Beware of bikes: Study shows cars get 3 inches closer when riders wear helmets

By Amy Thon, athon@qconline.com

Signs around the Quad-Cities remind drivers and cyclists to share the roads, but cyclists sometimes feel as though they are getting squeezed out.

Years before his retirement, Kentley Loewenstein rode his bike seven miles to work to save money and simply because he enjoys riding. Except for a few snowy, icy months, Mr. Loewenstein relied on his bike to get him from his Bettendorf home to his job on Arsenal Island.

A recent study conducted in England found drivers tend to pass closer to cyclists wearing helmets than those who are not. Dr. Ian Walker conducted the study using a bike fitted with a computer and an ultrasonic distance sensor, and found that drivers were twice as likely to get about 3 inches closer to the bicycle when he wore a helmet.

Dr. Walker thinks drivers give less room to cyclists wearing helmets because they see them as more predictable than those without. He suggests different types of road users need to understand each other.

"I would recommend everybody wear a helmet," Mr. Loewenstein said. "It's too easy to fall and smash your head."

Although Mr. Loewenstein said the 3 inches is a "statistical anomaly" and not representative of his experiences on a bike, "there's always a few cars that will see how close they can come."

"It doesn't bother me to ride on the road with cars," said Mr. Loewenstein, who is a member of the Quad City Bicycle Club. "I try to ride in a safe manner, a predictable manner."

Errol McCollum, president of the Quad City Bike Club, said European drivers generally are much more tolerant of cyclists because so many more people there ride bicycles.

Mr. McCollum agrees with Mr. Loewenstein and said that despite the study it's important for riders to wear a helmet and to wear it properly.

"I see a lot of people wearing helmets who really don't know much about bicycling," he said.

Mr. McCollum said he often sees people wearing helmets too far back and has even seen cyclists with helmets on backwards. The front of the helmet should be about one finger's width above the brow lin