instead of concentrating on the road, then cutting me up when they realised what they were doing.

All in all, Gloucester and Recumbents don't mix. I'd suggest that in towns where recumbents are more readily seen, car drivers are more used to that style of bike.

I've only ever seen one other recumbent rider, and that was a trike recumbent at that.

[Ludite0]

700C

I note your comments regarding Gloucester with interest.

I also live in Gloucester and cycle to work (Brunswick Road in the Town Centre) most days (only a few miles). I will soon be moving to Stonehouse and will continue to cycle to work from there. I have often thought about trying a recumbent and especially thought about it for the commute once I have moved.

I know Gloucester is not exactly cycle friendly in a lot of places, but what were the worst bits that put you off riding a recumbent around here.

Also, have you ever tried to make suggestions regarding cycle facilities to the Council with any luck?

Thanks

[rower40]

I agree with the other comments from those who ride feet-first - I get given much more room by drivers when I'm on the recumbent. Going back onto DF is like putting on the cloak of invisibility.

Other Benefits:
Less far to fall, so easy to put both feet down.
The flag on the back (see below) means that it's not just the car directly behind me that can see me, but the next one as well. (Unless the one behind me is a van or SUV - but that would hide a DF bike.)
Brakes that really work.
When on the Trike - impossible to fall over.
A built-in helmet-mirror that gives me a fantastic view behind me.

Downsides:
I've been criticised by other club riders for the rotating windsock on the back; if they're following me, it hypnotises them. 3-2-1 - You're Back in the Room.
(That's my excuse for always being at the back.)
Recumbents spook horses. I have to stop, get off, lay the bike down, until the horse has gone past.

If you're worried about being so low-down, why not ride a High-wheeler (penny-farthing)? Do you really think that'd be safer in traffic?

[Cunobelin]

It is all to do with road sense.

The only time you are vulnerable is if you try an filter along the inside at junctions, apart from that you are as safe as any other bike.

You will have close calls, but I have no more on the recument trike, Tourer or racer than I do on the DFs.

You can be seen in traffic as any driver should be looking well in advance for hazards, and hence height should not be an issue. On my Street MAchine I am higher than many children are small adults.


Unfortunately it is the perception and not the actual facts that tend to lead to the decision that recumbents are unsafe in traffic.

[byegad]

I forgot the horse thing rower40, I too have to stop and stand up. I find speaking to the rider visibly calms the nag. A friend who in her youth was a fine horsewoman told me to always remember that horses are crackers and frightened of everything including their own shadow!

[pigman]

I too have often looked at recumbents in traffic and cringed when i see the high vehicles v low rider, but when I think about it more carefully, can't justify why. As someone says, its the same with a ferrari (or even think about a caterham). What would frighten me more is the restricted view. On a DF, I can look over cars or through windows and see what's ahead and react accordingly. On a RC there's no view ahead in traffic and any sudden manoeuvre by another road user would be on you before you knew it. So its not the being seen, its the seeing that would most concern me.

[700c]

Ludite0

I live fairly near Stonehouse

The whole problem is that Recumbents are so rare about here that drivers don't know how to treat them. Is it a bike? Is it a motorcycle? What the ---- is that idiot riding?

For that reason, people take concentration off the road and onto you - and on that B-road (Stonehouse - Hardwicke (for those not from the area), and the other lanes about the place, this is a killer. I've almost been knocked off a few times recumbently.

On my normal bike, absolutely no problem (other than the usual numpty car drivers who treat everyone badly)...

Cheers!

[Cunobelin]

I would disagree (and yes - I know its a personal experience)

I have less problems on any of the recumbents than on a DF, and that is in Portsmouth - home of the idiot driver!

If anything the view is better as you are not having to lift your head and look around as it is already there! I have far less visibility on the Airnimal where I have to improve my posture to get good visibility.

As I said before it is simply road sense.

[ThePinkOne]

Agree with you totally Cunobelin.

As I've said before, it isn't that drivers don't SEE cyclists- it's that they don't notice them, their subconscious brain filter operates.

My recumbent trike gets NOTICED though. Prob why I've always been given lots more space on he 'bent than I ever was on a DF.

P.

[Wildduck]

Having just bought a Trice Q (called Quackers!) a week ago and only done a couple of short trips (work gets in the way!), I feel much safer than I do on an upright. Appears to scare the hell out of other road users. I haven't had a car cut me up yet. Just need to spin those pedals a bit better and get a bit faster............

[glueman]

Only ever had a go on 'bents in quiet lanes, never in traffic. I'd be a bit wary, especially with the ultra low profile trikes I like the look of. Not keen on aerials, flags and stuff either, a bit carnival for regular touring.
It may just be perception but I'd worry about disappearing under the sight line of artics on roundabouts.

[DavidT]

Thanks for all the comments.
Certainly the aspect I had overlooked is that you tend to get a wider berth because motorists are confused/nervous/intrigued etc - I had'nt thought of that, but can now well imagine it. Good to read all the other pros and cons. I'm not convinced enough to change though, so I'll be sticking to my DF (!). Happy cycling, whatever form its in!

[Fonant]

Please could recumbent riders explain how on earth you feel at all safe riding in traffic?

Because when you ride one you're suddenly both visible and also taken seriously by motor vehicles!

Sitting in that low position, how on earth do you feel at all confident in traffic?

Height has no part in being visible (which is why drivers can see white lines which are only millimetres high). In fact I find that things that are wide low down (recumbents, bike trailers) are more visible to cars than things that are narrow low down (bikes, motorbikes). As a car driver I spend most of my time looking down at the road, and much less time looking higher up (I think this is why people find reading road signs so tricky).

Being low down also means you have less far to fall if you come off (and with a recumbent trike it's very difficult to fall off!).

Of course no end of drivers make similar comments to me about simply riding a bike, but surely the complete lack of visiblity - to see and to be seen, makes recumbents incredibly vulnerable, - or am I missing something?

A recumbent is as visible as many other things on a road but is much more noticeable. Hence the added safety.

Most cyclists will tell you how invisible they feel, but recumbents usually have the opposite problem

Oh, and there's Risk Compensation, a theory that many think holds water.

In my experience, commuting daily along urban roads and the A27 dual carriageway, my upright bike would have about one "near miss" ("sorry mate, didn't see you", or passing too close) per month, but in my Windcheetah I only had two "near misses" in three years.