Biking is dangerous, in particular in Singapore.
The traffic here is unpredictable. Car drivers do strange things
without paying any attention to their surroundings, and the roads
are often congested and slippery.
Been doing a lot of thinking on the safety. I think the important
things are a) use proper riding gear, and b) keep your distance to
everybody else.
It is hot and humid but my advice is to ride with proper protective
gear. Jeans offer no protection. If it's hot, maybe buy some armour
you can put underneath the pants/jacket. In particular kness and
elbows are in danger. Ankles will be protected by proper
boots.
Accoding to statistics, most accident happen in relatively low
speeds in intersections, and cause leg and arm injuries. Be aware
of that and protect yourself accordingly. Besides, ankle and knee
injuries take a lot of time to recover.
Then, keep your distance. 100 km/h is 36 meters per second. It will
take you at least a second to react into anything that happens in
front of you. That means, 50 meters in the highway is the minimum.
Yes, someone will cut your lane and squeeze in between but accept
it and just regain the distance.
Keep monitoring your sides. Whenever some is on your side, be
prepared to them not seeing you or not caring about your
presence.
There is nothing you can do if someone chooses to steamroll you
with his/her SUV. However, that is not very likely to it is better
be prepared to more likely incidents.
Oh yes, have you ever thought about health? Think about the amount
of exhaust fumes you inhale when in the traffic. Anything you can
do to filter the air inside the helmet?
