The Chainlink

At a recent Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, someone said they felt Divvy riders are less likely to be aware of, and/or compliant with, important rules of the road than other cyclists. I'm working on an article on the topic.

In my experience, it's not uncommon to see Divvy riders pedaling on sidewalks, or against traffic, although I'm not sure whether this behavior is more common among bike-share users, or if it just seems that way because the bright-blue bikes are conspicuous.

What's your take on the issue? Have you had an run-ins with unsafe Divvy riders? Ever had a conversation with one? Was the person a day pass holder or an annual member? A visitor or a local?

Thanks,

John Greenfield

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John, as a daily rider of bike share, I'm sure some might feel I fall in the realm of the mythical "Divv-iot", but I'll bite.  In my experience, Divvy riders are no worse than non-Divvy riders in following the rules of the road.  Sure, I would conjecture that Divvy lends itself to a larger proportion of inexperienced riders sharing the streets/LFP/trails, but I see just as much salmoning/shoaling/sidewalk riding/shenanigans out of the non-bike-share crowd.  Pick your season though.  Summer vs. Fall/Spring combined, I'll bet you a beer that there's a higher instance of unsafe riding, but it would be hard to find a quantitative result proving that it's a Divvy rider.

A lot of tourists are hesitant riders and wobble a bit, but they're going so slowly they're easy to spot and work around with extra space.  No different than someone on foot taking in the sights.  I've seen a few timid souls on the sidewalks downtown but they're also quite slow so it's not a huge hazard.

I work in the building above the Divvy station on Illinois & McClurg which I believe is one of the top 3 busiest stations in the city. It's also the same building with the Bobby's Bike Rentals. I see the exact same behavior from many riders of both. Namely riding on the sidewalk at a slow pedestrian-like speed. Some might be a bit faster but nothing crazy or dangerous. I haven't witnessed any instances of Divvy riders getting into any kind of argument or incident with pedestrians here. 

I see some newbie mistakes from Divvy riders here and there but nothing really dangerous or too stupid. Nothing like the girl who ended up on Lake Shore Drive last summer! I see way more dangerous and reckless riding from some of the regular commuters on my route that aren't Divvy riders. 

Can't help here-- I can't recall a single instance of feeling someone was any sort of a danger on a Divvy.  Except maybe the time I was waiting for a bus maybe a month ago and watched a Divvy worker test-ride one-- if you told me it was her first time on a bike in her lifetime, I'd believe it (I know there's some sort of  intern program that trains young-uns...)

I agree with you on most points clp -- I'm not arguing that these folks on slow bikes are creating a a major safety problem, at least not for other people. I'm just curious if other people feel they've observed a higher rate of lawbreaking among Divvy riders, and if lawbreaking Divvy riders tend to be newbies to Chicago cycling.

I had an interesting experience myself where I encountered a line of about six adults riding at a moderate pace for several blocks on Jackson in the Loop. When I spoke to them at an intersection, it turned out they were visiting from Sao Paulo, Brazil. When I explained that adults have to ride bikes in the street here, their leader said, "What? It says right here [on the headset] 'Walk bikes on sidewalk.'" It turns out that the Portuguese for "to ride a bike" is "andar de bicicleta" or "to walk by bicycle." No wonder they were confused.

     Overall, based on many bike rides from around 40th and Western to the Daley Center area, I would say that the Divvy riders are slightly better at following the rules than other riders.  The mistakes they make, generally, seem to be out of inexperience or lack of knowledge rather than willfulness.  Also, many of them seem to be experienced urban riders and are actually better than average at riding safely.

     Again based strictly on my own experience, I have been pleased with the way that Divvy riders have integrated with the general bike-riding population.  They just ride their bikes and don't seem concerned with being the fastest or coolest.  I like that.  Overall, I like them just fine.

  

Hey now... I think my best was between 18-19 with a stiff headwind behind me. Freaked the snot out of a commuter paceline I passed on Halsted one afternoon.  And, may I recollect a young man on a Divvy at the Chi Cross Cup last winter?  Dude carried his bike over obstacles faster than people were riding. :)

clp said:

After all, how fast can you get going on those cast-iron machines while pulling an electrical generator?

At night, some of the bike share people seem a little extra goofy because Divvy is one of the best ways to go from bar to bar if you want to save on cab fare. But they aren't much of a danger to anyone around them, because, like others have said, the bikes are too heavy to go very fast. They are mostly a danger to themselves because they don't wear helmets. And, of course, we are all safer if the majority of drunk people are riding Divvys instead of driving cars. 

haha someone should put together a Divvy only race


discobandito said:

Hey now... I think my best was between 18-19 with a stiff headwind behind me. Freaked the snot out of a commuter paceline I passed on Halsted one afternoon.  And, may I recollect a young man on a Divvy at the Chi Cross Cup last winter?  Dude carried his bike over obstacles faster than people were riding. :)

clp said:

After all, how fast can you get going on those cast-iron machines while pulling an electrical generator?

Its the absurdly low top gear that makes Divy slow, not the weight.
 
Tristan Jackson said:

At night, some of the bike share people seem a little extra goofy because Divvy is one of the best ways to go from bar to bar if you want to save on cab fare. But they aren't much of a danger to anyone around them, because, like others have said, the bikes are too heavy to go very fast. They are mostly a danger to themselves because they don't wear helmets. And, of course, we are all safer if the majority of drunk people are riding Divvys instead of driving cars. 

low cus it's heavy as shit. what's the ratio? cus i dance like lance, so low gears don't bother me 

envane (69 furlongs) said:

Its the absurdly low top gear that makes Divy slow, not the weight.
 
Tristan Jackson said:

At night, some of the bike share people seem a little extra goofy because Divvy is one of the best ways to go from bar to bar if you want to save on cab fare. But they aren't much of a danger to anyone around them, because, like others have said, the bikes are too heavy to go very fast. They are mostly a danger to themselves because they don't wear helmets. And, of course, we are all safer if the majority of drunk people are riding Divvys instead of driving cars. 

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