Skip to main content

VIDEO: Freeway cycling is not for the faint hearted

Road designers and local authorities are getting much better at integrating roads for vehicles and cycle paths, tracks and lanes. But sometimes cyclist must take their chances on riding on a road with no designated cycle ways. Caution is essential for both cyclists and vehicle drivers, but in the end it will be the cyclist who is most likely to come off the worst in any crash. So why tempt fate, as the following news story and videos show.
August 27, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Road designers and local authorities are getting much better at integrating roads for vehicles and cycle paths, tracks and lanes. But sometimes cyclist must take their chances on riding on a road with no designated cycle ways.

Caution is essential for both cyclists and vehicle drivers, but in the end it will be the cyclist who is most likely to come off the worst in any crash. So why tempt fate, as the following news story and videos show.

Police interrupted a training ride by Brazil’s national cycling team in July.  For safety, the nine-man team was escorted off a busy highway - Don Valley Parkway - in Toronto, Canada, where the Pan American Games were being held, reported the Globe & Mail newspaper.

Detective Sergeant Devin Kealey of the Toronto Police said they were looking for a one-hour ride and just happened to come up on the busy road. The cyclists were riding on the hard shoulder and were not fined the usual US$80.

In 2002, a pair of cyclists from Kenya who were in Manchester City, UK, for the Commonwealth Games were escorted by police off the M61 motorway. They were on the hard shoulder, but also riding in the opposite direction to traffic.

Having a bicycle in your car can sometimes save you time on your trip, as the accompanying video from the United States shows. At around 45 seconds into this video, one US commuter stuck in a freeway traffic jam, decides to abandon his four-wheel vehicle for his two-wheel variety.
But the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal following video Watch Trailer Truck knocks cyclist video false https://youtu.be/1hVXhg8zvkI false false%> proves just how dangerous it can be, even if a cyclist is in the correct lane and signalling, although his should check to see if anything was coming does not appear to be sufficient. Note the articulated truck that apparently decides against turning off the freeway and instead barrels straight ahead, down the road’s shoulder, past the cyclist who assumes nothing is coming up on his right.

Related Content

  • Melbourne link: Hyder and Parsons Brinckerhoff to be design team
    October 22, 2014
    Hyder and Parsons Brinckerhoff have been appointed as the design team for the US$5.97 billion East West Link in Melbourne, Australia. The two engineering and management consultancies are in a 50/50 joint venture to provide detailed design and construction support services for the 6.6km Stage 1 work, which is the eastern section, of the project. Together with the proposed western section, the completed East West Link will cost around $7 billion. The toll road will form an 18km cross-city connection ext
  • Tunnel development set for Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany
    December 7, 2016
    The German state of Bavaria will invest around €35 million in a road tunnel under the Englischer Garten in Munich. The city of Munich will have to find the rest of the expected €125 million construction cost for the 380m tunnel that will replace a motorway that splits the park. German media reports say that city authorities will look toward some form of private sponsorship for tunnel that would likely be a cut and cover design that would follow closely the current alignment of the highway. Englisch
  • World of Asphalt 2019
    December 12, 2018
    Tomorrow is your last chance to save 35% when you register for World of Asphalt 2019! Register now to attend the asphalt industry’s largest trade show and educational conference on February 12-14, 2019. Find solutions from 450 Exhibitors who will display their newest products and innovations. There’s no better place to train your team than World of Asphalt. With over 120 sessions to choose from, your whole team will leave with the right tools to grow.
  • BAUMA CONEXPO show – bC India – set for December
    November 18, 2014
    India’s construction sector is well positioned to take advantage of business opportunities when the government moves to revitalise the frail economy, as visitors to this year’s bC India show will find out. New roads, power plants, airports and other infrastructure have been promised by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his Bhartiya Janta Party comes off a May election with a clear majority.