posted
[NOTE: I wrote this last Friday when my area was hit with a 6 hour power outage. I didn’t get a chance to post it then (due to said outage) and I left for vacation, not returning until today. I’m not sure why you really need to know all this about writing it a few days earlier to read it, but now you do. Just in case.]
When discussing bike safety the first and foremost advice is to always, always, wear a helmet. The statistics for injuries and deaths with and without helmets are staggering in their difference. Some common reasons for not wearing a helmet:
It looks bad. If you value your looks over your life, I guess my advice would be to not wear a helmet, and possibly, to not procreate either.
I don’t go very fast. This is probably the most common reason people actually give, but there’s a flaw. If you hit a pedestrian, or a stationary object, then it’s probably reasonable to assume that your speed will matter. But the most dangerous kind of accident is hitting, or getting hit by a car. It doesn’t matter if your going 3 mile per hour, there’s still 1000 pounds of metal slamming into you more than fast enough to kill or seriously injure. Wear a helmet.
It’s a pain. It’s true, a helmet can be a pain, something else to carry around and deal with, what can I say, it’s a pain that makes itself worth while when it saves your life.
Please, if you get anything out of this, remember to wear a helmet.
As a short note on what kind of helmet to wear, here’s the “low-down”: any helmet at any price will keep you safe, so don’t worry about it. The more money you par the better the ventilation will be on the helmet, for 20 bucks you can pick up a big ugly helmet that covers your whole head. For 100 bucks you’ll get an ergonomic design that has been tested to allow for maximum amount of evaporation and cooling. Each one will keep you equally safe, one will just be more comfortable while it’s doing so.
One final note on helmets and we’ll move on, if you ever do get in an accident, or if you smash your helmet for whatever reason, it’s time to get a new one. Helmets are one time things, don’t think that just because it looks fine it is fine, if it gets hit hard, get rid of it.
OK, now that we’ve covered helmets, let’s talk about where you want to ride. The two biggest options are: the road, and the sidewalk. Sometimes your lucky enough to have bike paths where you’re going, if so, count your blessings and take them! For the rest of the time you’ll have to make a choice.
The laws about riding on the sidewalk are state laws, so I don’t know about where you live (especially if you aren’t in the US) but most states have laws against riding on the sidewalk at all. Indiana and Colorado are the only ones I know specifically (it’s illegal in both states to ride on the sidewalk) but in general you’ll find that it tends to be illegal. Check your own states laws and find out!
Of course this doesn’t stop most people from riding on the sidewalk, so I’ll talk about safety there too. But let’s start off with the road, since that’s where most people ride.
The ideal road-riding is to have a shoulder. If a road has a shoulder, stay on it unless you have to make a left turn. Try and stay as far away from the main part of the road as possible, without getting dangerously close to the edge. Also, watch out for pot-holes and loose gravel, it’s rare to see a shoulder looked after as well as the main part of the road, and cars tend to spray whatever gravel gets on the road over to the shoulder. So always be wary.
When you do have to make a left turn, don’t act like you’re a car, remember that if you get hit, you get injured. Slow down and look behind you before moving over, and if someone’s coming, try to signal (a straight out left arm indicates a left turn, a left arm bent upwards at the elbow indicates a right turn, opposite for right arm of course). And when you do get over, hug to the left edge of the lane so that cars can pass you, people get irritated and stupid when they get stuck behind a bike, so try and keep the road rage to a minimum.
If there is no shoulder you’ll find yourself in a much stickier situation. Many roads not only don’t have a shoulder, they have a sidewalk right next to the road meaning no extra room at all on the side for a bike. You can still ride here, it’s something I know I have to do everyday, it just takes some practice. The best thing to do is stick about one foot, one and one half feet away from the side. You want to be over as far as possible, but if you swerve, or something comes up in the road you don’t want to have your only possible route of escape be towards traffic.
When you ride, don’t look behind you for the cars, they’ll come and they’ll pass you in your lane, it’ll happen, and looking wont help, it’ll make you swerve just a bit. Instead, concentrate on the road in front of you, you’ll run into potholes, gravel, and lots of manholes. When you see something you have to avoid, the best idea is to go farther into the road (since normally closer to the edge isn’t a real option). This is the dangerous part. First make sure there’s no one right next to you, then slowly edge over. Never make sudden cuts into traffic, always be careful and cautious and make it obvious to the drivers behind you what you’re doing. The farther ahead in the road you can look, the better, and the more cautious you can be avoiding the problems there.
If you choose to ride on the sidewalk, there’s some pretty simple rules to follow. Go slowly, probably 10 is the absolute fastest you want to go on the sidewalk. Second is remember that the sidewalks typically aren’t well maintained, and are made for transportation that allows you to just step over roots and cracks. Third, keep in mind that the sidewalk is for pedestrians, be willing to stop and make allowances for those walking on the sidewalks.
Now, hopefully you have an idea about how to ride in each place, the question is, which one is better? I have a few suggestions, but the bottom line is only ride where you feel comfortable.
In states where it’s illegal to ride on the sidewalks, do try and honor the law, you’d be surprised at how often this gets enforced, and the law does make good sense, so if you can, stay off of the sidewalks. Don’t ride on roads if you can help it where the speed limit is above 45mph, it begins to get dangerous at those speeds in terms of swerving. Also, try and avoid roads with blind curves in them. Another good check mark, if you normally don’t ride above 15mph on the flat, stay off all but residential roads if you can.
These are all good benchmarks, but chances are no situation will allow you to follow all of them, so remember, only ride where you feel comfortable, and always be vigilant.
All right, one more topic and then I think I will feel good about covering all of the bases. Night riding. Night riding can be safe, or safe enough anyways, but there are some strict precautions. Keep lights on, a front light to help you see the road ahead, and a back light to warn cars of your existence. For those who feel that they can go without the front light since they bike in well lit areas, keep in mind that cars come at you from the front as well as the back, be that cars going the opposite way, or the more dangerous cars turning, and these cars may not see you in the road without a front light, and try and turn when your in front of them, so do keep a front light.
If you’re biking in an area without very good lighting, keep your speed down, even the best lights wont let you see far enough ahead to warrant going fast, you have to have time to slow and swerve to avoid obstacles, so stay slow. And always be aware that even with lights cars will sometimes not see you, so be cautious and willing to stop even when you shouldn’t have to.
One final bit of advice before I close, follow street signs, be that stop signs, one-way streets, or traffic lights. Whenever you ride in the road your under the same restrictions as cars, and for the same deadly reason, not following those signs is very dangerous, please do stay legal.
All right, hopefully you’ve come away with all the basics of bike safety and are now better prepared to go out and cycle, enjoy!
Celia, yah, we did, it was pretty localizid actually, I rode around and sicovered only maybe five square blocks were without lights, thought power company claimed 35,000 were they also told us the power would be back on by 11 (liars!).
Riding a bike on campus is actually decently safe as far as it goes, if you're willing to pay attention and not ride too fast.
Unless you're one of those people who ride around with no hands just to look cool. Yah, and I'll certainly be impressed when you run into me and we both end up breaking bones. Way to be cool.
quote:The ideal road-riding is to have a shoulder. If a road has a shoulder, stay on it unless you have to make a left turn. Try and stay as far away from the main part of the road as possible, without getting dangerously close to the edge.
I'm going to disagree with this one. The laws in most states request that cyclists ride as far to the right as practicle but allow cyclist to use the entire lane when needed. When riding on city or suburban roads, it is dangerous to ride too far to the right for a variety of reasons. If you are too far to the right you will be in danger of being hit when people open the doors on parked cars. You will be in danger from road debree, storm drains, crumbling asphalt and a variety of hazards. If you have to move left and right to avoid obstacles, you are in far more danger than if you procede in a straight line further to the left. Finally, the greatest danger to cyclist comes not from passing cars but from cars turning or entering the road way from side streets, parking lots and driveways. If you are too far to the right, you are less likely to be seen by car drivers and have less time and space to react if you are cut off by a car. Cars turning right are likely to pass you and then turn immediately in front of you cutting you off or even hitting you. At stop signs on adjoining streets, cars will off inch out into the intersection blocking your path.
Because of these dangers, most bicycle safety groups recommend that you ride about 3 feet from the right edge of the road when riding on city streets. All of these dangers are amplified if you are riding against traffic or on the sidewalk. While these may feel safer, you are far more likely to be hit by cars coming out of driveways , parking lots and side streets than if you are in the main traffic lane heading in the right direction.
Study after study has shown that riding far to the right is for the convenience of car drivers not for the safety of cyclists. If the road isn't wide enough for a car to pass you safely (min distance 4 feet) without leaving their lane, then ride far enough out in the lane to force the cars to move over to pass you. The law allows you to use the whole lane if necessary and the number of drivers who will actually hit you because they are angry is far lower than the number who just won't notice you if you are too far to the right. If you live in an area where car drivers nearly always watch out for cyclists, return their courtesy by riding further to the right but don't ever feel it necessary to endanger you life for the convenience of FUV drivers.
There are exceptions to this rule. Particularly, if you are riding on a road where the speed limit is over 40 mph and there is a good shoulder (ie you don't have to move in and out of traffic to avoid road hazards), use the shoulder.
Pick your route wisely. Stay off main thorough fares whenever possible.
Most importantly, follow all traffic laws. Over half of crashes involving cyclists, occur when cyclists don't know and don't follow the laws.
posted
Thanks to Hobbes and Rabbit -- great stuff.
Another reason to wear a helmet is to set a good example for kids. If you won't do it for yourself, that is.
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote: It looks bad. If you value your looks over your life, I guess my advice would be to not wear a helmet
I must say, the only reason I wear a helmet is to look cool. I mean, if I got in a wreck without my helmet, and my brains were spilling out of my skull, how is it possible to continue to look cool? That's why I say that looking cool is the most important safety rule. You cannot look cool when injuries impair your bodily movements.
Posts: 3 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hobbes, you might caution folks specifically about running stop signs.
It's not only dangerous (did I really need to say that?!) but it pisses off drivers and law abiding cyclists everywhere; and the pissed off drivers are likely to run you off the road as soon as they get their turn through the intersection! (it's happened before)
Running stop signs is a HUGE problem among cyclists, who seem to think that the rules of the road don't apply to bikes the way they apply to cars. In most states, however, the rules of the road apply to bikes exactly the same way they apply to cars (including drunk driving laws!)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Hat]](graemlins/hat.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
