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Do Not Get Hit!Ronald Porep, Republished from SafetyIssues.com Issue 28 |
Volume 4 Issue 43June 2005 |
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Helmets, Padding, Separation lanes. None of these very important safety aids that bicyclists must use will prevent a crash between a bicycle and a car. Only the biker and car driver can do that. Here is how a bicyclist can do his part. Choose back streets on weekends. Choose slower and wider streets as often as you can anytime. The risk of riding on Friday or Saturday night is much greater than riding on other nights because all the drunks are out driving around. If you do ride on a weekend night, make sure to take neighborhood streets rather than arterials. |
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The slower a car is going, the more time the driver has to see you. Navigate the city by going through neighborhoods. And, ride on streets whose outside lanes are so wide that a car and a bike can easily fit side by side. That way a car may zoom by you and avoid hitting you, even if they didn't see you! Get a headlight. If you're riding at night, you should absolutely use a front headlight. It's required by law, anyway. Even for daytime riding, though, a bright white light that has a flashing mode can make you more visible to motorists. The more visible you are to motorists, the less likely they are to hit you. Get a horn too. Use the horn whenever you see a car approaching (or
waiting) ahead of you and to the right. If you don't have a horn, then
yell "Hey!" You may feel awkward honking or yelling, but it's better to be embarrassed than to get hit. Again, the more noticeable you are to
drivers, the less likely that a driver will hit you. Get a rear light. If you're riding at night, you absolutely should use a flashing red rear light. In 1999, 39% of deaths on bicycles nationwide occurred between 6 p.m. and midnight. Bike shops have red rear blinkies for $15 or less. This kind of light typically takes two AA batteries, which last for months. Pass on the left. Don't pass any vehicle on the right. If a car ahead of you is going only 10 mph, then you slow down, too, behind it. It will eventually start moving faster. If it doesn't, pass on the left when it's safe to do so. When passing cyclists on the left, announce "on your left" before you start passing, so they don't suddenly move left into you. Ride with traffic. Riding against traffic may seem like a good idea because you can see the cars that are passing you, but it's not. Why? Cars which pull out of driveways, parking lots, and cross streets (ahead of you and to the left), which are making a right onto your street, aren't expecting traffic to be coming at them from the wrong way. They won't see you, and they'll plow right into you. Also, riding with traffic makes right turns easier. Cars will approach you at a much higher relative speed. If you're going 15mph, then a car passing you from behind doing 35 approaches you at a speed of only 20 (35-15). But if you're on the wrong side of the road, then the car approaches you at 50 (35+15), which is 250% faster! Since they're approaching you faster, both you and the driver have lots less time to react. If a collision does occur, it's going to be ten times worse if you are riding against traffic. And, riding the wrong way is illegal for which you can get ticketed. 25% of cycling collisions are the result of the cyclist riding the wrong way. Slow down and be prepared to stop. If you can't make eye contact with the driver (especially at night), slow down so much that you're able to completely stop if you have to. Sure, it's inconvenient, but a stay in the hospital is lot more inconvenient. Stay off the sidewalk. When you come off the sidewalk to cross the street you're invisible to motorists. You're just begging to be hit if you do this. Bicyclists have died from this kind of accident. Stay right or left depending on the road. Riding to the far right makes you invisible to the motorists ahead of you at intersections, but riding to the left makes you vulnerable to the cars behind you. Your actual lane position may vary depending on how wide the street is, how many cars there are, how fast & how close they pass you, and how far you are from the next intersection. On fast roadways with few cross streets, you'll ride farther to the right, and on slow roads with many cross streets, you'll ride farther left. Wear something bright, even during the day. It may seem silly, but bikes are small and easy to see through even during the day. Yellow or orange reflective vests really make a big difference. This can not be stressed enough but the more visible a biker is to a motorist, the less likely a motorist is to hit a biker. Around 44,000 people die in car crashes in the U.S. each year. About 1 in 54 is a bicyclist. Bike safely and avoid being a bicycle accident statistic. |
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