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"A red trickle flowed from the young victim's nostrils, and when he stopped blinking the crowd started to thin, people walking away in a silence as yet unbroken by the wailing of an ambulance. At that moment, Araceli fully and finally comprehended the cruelty of her native city, the precariousness of life in the presence of so much unregulated traffic and unfulfilled need, a city where people born farmers and fishermen sprinted before cars faster than any horse or sailing ship."
– From "The Barbarian Nurseries" by Hector Tobar
I've been a faithful user of Mexico City's EcoBici bikeshare program since it began a few years ago. We don't have a car, so both Crayton and I use the EcoBici to go pretty much anywhere. Crayton rides it to work; I use it to go to the markets, friends' houses, and to my tours.
In theory, the bikeshare program is a fantastic idea. We're helping get more cars off the streets and we're no longer paying cabs to sit in traffic. But a lot of times I wonder: what the hell am I doing riding a bike in this city? Cars cut me off. Pedestrians step right in front of me. Peseros rumble dangerously close to my left side, silently warning that they could come closer and crush me with a flick of their tires.
I've been thinking about this even more than usual lately, because I had my first accident a few weeks ago. A woman in a dark parked car opened her door and I smacked into it. (Other than a few scrapes, I was fine.) Crayton has now had three accidents, including one that resulted in a cracked rib. The passage I quoted at the beginning of this entry is about a bike-riding vendor in Mexico City who is hit by a car. It's fiction, but still, accidents are a very real possibility here.
As the EcoBici program continues to grow — there was a six-week waiting list, last time I heard — here are some suggestions on how cyclists can ride as safely as possible:
Tips on How to Ride A Bike Safely in Mexico City
1. Follow the flow of traffic. I don't know how many times I've seen people riding the wrong way down a one-way street. This is especially dangerous in the city's main bike lane on Reforma. A few times I've turned a curve and almost hit someone who was headed right toward me. Please, if you're riding a bike, ride in the same direction as the cars.
2. Respect the stoplights. I know, I know. A lot of cars don't respect the stoplights here. So why should the cyclists? The thing is, it's much more dangerous for a cyclist to get hit by a car, than a car to hit another car. If you're just blazing through the intersection without a care in the world — as I've seen people do here — you're tempting fate. Crayton has also argued to me that if the cyclists respect the stoplights, then drivers will respect us more, too. I'm not entirely sure if I believe that one.
3. Be aware. Mexico City drivers are, by nature, both reckless and defensive. They'll ignore red lights and swerve across three lanes of traffic to make a right-hand turn. Chilango drivers still haven't accepted that cyclists share their roads, so if you're on your bike, it's important to keep an eye on the cars in front of you and behind you. I often sneak looks behind my shoulder to see if a car is hoping to turn, or at least to let him know I'm there. I also use hand signals to communicate where I'm going. Which brings me to my next piece of advice…
4. Don't ride too fast. I personally love riding down a busy street, the wind whipping through my hair. But if you're riding too fast, you have less time to act quickly if something comes across your path. Riding a bike in Mexico City can feel like a video game a lot of times — obstacles like the tamale vendor, the street sweeper, and the woman walking her dog step right in front of your tires, and you have to be able to anticipate.
5. Watch out for motorcyclists. For some reason in Mexico City, motorcyclists think they can ride in the bike lanes and blatantly ignore traffic laws — even more than regular drivers.
Other Basic Safety Tips
- Crayton and I always wear helmets.
- We never talk on the phone or listen to music while we ride.
- Texting while bike-riding seems like an obvious no-no, but I've actually seen people do this before.
Knowing The Law
A current version of Mexico City's transit law is hard to find, but Crayton, a skilled Googler, unearthed this PDF — ojo: it takes awhile to load — on the Setravi website. Setravi is the Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad del Distrito Federal; the rules about cyclists start in Article 29.
It's actually a pretty entertaining read. Sensible transit laws actually exist in this city! It's just that few people follow them. (And maybe that's because the law doesn't have any teeth — cyclists who don't follow the law receive a verbal warning instead of fines.)
Do you have any other tips for riding a bike safely here? Let me know below.
More on bike-riding in DF:
A Cinematic Love Letter To Riding a Bike Through Mexico City (The Atlantic.com) A neat, two-minute video depicting what it's like to ride a bike here. You'll notice the cyclist doesn't exactly follow the traffic laws.
Bike Riding Flourishes in, of all places, Mexico City (Fox News Latino)
Atiende EcoBici Lista de Espera de Usuarios (El Universal)
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