Bike Riders With Headphones Or Earbuds Are a Danger

If there was any doubt that Washington, DC, is becoming a cycling town, at least on
weekends, Saturday lends proof to the fact we are approaching Portland and Twin City
rates of people getting around on two wheels.

Capital Bikeshare set another ridership record on
Saturday. The cycling service
tweeted
that riders took the trademark cherry-red bikes on 11,368
rides. Why not? The weather
was balmy, the cherry blossoms were bursting and falling, the
Nationals were playing.

Tourists on bikes jammed the Mall and monuments. But cyclists filled the uptown bikes
lanes and boulevards, as well. Cars and bikes shared Pennsylvania Avenue, 15th and
16th streets, L Street, and smaller streets across the city.

Great news! But it makes me worry.

Call me paranoid, or a curmudgeon, but I fear we are one bad biking accident away
from nipping DC’s booming biking culture in the bud. All it takes is one tourist or
a commuter badly hurt or killed while biking.

This fear came to mind Saturday as I was driving my four-wheeled monster down 23rd
Street toward Washington Circle. Lanes were open, cars were cruising along at speed,
but a guy on a Bikeshare cycle caused a jam at L Street. He was taking up a lane,
pedaling slowly, minus a helmet, oblivious to the automobiles. Worse, his earbuds
robbed him of awareness of his surroundings.

I wanted to pull up next to him and tell him to ditch the buds—but he wouldn’t have
been able to hear me. He was an accident waiting to happen.

Biking advocates tell me the more bikes on the road, the safer the city becomes, as
drivers get accustomed to sharing the streets. Perhaps.

Bike traffic was up 21 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to DC’s transportation
department. It counted 7,113 bikes moving through major intersections at rush hour.
But transportation officials also reported that bike crashes increased from 260 in
2006 to 435 in 2010. This tracks with DC police records that logged 829 reports of
bike accidents in 2011 and 2012. One particularly nasty crash in February 2012 involved
a tractor trailer and a cyclist on a Capital Bikeshare rental. The accident sent the
biker to the hospital, but police said the injuries were not life-threatening.

There was one cycling fatality in 2008 and zero in 2009, but two cyclists died from
crashes in 2010, according to the transportation department. A man was killed in January
when he was riding with a barbecue grill tied to his handlebars, the string caught in
his wheel, and he was thrown over the bars.

The city has done its duty to teach riders and promote safety. The transportation
website is jammed with programs and safe routes. The Washington Area
Bicyclist Association does its part with safety classes and advocacy.

But take it from a regular biker who has been knocked off his saddle a few times,
leading to broken ribs, a punctured lung, separated shoulders, hospital stays: Pavement
is hard. Going down is never good.

I still ride every chance I get—for fun and to get around the city. But I never wear
earbuds. I keep my eyes and ears alert to cars and trucks and doors that are about
to open, other riders passing me, pedestrians stepping into the street or warning
me to stop. Wearing earbuds on a bicycle in downtown Washington is one step away from
cycling with blinders. It’s asking for trouble and certainly increasing the chances
of getting into an accident.

Ditch the buds, for your sake and for the continued growth of bikes in DC.

Harry Jaffe