Railroad tracks: it can't just be the angle

[Gsinill]

Just came across this and watching the video that served as input for this study,
I am wondering whether the angle is really the main factor at this particular crossing.
http://www.citylab.com/amp/article/535926/
Having lived and biked in Munich with tram tracks eveywhere, I don't recall this many accidents even with tracks embedded and running in parallel to roads.

Other cities with trams like Amsterdam or Zürich and gazillions of folks on bikes don't seem to have this issue either, at least not to the same extent.

Some riders in the video seem to hit the tracks in an angle that I would have considered safe.

[false_Aest]

Oh god my armchair is so comfortable right now.


Also, I'd bet that the 2nd track sits a little (more) proud of the street and that contributes.

[William]

That reminds me of one ride from heck I had that involved RR tracks...



Torrential downpours all day long with a nice wind (typical Oregon winter day) for our team ride. It was a Thursday so it was a long steady pace day. We decided to head out through Albany from Corvallis for this one which was an unusual route for us. Just outside of Albany I get my first flat. Five miles later I'm on my third with a barrowed tube (still pouring). At that point I decide to cut my loses and head back in so I turn around and head back toward Albany. I get to the edge of town and the rain is sideways into my face so my head is down and I'm hammering away, lifting my head every so often to scan ahead but it's hard to see. I'm going somewhere around 20 - 25mph when I start to look up and there are tracks running diagonally across the road. I know better, don't ask me why I didn't jam on the breaks or try to bunny hop over them? One moment I'm flying along, the next I'm on the ground wondering what the heck just happened. My wheels are tacoed, I've got a chunk out of my knee and I'm bleeding, and I've got nasty road rash running from my knee, down the side of my calf to my ankle. I get up, survey the damage, sling my bike over my shoulder and start hobbling down the road looking for a phone. At a convenience store I try calling my roommate....no answer. Call friends....no answer. I sling my bike back over my shoulder and start hobbling down the road again, my tights shredded, blood pouring down my leg. I walked from one end of town to the other and across the bridge that goes over the Willamette before somebody finally stopped and offered me a ride.
The guy has a bike rack on the trunk and we put my bike on it and I get in the back so I can stretch my leg out and survey the damage. After explaining to the guy what happened, he informs me that he needs to stop and pick up his kids from school (hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth right?). We detour and pick up his kids. He then says to his boys, "This is Bill, check out his leg!" Kids looking over the seat all wide eyed and pointing, "ewww...COOL!...does it hurt?" Now I'm feeling like a zoo attraction and I'm being polite answering all of his kids questions. We finally pull up at my place and I get out, get my bike and thank him for the ride.

First thing I do is hit the shower and try to get cleaned up...Ow..Ow...Ow! This is not good, I've got grit in there that just isn't coming out. I clean it as best I can, sterilize it, bandage it up and head for work at the Clinic. By 9:00 it was stinging and hurting quite a bit so I finally give in and head for Immediate care to let them take a look at it. Ohhhhh Baby. They decide they need to go to work on it so they shoot my leg up with some freeze (sp?) to numb it up. Believe it or not, them putting the needle in and moving it around hurt more then any other part. Once I'm feeling numb, they break out the toothbrushes and go to town scrubbing all the wounds out. Oh man!

When they're done and they let me go, I' decide I'm done for the night and head home. Now, idiot me, I grab another set of wheels and throw them on my bike, and the next day I go out on a 55 mile jaunt with a couple of my mates and end up putting myself in shock. Mrs. William drives down from Portland to take care of me and scold me for being an idiot. What can I say, I was hardcore....and an idiot!! :banana:


Raised, smooth, wet, and at an angle...:crap:



William

[bikinchris]

No, very sim0ly, every single crash I saw had riders take the wrong angle. Cross all tracks at a right angle. Period. Scan behind for traffic, negotiate or adjust speed to avoid passing cars and make certain you cross the tracks at a right angle. The only safe angle is 90 degrees to the rails.

[ultraman6970]

Rail road tracks and tran tracks riding is just a thing of skills and bicycle set fit aswell. You cant pretend cross those things specially the tricky ones just seated like if you were in a flat pavement, many times you have to stand up over the pedals and move the center of mass a little bit, at the same time you try to light the bicycle so it floats over them and in straight line, , if you go with all your weight you can have an accident. For example those in diagonals I would just try to go perpendicular to them, the tires will have less contact with the metal that way, or maybe the opposite angle, but never goes along the angle of the tracks because if you dont handle the bike right like the 1st pictures in the article you can get the wheel in the tracks slit you know...

In the video there is a guy in white shirt with a white cap, he moves the bike to cross the metal pretty much straight. Is the way to go there.

Checking at the video better, the problem with many of the riders is that they adjust at the 1st rail and then apparently they get caught at the second one with the front wheel in the wrong angle and the front wheel is at the edge and angle of the rail, you once the wheel is there you cant get it off. The ones that dont have the problem correct in both rails really quick or they try to go perpendicular.

[R3awak3n]

No, very sim0ly, every single crash I saw had riders take the wrong angle. Cross all tracks at a right angle. Period. Scan behind for traffic, negotiate or adjust speed to avoid passing cars and make certain you cross the tracks at a right angle. The only safe angle is 90 degrees to the rails.

I don't know, some people looked like they were crossing at 90 and still falling. Maybe wet tracks in those instances.

[moobikes]

Crazy....many of them could have become roadkill.

All of them made the same mistake. The first track is easy because it's safely within the cycle path. The second track is close to the edge of the road way and they are all trying to steer away from traffic. And so the wheel goes into the gap and down they go.

[tuscanyswe]

Wow thats one slippery rail!
Many of those riders even have a steep angle and still fall over..

We have a few of those imbedded railroads in stockholm for the tram, they are usually not a problem unless its wet, or whats get me every now and then, when covered in snow.. it hurts!

[bobswire]

The solution was simply to change the approach angle but some cyclists ignored it and ended up face planting. I cross street car and trolley tracks all the time and learned how to cross and survive years ago.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4406/35578593663_087519fd62_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WcXAmF)d2cd3d2ad (https://flic.kr/p/WcXAmF) by bobswire (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobswire/), on Flickr

[FlashUNC]

Tracks will always bite back if you're not careful.

Got three plates and 16 screws in my elbow as testament to that.

[Tickdoc]

Timely post as one of my buddies bit it in some tracks today as we were finishing our group ride.

Tracks are at an angle and we usually veer over to one side single file and try to improve the angle. Today was a big group with an oncoming car that prevented that usual approach.

Sad part is they are dead tracks that serve no purpose.

[adamhell]

i was riding my hunqapillar with 2.25 tires and ate **** because the tracks were wet and i lost traction on my front wheel. water does not help.

[kevinvc]

Portland has streetcar and light rail tracks all over the place. I know lots of riders who have been taken out by them, including some very experienced and skilled ones. The angle is definitely a big part of the equation, but not the whole story. Just a little bit of body lean is enough to wash out on them, especially when wet. I have seen people riding parallel to the tracks do a quick 90 degree turn to cross them and wind up crashing or almost doing so.

My advice is to get a good angle, be completely upright and be relaxed. I've had some close calls with my front wheel slipping badly, but I haven't gone down (yet).

[11.4]

It doesn't matter the angle at which you hit the tracks. All that matters is that you maintain adhesion. For some people, that does mean hitting the tracks perpendicular so as you lose adhesion you don't really go anywhere or twist your wheel. For some, it's matter of front wheel control being absent, for others, they wash the rear wheel out. You can watch a hundred rail crossings and diagnose the failure on every single one. There are those who literally slide the rear wheel out from under themselves on the rubber plates or timbers between the rails. It's all called "staying upright." And to do that, it requires handling that frankly, most riders don't have. Rails are more of a test of staying upright, but rails are nothing more than staying upright and as we all know, that's a matter of balance, poise, and technique on the bike. We've seen riders wash out on a painted strip in the road as they ride in a dead straight line, going down just as fast as on a rail. Again, it's the same issue. So I'd suggest that there's an opportunity to look at what really makes for poised, balanced handling on a bike, so you don't go down on moss, on ice, on painted lines, on rails, ... on anything.

[dustyrider]

[QUOTE=bobswire;2214802]The solution was simply to change the approach angle but some cyclists ignored it and ended up face planting. I cross street car and trolley tracks all the time and learned how to cross and survive years ago. [QUOTE=]

Left me wondering how many of those folks actually had a second wreck? My guess is they each know what they did wrong!

[HenryA]

No, very sim0ly, every single crash I saw had riders take the wrong angle. Cross all tracks at a right angle. Period. Scan behind for traffic, negotiate or adjust speed to avoid passing cars and make certain you cross the tracks at a right angle. The only safe angle is 90 degrees to the rails.

^^^^ This times a million ^^^^

Same for what I call "cattle gaps". (look like multiple RR tracks side by side) Ride straight across or fall. That simple.

Would have been simple to design it right from the get go and maybe some signage. Signage now would be cheap and probably effective.

Current design is defective and they have notice of it.

[zap]

Some track crossings have missing bits of pavement or lumber around them. Super dangerous. Recently one cyclist right behind me went down hard (broke is collar bone) at such a crossing. I not only look to ride at 90 degrees (sometimes going into clear oncoming lane) but also look for high spots. Every so often at speed I will jump the entire set of tracks. One buddy in Maryland would go downhill at 50 odd mph and jump 2 sets of tracks at the bottom of this hill.

[Jgrooms]

Sad watching all these people get hurt, some of them seriously so. Its a wonder nobody was crushed by a vehicle. That some municipality 'engineer' thought that path was a safe approach to tracks is nothing short of criminal.




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[William]

Just one of those things. I've crossed tracks hundreds of times before and since and never had an issue. That one time wasn't fun though.







William

[Tony T]

Is a study really needed?
That video documents a problem that can be solved with rubber inserts:

http://www.omnirail.com/images/hdr-2015-03-large.jpg

[Brummy]

That is really weird they must be on a slight slope and protruding from the floor creating a slip. All in all pretty poor design.