Road Safety Tips For Cyclists

Cycle Safety on City Streets

Cycling on busy streets is not for the faint hearted, and if you’re a novice cyclist, this can be a potentially dangerous affair.

So here’s a few road safety tips for cyclists.

If you can, why not put the bike on or in the car and drive out of town to an area with less traffic, where you can ride in relative safety and more peace of mind.

If that’s not possible then plan your route to avoid the busiest main roads.

Lots of cities have maps which show all the cycle lanes and cycle friendly routes. Check with your local council.

Obey the road rules. I know it’s easy to ride through red lights, but this annoys a lot of car drivers, and you really want them on your side.

This also goes for give way and stop signs.

Use hand signals when turning or changing lanes, make your intentions as clear as possible.

Try to be aware of traffic behind you, nothing irritates motorists more than being held up. While you do have a right to be on the road, commonsense and the will to live suggests you should pull over and let vehicles pass, if it’s safe for you to do so.

Take particular care when passing parked cars, check the cars ahead for people sitting in the drivers seat, they may be about to open their door. Also don’t drive to close to parked cars, give yourself about a metre distance so you have a safety margin. Being “Doored” inevitably ends with you getting a broken collarbone, or worse.

Competent cyclists ride about a metre from the edge of the road, not only because glass and debris tends to gather at the road edge, but also because they are more visible to traffic and it gives them a bit of room to get manoeuvre if needed.

Sometimes it’s tempting to ride on the footpath (sidewalk), but this is not a good idea as you compete with pedestrians who can be unpredictable, not to mention dogs, prams, old people, children and vehicles coming out of driveways.

Wear bright clothing to maximise your visability, anything that makes you stand out more, and alerts drivers to your presence has to be good.

Obviously wear the required safety gear like a good fitting helmet, gloves and good shoes.

If you decide to cycle at night or even on a gloomy winters day, then have proper lights both front and rear. Bright flashing LED ones are the best.

And my last tip, don’t ride with an ipod blaring music into your ears. You need ALL your senses on full alert when you’re amongst traffic on the road.

This being said, cycling in the city is fun, and once you get more experience you’ll definitely enjoy it.

I also find that after awhile, maybe years, you do develop a bit of a sixth sense around vehicles and can start to spot potential trouble before it happens.