Which is more dangerous - Country or Urban riding

[headlamp]

Reading some of the posts recently made me wonder what type of riding is more dangerous (or less safe). Personally I think I have ridden on country roads about twice - all of my riding is in London and I would be concerned about hairing through country B roads, with winding lanes, mud on the road, tractors etc. However in town you have more traffic, less capable drivers, infinite junctions and traffic light jumpers.

So, just interested in people's opinions, views etc. Merry Christmas everbody!
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[NickD]

Statistically (based on 2002 figures), you are much more likely to have an accident in town, but much more likely to be killed out of town.
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[Dom]

Depends on your experience. I'm shite in town really, windy country lanes are much more my thing.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

I'd definitely say urban-riding. That's unless in the countryside you ride like an absolute lunatic, which after a long time stuck in town, it's tempting to do

[JonB]

Well i'm scared of riding through country lanes through the day cause you never know what is around the corner. Though technically they are both as bad as each other.

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[Barker-CBR 600]

Chalk an Cheese.

Urban riding you get the pulling out, the diesel, the cagers, the chav filled nova's, the suicide pedestrains and the dumbass sleepy commuters.

Country you get the animal crap, the mud, the ice on fast corners, the grit/dirt, leaves, tree's, ramblers, horse riders.

They are all dangerous in their own way, i would say you are more likely to die outside town due to speed, since you can fly along fast before you hit something.

But in town your more likely to be squashed by something.
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[Rob W]

As bad as each other in my opinion, was out on my bike this morning and nearly got taken out twice. Yet when I was out the other day riding about in the lanes I was shitting my pants the amount of times I felt the bike slide about on the road. This time of year there is no "safer" option when your out on the bike, it's shit whichever route you take really.
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[BlueNinja]

[askew]

In my opinion country lane riding - although clearly the most fun due to it being so much more technical and challening - especially overtaking - is more dangerous. I think this is because country lane riding pushes us further to our technical limits and so although the chance of a crash is statistically more likely in a town, the severity of a country lane crash is likey to be much worse. Plus, as I and no doubt a fair number others have found out - if you crash out on a country lane in the middle of nowhere, it can take a while for someone to find you (including the paramedics) - and even longer to find what's left of your bike!
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[killa]

I say as bad as each other.
When out in the country which I travel in quite a bit, especially at night, tractors leave mud behind and it is nerve racking when going through some as you could come a cropper at any speed.
Same goes for wet leaves, in my eyes these are more of a hazard then mud.
Blind corners because of hedges to mean you have to have a keen eye. Many a time have I been close to the white line round a bend and had to take an even wider line to avoid loosing an arm.
Animals also make some people swerve on instinct, i have got used to that now where I live, you really can’t react like that, that’s how you end up in the ditch. Just run it over, unless it’s a deer or a cow.

The town is different because there are more people to crash into, some people are day dreaming, some are too old to know what’s going on and some are to young and carefree, mix it all together and you got a problem.
Incidents in a town are more likely because of the constant change, unlike the country.

Does anyone agree?
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[Finglonga]

I do alot of both and Urban is more dangerous by far.

School run mothers are a accident waiting to happen they NEVER check their mirrors, park anywhere there 4X4 will fit and then swing the door wide open into the traffic.

school kids also thick as pig shit never look before they jump in front of you.

Pensioners also never check their mirrors before changing lanes, had one cut me up the other day and nudged my front tyre as he decided he was in the rong lane at a set of traffic lights, I accidently removed his mirror as i passed him!(he don't use it)

Country riding, If you ride to the conditions there isnt much that goes wrong. Even Mr Farmer McTractor's mud is easy to spot if you look ahead.
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[Danny]

I would say urban riding is more dangerous, but it's all relative.

Most of my riding is in London so I'm used to London roads and hazards. If you took someone who had never ridden in a big city and stuck them on a bike in London during rush hour, they would obviously have a higher change of having an accident IMO.

But if we reversed this and took a 'city only' rider to some twisties at night, they too would have an increased chance of an accident.

[stinkwheel]

My oppinion is that out of town a lot more of the safety aspect is down to your own skills of observation and riding. In the town you are at the mercy of the most ignorant/impatient/unobservant wanker.
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[mrchips]

Back in the summer I remember being in a hurry somewhere which involved taking a narrow country lane (which thankfully I know off the back of my hand) at about 75-80...in a t-shirt.

I really don't like riding them cause you never know what's going to be round the next corner and have been round them a bit too hot sometimes to see a Wagon-R doing 30 so you're braking like mad.

The best roads are the twisty bumpy country roads with the white lines and a bit of width. You can see exactly what you're doing then.
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[MarJay]

I would say that you are more likely to have an accident in town, but if you have an accident out of town then you are more likely to get seriously hurt due to the greater speed IMO.
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[Rob W]

[tony532]

when i was riding to warrington and back at the weekends

most of it is through unlit country roads

where the biggest problem is car drivers dazzling you with their
full beam on permanantly

usually flash once and if they dont drop the full beam i just switch mine on


pain in the arse as well as the car drivers that feel the need to have six lights on the front of the car

[Bendy]

I think they're about the same, though agree you're probably more likely to be killed out of town, simply from going quicker.

There is an element of 'what you're used to' though - I used to do most of my riding in London, and when I got the the countryside I was a bit 'wtf' cos I wasn't used to going round corners! Conversely I learned to drive in the countryside and found driving in town a bit boggling at first.

[Yeti]

[Ant]

i'd say urban because of the ammount of other people that make it dangerous for you whereas in rural area's there's less traffic to kill you but nice twisty roads, which then is mainly down to how you ride to how dangorous it is! (alough there's still motorists out to get you!)
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[mattsmith95]

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[Visitor Q]

I am (and always have been) of the opinion veyr little bad can happen to you if you are at te speed limits. Stick to the speed limits and you wont die.

In short.

On country lanes do no more then 40 unless its a long well known straight, stick to your side around sharp corners, and enter blind corners slowly.

HOWEVER

That is no fun now is it. On balance town riding is far more dangerous when doing legal slow riding and generally not titting about due to more vehicles ergo more things can and thus will go wrong.

However on country lanes when pushing it i loathe them. I have done some very silly speeds and things on roads you couldnt safely go much more then 20 on. I have had my fair share of close calls and interesting near misses.

But i would say you are more likely to get smudged in the country, in town you might come off. But you wil most likely survive.

I voted rural
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[CBRPETER]

In the city you are more likely to get hit or hit something, on country roads you are more likely to speed, making them both as dangerous as eachh other, plus the quality of some country roads are not great.
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[mchaggis]

I'd vote rural riding. I've had a few incidents and close calls of my own making in the countryside, whereas in town, I've managed to keep myself out of trouble and avoid the idiots pulling across me at roundabouts and things.

The classic mistake I've made several times on rural roads is going round a blind left hander a little too fast, and ending up not leaning enough so straying into the right hand lane. The two most recent times I've done it, there were an oncoming articulated truck and a people carrier. Thankfully I got back onto my side in pretty short order and avoided them, but it's certainly a cause for concern when you know that neither of you can stop fast enough if you're in front of them.

Another time I crossed the centre on a blind right and there was nothing, I gave myself a good telling off and made extra sure to keep to the left on the next blind left 20 yards later. An Impreza appeared from nowhere coming the other way; had I been going too fast and wide as I'd done the previous corner, I'd be toast.
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[stevo as b4]

In town can be the most likey place to have accidents and i dont think i would want to ride through busy towns and cities daily, for commuting etc, as this would surely increase your changes of having an accident at some point. However i would think that the sesoned commuter, riding through big City's everyday, would have more experience and better knowledge of what to look out for, based upon the experiences of doing that type of riding day in, day out. I though tend to think of continous inner city riding, as greting increasing your chances of having an accident of some description, sooner or later, a kind of when not if?

Alot of my riding is in more rural area's, and ive seen a few accidents, but in places like rural north wales, its more than likely to be single vehicle accidents, or the result of 2 vehicles meeting during overtaking or cornering. Ive had most of my near misses, on roads that i dont know, and ones where i have been either trying to keep up with other bikes, or simply where i have gone a bit quick, on a nice twisty road, and then ended up with an unexpected hazard, or a corner that i judged poorly. Theres places in North Wales that if the road surface is clean, and there is no obstructions that you can go round a corner safely at say 60mph, leant right over, but if there happens to be rocks, debris, mud, or quite often sheep standing in the middle of the road, that you would then end up in a situation where you cannot stop on the road yo can see, before the hazard, and in some circumstances that could mean either going into a solid object, Rocks, cliff faces etc, or possibly off the road, with a drop of several hundred feet. These types of roads, i would say have been the most dangourous when away from towns a city's as they soemtimes give you little or no options for getting it wrong.

I know alot of this is all down to the rider, and that you should always ride within the limits you can see, and feel happy with, but places like this are usually where the people that live in the towns/city's come to, to excersise some of their bikes performance, and high speeds, on roads with little traffic, but that are very technical seem to create alot of problems.