Cycling your way to health is turning out to be a risky option. The latest incident of former Intel India head Avtar Saini’s death after his cycle was hit by a speeding taxi in Mumbai has made the cycling community realise the need for a safe zone for cycling in the country.
Saini was riding with a group of cyclists when the speeding taxi knocked him down.
Will fitness enthusiasts ever have a safe zone for cycling in the country?
Unsafe roads
Prajwal Pingali, an athlete and mountain biker, feels it is unsafe for road cycling and commuting in India, and the only solution to mitigate it is drastic urban planning decisions against car ownership.
“The only solution is reducing car/motor vehicle dependency and increasing public transportation networks, including separated (yet completely integrated) cycling paths and walking zones,” suggests Prajwal.
In India, all forms of movement and commuting take place on the same street without clear delineation.
“There are cars and motorcycles next to buses, which are next to cyclists, and quite often they are right next to pedestrians. Such road design is placing vehicles that weigh tonnes next to those who weigh merely 50–90 kg,” says the fitness enthusiast, who feels a suitable solution must actually deal with the fundamental problem at hand, which is car dependency and road design.
Public transportation & lanes
“We cannot keep building wider and wider roads for an ever-increasing number of vehicles. Instead, we should consider building our public transportation infrastructure to free many from the need to own vehicles, thus reducing road congestion and subsequently paving the way for road redevelopment.”
Prajwal says there is an urgent need to separate car lanes from cycle lanes by elevating the cycle paths and integrating them better with their surroundings. “Simultaneously, we can ensure the roads occupied by cars are made safer for them as car traffic, cycle traffic, and pedestrian traffic would all be cleanly segregated,” he adds.
The culprit: City traffic
For someone like endurance athlete Dr Amit Samarth, who has done a lot of cycling on Indian roads—almost 15,000 km of racing and two-three lakh km of training — it’s a difficult question whether Indian roads are safe or unsafe.
“There is a lot of random traffic in cities, which makes it even more dangerous for cyclists. It’s important to make ourselves visible and always ride in a group,” he says.
Amit suggests that cyclists use a lot of radium and reflective jackets, which help motorists spot them easily. “Overall, I feel Indian roads have become safer, especially the highways. The main problem is cycling within the city, where one encounters rash driving,” he feels, adding that there is a need to work on traffic regulations within the city.
Sensitise motorists
Para-cyclist Aditya Mehta, feels the government needs to have sensitisation programmes with the cab drivers or anyone who is given a drivers license. “I have been to a lot of places abroad. People there really respect cyclists,” he says. Aditya says it’s not about cyclists alone but also about any bike rider or any driver, who ought to be sensitive to others.
“The cab drivers are usually in a hurry as they are hired by various corporates to pick up and drop employees. They need to undergo sensitisation programmes, which they lack at the moment,” he says, expressing his displeasure as to why cyclists are not respected in India.
He hopes the day will come when motorists will be sensitive towards cyclists.
Take precautions
Echoing similar views as Amit Samarth, Sandilya Jandhyala, cyclist and senior software engineer feels the key precaution cyclists should take is to be visible.
“Cyclists should be equipped with rear lights and should avoid riding in the dark where possible. Riding in a group is safer, and we need to be extra careful since vehicles generally don’t give way to cyclists,” he says.
Generally, he feels, safety on Indian roads is quite poor for cyclists. “This is due to a combination of bad infrastructure, a lack of enforcement of traffic rules, extremely lax standards for driving licenses and bad attitudes from drivers towards cyclists.”
Cyclists aren’t given space on the road by many drivers. “They see cyclists as pests who ought to get out of their way. There’s a huge amount of entitlement from motorists. It’s ironic considering the fact that large cars with a few occupants are much worse for traffic, the environment, and the safety of other road users,” adds Sandilya.
A ‘first person’ account
‘I was nearly killed’
I believe that we must be responsible, ecologically conscious citizens with a low carbon footprint, and I strongly support NMT (non-motorized transportation).
I used to commute from Lingampalli to my work, which was around 22 km away. When the service lanes disappeared, I gave up and used the MMTS.
Traffic on Hyderabad highways does not flow in clean, straight lanes. Traffic lights have been replaced with fins, so it moves like a drunken snake. Every second is a moving infraction for every vehicle on the road.
I’m now a weekend cyclist. I pedal at home on an indoor trainer and then choose pleasant countryside routes to enjoy cycling outside on the weekend.
I’m a responsible cyclist. I dress to be seen, have lights on the front and back of my bike, ride predictably, do not jump signals, and do not cut across dangerously. I ride a motorbike and also drive a car. When I pass a bicycle, I give them a wide berth of at least 5 feet.
That is all the courtesy I expect of others who share the road with me.
This was put to the test last weekend on an empty stretch of road connecting the Vikarabad and Shankarpally roads. A badly driven automobile almost killed me and a companion. There are many occurrences like that one, yet it does not deter me from cycling.
The country’s infrastructure and facilities will not favour bicycles. The entire planning process revolves around the car. I wish bikes and automobiles were more aware of each other and shared the road. — Rajashekar, Scientist at NRSC
killed after being knocked down
Former Intel India head Avtar Saini, who led the design of the Pentium Processor, died on Wednesday morning after a speeding car rammed his cycle in Navi Mumbai. The 68-year-old was killed while he was riding his bicycle along with other cyclists on the Palm Beach road in Nerul around 5.50 am. It was a speeding taxi that hit him.
The cab drivers are usually in a hurry as they are hired by various corporates to pick up and drop employees. They need to undergo sensitisation programmes, which they lack at the moment,” says Aditya Mehta, Para-cyclist, expressing displeasure as to why cyclists are not respected in India
The only solution is reducing car/motor vehicle dependency and increasing public transportation networks, including separated (yet completely integrated) cycling paths and walking zones — Prajwal Pingali, athlete and mountain biker
“Cyclists should be equipped with rear lights and should avoid riding in the dark. Riding in a group is safer, and we need to be extra careful since vehicles don’t give way to cyclists” — Sandilya Jandhyala, cyclist
