L-plate equivalent for cycling?
The more I talk to potential cyclists, the more I realise that the moment they start cycling on the road – they feel that inorder to survive, they have to be as competent as the lycra wearing speed machines that run through our city. Drivers have no way of telling who has been cycling on the road their whole life and who is stepping out for the first time.
I remember the first time I hopped onto the road with my bike and I was scared – I could barely take my hands off the handle bars to indicate or turn my head backward to check what was coming. I wished that I had an easy way of showing that I was new. When you start driving a car, you wear big yellow plates indicating that you might be a bit shaky and people around you generally give you a little extra space.
While you don’t have to go through different tests and licensing procedures to cycle, this doesn’t mean that you should be denied a way of letting people know you wouldn’t mind some extra room in case you are a bit wobbly. I don’t believe it should be compulsory, but I think that a system which lets other road users know if you are a new cyclist would be great. It would need to be well publicized so that it entered driver’s consciousness and possibly handed out for free so it encourages widespread use. I also would like to stress that it wouldn’t restrict the new cyclists freedom in any way, it would be purely for informing drivers and giving the cyclists some peace of mind.
As to what to use – I am still thinking – a vest, a flag, a sticker or something propped on your helmet. I am still open for ideas (and recommend you use the comment section to put down your ideas).
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July 31st, 2008 at 12:55 am
Helmet should not be mandatory for cycling !
Remember : cycling is good for health ! first cause of death is heart diseases, not cycling accidents.
Remember, when Sydney obliged cyclers to wear an helmet, 30% of cyclers abandoned their bicycle, and there were as much accident after than before.
But perhaps for beginners, that would make sense to were a “beginner helmet”.
The color and the message on the stiker should be “culturaly compatible with the country” and intuitive for drivers.
Remember, in Australia, nearly every road signs are orange, but none in France (except provisional deviations) !
I would prefere the flashy suit, which is much more powerful than a battery lamp because it uses the power of cars lamps or power of sun light …
July 31st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I answered in the affirmative. A bright yellow safety vest with a big reflective B, for beginner, on the back. They could be supplied to bicycle stores for distribution – free of charge – as a govt sponsored safety measure.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:28 pm
As I cyclist and a motorist, I don’t understand why the understanding and education is only supopsed to be in one direction (like how the NRMA et al always poses this question). We need mutual education for motorists and cyclists to better understand each other — although I strongly feel that at this stage, motorists are much less educated about cyclists than cyclists are about motorists. Most cyclists also drive (or at least have a driver license) … what propertion of motorists have cycled on a busy road at any stage during their life?
I would actually support cyclists sitting a compulsory theory and riding test, and have people run around with a cycling L plate equivalent IF and ONLY IF motorists had to do a compulsory unit on bicycle road rules (and there were bicycle road rules in the theory exam), as well as be instructed in safe driving practices around cyclists. Then an L plate for cyclist system makes sense. As they say, the road is there to share.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:15 am
It’s got to be un-dorky, otherwise most people who should be using the voluntary system wouldn’t use it.
I think mandatory helmets are a good idea. If I was driving my car and was unfortunate enough to be in an accident involving a cyclist, whether their fault or mine, I know that my life would be a lot worse if they died or suffered a serious injury because they weren’t wearing a helmet. But if helmet wearing only benefited the wearer I’d say make it voluntary.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:36 am
I seriously considered putting L plates on my pannier rack when I first started riding on the road. The main reason I didn’t is because I’ve come across a few drivers that harass cyclists by yelling, throwing things, or even nudging the back wheel of a bike with their car. I wasn’t sure how this sort of driver would react to seeing L-plates on a bike, but it would probably be fine if it wasn’t an unusual sight.
A vest probably wouldn’t work for me as I usually ride with a backpack. On the helmet wouldn’t work either because I have my lights mounted on my helmet. Ay-Up (ayup.com.au) have a pretty cool light mounting system that uses cable ties. Maybe something similar with a sign and various ways of mounting it would work?
August 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Just to be argumentative – did you know studies in the UK have shown – statistically – that it is safer to cycle without a helmet than with one !
Like seatbelts in cars it makes ou feel safer so you go quicker !!
August 7th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Hi Holly Oak
You are not being argumentative to me because I advocate that helmets should not be compulsory (but there are many people who wouldn’t agree).
Did you know that while there was a study in Australia which showed that bicycle helmets would potentially save lives in the event of an accident, there was also a similar study which showed the same thing for car drivers – so my view is, that if helmets are compulsory for cyclists, they should be compulsory for everyone on the road!!!
August 12th, 2008 at 5:24 am
I think the critical issue is getting kids on bikes early and training them so that they learn to ride on roads as they get older. In many many European countries bicycle education is mandatory in schools. The UK is also currently investing big bucks trying to educate kids so they’ll be confident cycling on roads as adults.
http://www.bikeability.org.uk/
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
I am a bit hesitant to go with an actual “L” as the symbol because it already has a history with learner car drivers and these cyclists are not necessarily “learning” but they are just taking a big daunting step – I thought if any letter should be used – it should be B (as mentioned in one of the earlier comments) – I kind of wanted to incorporate it into the shape of a pedal. Then we could have some cheesy promotion – about taking a “step” in the right direction – with a pedal being a symbol of that “step”.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Why not simply have an ‘L’ plate. Everyone already understands what that means… then it wouldn’t matter if drivers didn’t read an article about it, it is just understood…
I think its a great idea, hopefully one that will encourage new cyclist to step out there.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
It would be easier and more cost effective to go with what is available and to piggy back on already existing OH&S training, and the drivers that present the greatest threat sorry to say are tradespeople, so for my money the vests with reflective tape have the saftey message built in.
‘L’ plates might work but need to be road tested and/or peoples experiences documented.
It’s a short step away from what is really needed which is a compulsory bicycle competency certificate to obtain a drivers licence. It’s done elsewhere and would be the quickest and easiest way to provide universal coverage ensuring drivers are up to speed with road rules and cycling awareness.
It could be recommended, but not compulsory, for bicyclists to have the competency certificate. Testing could be part of primary/secondary/tertiary school curricula, employee cycling programs, volunteer organisations, etc., and could be conducted at schools, CARES facilities, motor registeries, bike clubs, bugs, etc.