TiHabanero

This morning I was passed by a guy on a bent 3 wheeler going up a slight incline. He was pulling on the handles fairly hard as the front wheels where moving side to side. This got me to thinking about the safety of a bent on public roads, more specifically country roads. They are hard to see from an automobile perspective, but so is an upright bike as the kill rate shows. Also with the riders head at bumper level or slightly above it, the first thing to take an impact is the head.
Further up the road a dump truck passed me as if I wasn't there with only a few feet between us. If that had been a bent would I be dead? Further yet down the road a big son of a b Shepard dog attacked me out of the blue. Only saw him when he was 3 feet away. I whistled a shrill whistle, enough to throw him off, and sprinted away. Bents don't sprint so well. What do you do in a dog attack?

Is it best to keep to trails on a bent, just from a safety perspective?

catgita

JanMM

Is this question about recumbent trikes or recumbent bikes or both?

I feel more at risk driving on an interstate at 70mph next to a ginormous tractor trailer than when I am riding a bike. A 'bent bike.

CliffordK

I talked to a guy with a recumbent trike a couple of days ago. He said he never had troubles with vehicles, but dogs were a bit of a hassle, I presume because they can come at a person right at face level.

However, with my ordinary riding (upright bike), it is rare that I encounter an unfenced dog. In the last 5 years, it has been less than 5 dogs, and only one seemed to keep coming despite yelling at it.

BlazingPedals

The point of impact if hit from behind is the rear wheel, not the head.

TiHabanero

Back in the day I sold Longbikes (wonderful bents!) and could not get used to being in traffic and rarely rode it. Have not been on a bent in 20 years so I am out of touch with the experience. I did encounter a bent tandem last year on a shaded road and did not see them approach me until about 100 feet away. Should have had a large flashing light on the front. There was no light on the back.
2 dog attacks so far this year. Only experienced 1 last season. Just not sure how it goes on a bent. Get some big lights that flash and stay safe my friends!

banerjek

Longtime highracer and triker here -- this is my experience. You'll get better treatment, but especially trikers are almost invisible in multilane heavy traffic so ride defensively because people next to you can't see you. Getting hit from behind is a nonissue.

With regards to dogs, I've dealt with a lot of them. Any animal worthy of that title comes at you with teeth at eyeball level. The best way to deal with this is to be chill and relaxed as triggering the prey instinct is asking for trouble. Having said that, racing dogs is fun and I've had some absolutely inspired sprints against German Shepherds.

I once let a lab catch me in an open bottomed velomobile just to see what he'd do. Took him less than 2 seconds to figure out how to get in so I was trapped with an 80 lb dog in my cockpit. Fortunately, he was just excited and friendly

rydabent

When you factor in all the inputs, bents or trikes come out rather well. How many times on bike forums have you read about a DF rider going over the handle bars. When you go over the handle bars, it almost always means a broken collar bone, or worse.Having at least 5000 miles on my trike now, I too agree that cars and trucks give me more room when Im on the trike.

BlazingPedals

Most of my mileage is on county back roads, the kind that may or may not have a usable shoulder or even a center line. My problems have been few and far between. Drivers can see me just fine whether oncoming or passing. It's only when alongside that visibility might be an issue, and by then they already know I'm there.

Close passes are usually deliberate. They feel you're in the wrong place and therefore they don't need to make any special effort to avoid you.

Robert C

When riding a recumbent trike, or low recumbent, the only thing I worry about is doors. Because of that I make a strong effort to make sure that I am always out of the door zone.

As far as general visibility, I think it is more visible because it is so unusual.

Trsnrtr

My take is that despite seeing you (a bent/trike), they are really saying, "You scare me, get off the road."

Last week, a couple friends and myself had this exact conversation with a lady who thought we shouldn't be on the road because we couldn't be seen. When asked if she could see boxes, limbs, dead animals, mattresses, ladders, garbage cans, etc, she replied, "That's stupid. Stay off the road."

Leisesturm

A motorcycle is at least as visible (more actually) as the DF bike you ride. It has tons more ability to sprint away from danger than the DF bike you ride now. However, as the kill rate shows, there is no more dangerous way to travel. Period. You're probably right. But why limit bents to trails? Surely they aren't worth hauling to the trailhead. From a safety perspective, probably both bents and motorcycles should be banned outright. For the good of humanity.

androka

On a bent bike I feel that drivers don't intuitively stop for you at crosswalks, but other than that it feels about the same as upright bike safety.

BlazingPedals

Pedestrians have the right-of-way in a crosswalk. Cyclists, whether bent or upright, are not pedestrians. I know that Michigan has a law that gives cyclists on a trail the same rights as pedestrians, but I don't think that is true in all states. (Personally I think the law is stupid and it's only a matter of time before some cyclist comes flying into a crosswalk from behind some bushes and gets creamed.)

TiHabanero

"From a safety perspective, probably both bents and motorcycles should be banned outright. For the good of humanity. "

Not sure how I will cross the country if this were the law. I plan on riding a bent XC, however I do want to come back alive. Won't be for another 8 years, but I am already making the plans. Have wanted to ride XC since I was a kid and plan on doing it when I have the time in retirement. Will be on a Longbikes.

rydabent

I have been riding bents since 2005. I havent even come close to being hit while riding along. I was knocked over once by a guy pulling out of a parking lot that didnt look both ways.

IMO anyone that hits a bike of any type that says he didnt see him should be issued a negligent driving ticket.

banerjek

Correct.

But this is not really dangerous -- they want to piss you off or scare you, not hit you. It's the ones that don't see you that are really dangerous.

Wilbur Bud

. . . provided the driver is actually looking in the direction of travel instead of staring down into their phone in their lap

The OP question has little to do with bents. Bents are bikes, it's the same for all bikes, you just have to watch all the motorists around you and sometimes it means you stop for a moment when the motorist isn't paying attention to operating because of something critical on the mobile phone or because they are looking at other motorist traffic that could delay them in the direction they wish to head.

rydabent

Another point if the trike rider was weaving while he was pedaling, he was probably a new rider. After some miles on a trike the pedal steer goes away.

StephenH

The question ought to be answered by statistics, but I don't think anyone keeps statistics on such things. Even then, you'd have a major challenge comparing apples to apples. In bicycle fatality statistics, they generally don't differentiate between the roadie out on a training ride and the drunk riding at night without lights. I've never seen or heard anything to indicate recumbents of any kind are more hazardous, and have only heard anecdotal evidence to the contrary. I can think of two recumbent riders killed while riding, but didn't know either personally, and doubt that the recumbent factored into their deaths. One trike rider here locally mentioned safety being one of his motivations to switch to the trike.

While riding behind a friend on a velomobile the other day, I noticed from shorter distances, it was visible, but it wasn't immediately obvious WHAT it was you were seeing, whether bicycle or other road hazard or what. But with a rear blinkie fired up, it was obvious from a quarter mile away that it was a bicycle of some kind, even if you couldn't see anything about the features. So if you're concerned about the visibility, get a good blinkie going at least.

friday1970

I'm usually given more room on my bent. I assume it's because drivers think that because I ride a bent, I'm handicapped or mentally ******** or something. And no one wants to be the a-hole hitting a handicapped person.

I also feel safer simply because the mirrors on my recumbent. I see traffic probably before they see me, and I always check to see they're giving me room. Only once did I have to swerve off the road into the dirt due to a much-too-close pass.

superj

I have been riding a recumbent for 5 or 6 years here in Corpus Christ, Tx, a place well known locally for not being bike friendly or safe. I have never once not felt safe or been I a near accident on a recumbent. a lot of my upright riding buddies have been hit or almost hit though. I only ride on the road and I do over 100 miles m-f with weekends being extra "play" miles.

when you talk to non-bike people, they always say that recumbents stick out since they are different so you give them more space. it must be true since there are only 3 of us here, and none of us have ever had an issue.

and being head level with a bumper is just not true. on a low racer, yes, but on a high racer, which is all I ride, not at all an issue.

I ride a p-38, a phantom, or a bike-e. the p-38, I just got last week so I don't have lots of time on it. the phantom I have been riding for 4 or 5 years and have 12k miles on it, according to strava. the bike-e gets 4-500 a year riding to and from work, according to strava also. I do other rides and sometimes forget to turn on strava so those are acceptable numbers.

I previously have had a bacchetta strada, another high racer. never had an issue and same yearly mileage as the phantom as the phantom replaced it because I didn't like how far a stretch it was from the seat to the ground when at a stop light.

you are perfectly safe on a recumbent.

bikingbill

You can always go for a high racer if you want to be about as high as a normal bike.

BlazingPedals

On one of last week's club rides, I led a breakaway of two. The woman who came with me was tucked right in behind my M5 CHR (20" seat height.) So yes I'm high enough for at least some uprights to draft behind me. She tried to get me to hold my speed to "21 mph or so." For the stretch in question, I averaged 22.6, so that was close! She complained, but I'm pretty sure it was only a pro-forma whine; she likes dropping the group as much as I do.

Pacelineg

And how did you come to this conclusion? All encounters I've ever had on my DF and recumbent are from distracted drivers on cell phones, soccer moms in minivans running late to something. My rear facing camera on my seat post and helmet cam are proof.