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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Dallas, Texas is known as one of the worst cycling cities in America. I took the challenge of testing it and came out with shocking results.
I'll be posting more social experiments in this channel with a focus on urban development and sustainability. My goal is to raise awareness of our cities on how they are being built and the potential future of our cities.
Injury update: I am fully 100%. I just got hit by a car at an intersection and I sprained my ankle. Luckily it wasn't anything major. Lesson learned.
Yeah, most of the US is not really bikeable in the sense that it is in say Western Europe. I've ridden on roads in my area where cars are going 60 miles an hour in a 45-mile-an-hour zone. Drivers will yell at you or try to force you off the road even if you're in a "sharrow". The infrastructure is terrible and the drivers are bad (we just give everyone a license here... and on the off chance we don't, they'll just drive anyway). Hope you made a speedy recovery!!
bullsh*t. he did not get into accident. that was in the middle of the green light, he had the right of way and pedestrians were crossing the road too
It's pretty rough to have an accident shooting your first video, I hope this doesn't put you off making more. Take care.
If anything it made me more motivated to make more videos! Thanks! I'll be posting more soon!
It seems the idiot in the car ran a red light? I hope the POS went to jail. Oh wait, it's Texas so I guess the cop just told the POS to be more careful next time when it runs red lights! And then the cop has the audacity to say "Drive safe" - really?? I guess he meant you should have stopped at the GREEN light and took refuge behind a car as you went through the intersection? All you to say, supposedly is, Texas, and then everything makes sense.
Glad you survived your ordeal. I feel sorry for you that you live in such a country that doesn't value freedom and is so beholden to the oil and automobile industry.
Sounds like his camera died 10 minutes before it happened actually
Make sure you get involved with city council or local planning, there might be improvements coming, and you can give feedback or suggestions.
My guy do not put your life at risk to make a point. You will just be another of the more than 40,000 lives lost this year in crashes. Your city will not change and everyone will blame you. I believe you can make a difference. But not like this.
Worst cycling city in America : all of them (18 year bike commuter in St Louis, here). I'm glad you made this video, but it also just infuriates me that cities in the US are so bad BY CHOICE. Our governments could make different choices, but don't. I'm glad you are alive and no serious injuries from that violence. Was it a right on red? That was the one way in 18 years that I've been hit by a driver.
This is what happens when you let big oil build a city
Links to the articles mentioned:
Worst Cycling City in America:
www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-worst-cycling-city-in-america/1918017/
www.dallasnews.com/news/2012/05/23/it-s-official-dallas-is-still-the-one-and-only-worst-city-for-bicycling-in-the-entire-country/
Dallas Pedestrian Fatality Rates:
www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/06/08/dallas-adopts-roadmap-to-eliminate-all-traffic-deaths-by-2030/
www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/05/23/dallas-has-no-written-plans-to-curb-pedestrian-accidents-city-audit-says/
Dallas Traffic Fatality Rates:
www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2021/11/dallas-has-the-second-worst-traffic-fatality-rate-in-the-country/
Car dependent cities are awful and dangerous
There are few bike lanes in the Dallas area! They’re not the best but to name a few are the commerce bike lane from downtown to oak cliff near I-30, Harwood bike lane from downtown to the cedars neighborhood, Houston st from downtown to Harwood, Matilda St from lower Greenville to Mockingbird. We definitely need better biking infrastructure 🥲
Hey mate, so sorry you got injured, wishing you a safe recovery. I hope Dallas and many other cities get their shit together ASAP to prevent future injuries and death.
What the hell are wrong with these comments bro. Great video man and I’m sorry this happened to you. You did nothing wrong and the full fault is with our DOT’s that screwed us all
Yikes, that must have been scary. Glad you're alright.
this is a plain example of how the american car industry has put freedom of movement behind a pay wall.
I'm a cyclist. It seems like you had very little if any experience riding on the road before trying this and that's probably your only real mistake. Hell, it seems like you had very little time in the saddle at all. If you are worried about doing 20mph, you're not ready. I can _pedal_ my city bike to 20mph and I'm not particularly athletic. Should it be this way? No, the city should be completely safe for cyclists without requiring any experience at all, but less than a handful of countries have achieved this with any of their cities so far. Ho hum.
I'm pretty anti-helmet (especially helmet laws), but in cities where drivers aren't expecting bikes and you're expected to share the road it might not be a bad idea to wear one.
I was a bit sad to hear you say that cars are the fastest way from A to B as that is only true in limited circumstances. This is fundamentally an issue of city planning and infrastructure design, so I was surprised you made this point. In cities built around the car (not people) then it is often faster to use a car only because the destinations are made really far apart. Your neighbourhood should provide all your everyday shopping, but it probably doesn't because of zoning laws. In theory, the only times one may be forced to shop outside the neighbourhood is for speciality items. Commuting is a little trickier for obvious reasons, and this is where many will advocate a decent commuter rail service. Either way, congested corridors will be faster by bicycle, and unless your city is trying to kill pedestrians and cyclists (ahem), the city centre will be faster by bicycle too.
In other words, inside a city the car is not fundamentally faster unless great effort is made to keep it that way at the expense of anybody outside a car.
Having not seen what happened in the crash I won't comment beyond saying, don't be put off from using the road just assume you are invisible when you do use it. Never expect to take the right of way, instead wait to be given priority. If they don't respect your right of way, let them past and get on with your day.
I think Houston is worst.
Can you provide the source for your 2020 stats?
The source is an audit of pedestrian safety, City of Dallas; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Here the link: www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/06/08/dallas-adopts-roadmap-to-eliminate-all-traffic-deaths-by-2030/
Good that you are ok, shook me up when showed you got hit. I live about 2.5mi by major road to work and in a few years of being here two cyclists lost their lives to cars. Did not know either but one had a memorial with teddy bears for many months. Nothing now. Just seven lanes of cars racing to work. This little stretch has a major road, an offstreet to freeway onramp, a housing development with grocery/restaurants, one elementary school, one middle school, one K-8 Catholic, a community college satellite campus, and a shelter for abused women & their children. No bike lanes.
I love in Dallas and cycle all round the city. No issues at all. Just move aside when you see a car behind let them pass you then get back on the road. People will be happy to pass you by with no issues.
If you were on the white rock main trail, why didn't you take a more direct route to downtown via the Santa Fe trail? Also, I recommend wearing a helmet. Can you also upload the footage of when you were hit? That would be an interesting video and a better PSA
The route I took was based on Google Maps (never again). But the video was to show the commuter experience on the roads besides the trails. I know the trails are safer and better than the streets.
My GoPro died when I was heading home from Downtown. Literally 10 minutes before I got hit, the GoPro died. I only have about 40 minutes of recorded footage and it was mostly from my trip towards Downtown Dallas. Trust me I wish that my camera was still recording, I just managed to pull out my phone and record audio of the aftermath.
Damn, sorry that happened to you but glad you're ok. How did the crash happen?
(Guess, early in the vid) - resentful driver wanting to gain REP among his peers???
Going after someone he saw as a lesser being - Social Darwinism…
Note: this comes from apparent attitudes *I* observe while riding my bike in and around Portland.
Born and raised in Houston and I loathe cars and car culture. As well as apologists for same
You should hate cars.
Holy shit!!! I thought the crash was an edit and joke at first. Hope you’re ok!
The obstacle course that is Dallas. I once tried a walking marathon from Dallas to Addison and it was miserable.
If you Cycle commute, OR walk, in *any* city in N. America 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 long enough you're going to eventually be hit by (or threatened by) a car 🚗. It's practically inevitable. In car dominated cities, cars Typically the 💥 collision is unintentional (motorists just aren't looking for us because we're too few in number). But sometimes near misses & even actual collisions are intentional (Google " punishment pass" for more information). If speeds are low enough frequently the injuries may be minor if wearing a helmet.
In addition to a helmet I also strongly recommend daylight-visible red rear blinking lights & high vis clothing to make you easier for others to see.
The other thing I HIGHLY recommend is a helmet camera 📷 like this guy AND possibly a rear camera. I like his helmet cam over the handlebar cam because it records what you are looking at. If there's a dispute about what happened in a traffic collision 💥 or altercation you'll have a video record. This is helpful as many police 🚔 tend to take the word of motorists over that of cyclists. That's just the way it is.
Generally, Google Maps is OK to get a "preliminary" idea of what your route might look like but I'd DEFINITELY take those results with a big grain of 🧂 salt. If you have a local cycling advocacy group see if they have a commuter map or maps. That will be based on real-life experience & will likely be much safer than Google Maps.
If such a map isn't available, I try to plan my commute routes through "quiet" residential neighborhoods with limited through streets. The resulting route may be longer and/or slower but can also be *much* lower stress.
Some Cul-de-sac neighborhoods (that are more thoughtfully laid out) may have paved walkways to adjacent areas so kids can get to school on foot easier. Those may be useful for piecing a route together.
Try to avoid major roads or arterial stroads as much as possible & use paved shoulders if available. Major freeways & interchanges pose significant barriers to cycling 🚲 & 🚶♀️walking with limited places, if any, to cross so you must plan around them.
Best of all if you know any other cycle commuters in your area, ask the which streets/routes they use most frequently.
Lastly, if you've mapped out a route that seems reasonable, give it a "dry run" at a less busy time such as 7 AM on a Sunday or before 6 AM on a weekday or holiday. A couple dry runs will let you evaluate & fine tune your route a bit under lower stress conditions. Sometimes you can use short sections of arterial roads if it's an off-peak time of day.
Eventually you will develop a feel for the best streets to use at what times.
Red light running is acute here so cyclists & pedestrians are very frequently hit in intersections & cross walks. If memory serves ~ 25% to 30% of ped-car collisions are in crosswalks.
Best wishes for your safe commuting in the future.
It's weird to think that we have to do all these extra steps just to ride our bikes and live. Massive point taken on the need to switch from car dependence to more pedestrian/bike base infrastructure. Being hit by a car is only prevalent in a society where the car dominates our lives.
Got hit by a car when biking across a boulevard.someone in a turning lane stopped to wave me on, but because they were blocking my vision I never saw the oncoming car in the other lane. Sadly, I died (I was mostly uninjured, very very lucky). This happened because I was trying to bike out of my suburb to get to the Subway (food, not transport. Becausr thats America) across ONE street.
We're positively Blessed here in Fort Worth, by comparison. I frequently ride whole-lane Downtown & beyond over here, and there's a lot more bike lanes and trails. But even still, it's sometimes a heck of a hazard here. I was once riding the bike lane on Hemphill St on a Saturday night and a drunken putz passed on the right, via said bike lane, in his pickup truck... no more than 300 feet in front of me. 😬
Dallas, which I've also ridden, is positively scary. I got some major anti-cyclist rage in Garland, in particular.
...even though, "funnily" enough, the Dallas side has better public transit than we do here (although Trinity Metro has come a long way and continues to improve with leaps and bounds, & we don't have the good bones for light rail that Dallas does). It's about realizing that transit's gotta integrate with bike and ped infra, too - not just try to stand by itself.
If you ever do a video over here in Fort Worth and want a fellow cyclist to be a guide to the city, hit me up. I've got a huge interest in urbanism, too. Mayor Parker personally knows what I'm about w/r/t bikes and transit 🤣
~ Mesyn
I've been bicycle commuting in cities all over the world since I was in my twenties. More than 30 years. I agree that bicycle infrastructure in the US is probably the worst in the developed world. With that said, I have logged thousands of miles on US roads without one major accident. Why? Three reasons: First, I'm predictable. I telegraph my actions to drivers at all times. This of course means arm signals to alert drivers if I'm turning or stopping. But it also means not changing lanes or stopping abruptly and not riding erratically. Second I make myself visible to drivers. This means bright colors and lights. It also means riding in the road even when there's no bike lane. Usually 3 feet into the lane. Sometimes by claiming the entire lane by riding in the middle of it. This generally pisses drivers off because they can't squeeze around you. They may honk at you, but that just means they can see you. And honestly hitting you with their vehicle is more trouble than it's worth. I mean, who wants to go to prison for vehicular homicide? At the very least it will make them late to their destination and possibly cause damage to their vehicle. Finally, number three is luck. Even with my years of experience and dedication to safe cycling practices, I've had my share of close calls. Just as I've had close calls while driving my car.
Bottom line, do your research. There are many websites out there with fantastic advice for novice bike commuters.
Good first video for your channel. I'll be looking forward to your next one.
I live in a suburb of Phoenix, and I think that it's crazy that we're 2nd on the list for least bike-friendly.
Driver at fault hope you lawyered up, easy settlement
no helmet?
I will ride anyway.
This is just awful :/ -- glad you made it out in one piece -- maybe you should try to be part of the local community to push for bike infrastructure - I thought one of the other big cities in Texas (not sure if it were Austin or Houston) that is improving its biking infrastructure - maybe trying to advocate first for that before risking your life! it will make a better impact - Or maybe go out with a group. HAving a group effect can result in better adaptability and safety for everyone cycling!
stay safe!
I commuted by bicycle for much of my working life. I got hit twice. No broken bones and blessed to still be alive. When you’re on a bicycle you see just how little attention motor vehicle drivers, other cyclists, and pedestrians give to what’s going on around them.
Very disturbed to see that Philly has 3x the fatality rate of NYC
I don't know man. I stopped taking things at face value on youtube for a while now. That was a green light...unlike someone came up from behind you. When it comes to cycling and getting hit by a car I've experienced it myself so I take it personally when someone make stuff like this up or exaggerate the situation. I'm just curious to why you didn't show the part where your camera or whatever setup you have of the impact. At the most there should've been footage of your camera FLYING and that would've been enough FOR ME to believe that you were inolved in an accident. You got everything up until the skidding noise which were sound effects so I'm just wondering why a few more seconds were gone. If your smartphone or whatever was ruined the whole ride would've been gone as well..right? Just this alone I called it bullshit. Suspicious.
Another thing I'm curious about-you're using an electric bike and those things go to atleast 18-28 mph unlike a normal bike which would've made this situation made more sense but how the heck were you caught at an intersection at the speed of an e-bike? Do you see how when I throw in these red flags it makes me even less likely to believe that you were actually hit? The drivers around you weren't hitting 40s. I easily push 20 on my non-electric road bike when I'm in traffic just to match to the speed of the traffic and as high as 26 but you're doing 17 ON AN e-bike? As if that wasn't bad enough why was your handling of the bike so clumsy? If you're all wobbly like that and you're riding in a dangerous area..are you asking for death? You look new to riding a bike in general. When I visit new cities or places on my bike while checking google map I'm still In control of where I'm going and I think quick and being good in handling the bike is key to maneuvering proficiently. All experience cyclists can do this.
Dood..you can't lie to other cyclists...the other people that are giving you friendly responses are probably just weekday riders or aren't daily commuters or maybe they're just oblivious to common sense. There are some things you can get away with and other things you can't because of the knowledge and experience of your audiences. Don't take us for fools just for views. Before I go I want to just say that I actually with you 100%. Our country should have a more walk-able and cycling friendly infrastructure. It's dangerous..I actually was hit while commuting to work on a designated bike lane because the pinhead didn't see me. I was out of work for almost 2 years and so...when people play around with this scenario you can see how I might get pissed-it's messed up man. Now you might or might not be hit but the fact that you look inexperienced riding a bike in general didn't help you at all. You're a content creator and you will stick to your stance and I know this but think on this man. If you want to lie..atleast make it believable. Peace. 😒
DALLAS MENTIONED 🎉🎉🎉
lowkey from lakewood you should've just taken the santa fe trail to deep ellum
Tbf in dallas, biking is much better around university campuses(UTD, UTA etc)
Most university districts are pretty walkable and bikeable, but it's impossible to commute to work or the store any other way than a car in Dallas
Yikes. Hard pass
Bet
Bet
car simp immediately not watching
Hey I’m just curious what does car simp mean?
@@mikeyreza thanks.
Car brain
Your very wrong about cars btw
Fake lol
Dude, you're practically invisible! What do you expect, for motorists & pedestrians to be looking for you all the time? Silly goose.
You need a bell & horn: friendly bell for people not noticing you, & obnoxiously loud horn for people not expecting you.
You need hi-viz colored shirt for sunlit areas, reflective tape on the frame for car headlights, & flashers for shadowed areas.
You gotta be THE defensive rider/driver, because USA motorists are not accustomed to you existing.
I mean if you cant see someone in broad daylight then you probably should not drive to begin with but idk its always the cyclists at fault i guess
Wow victim blaming much?