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 Safety
Tips
Sharing the Road
For cyclists:
- The same laws that apply to motorists
apply to cyclists.
Obey all traffic control devices and use hand signals to
indicate stops and turns.
- Always wear a properly fitting helmet while riding your bike, no matter what.
- Stay to the right side of the road. Always
ride in the same direction as traffic
- Ride safe!
- Ride predictably in a straight line
and avoid swerving.
- Be visible. Wear brightly colored
clothing and use a white front and red rear light in
low light.
- Be aware. Scan the road ahead of you.
Don’t use audio devices that limit your hearing.
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 For motorists:
- Yield to cyclists.
Bicycles are vehicles of the road and should be given the
appropriate right of way.
- Be considerate.
Do not blast your horn in close proximity to cyclists and
look for cyclists when opening doors.
- Pass with care.
When passing, leave four feet between you and a cyclist.
Wait for safe road and traffic conditions before you pass.
Check in your mirror before moving back.
- Watch for children.
Children on bicycles are often unpredictable and may not
know traffic laws
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Traffic Principles
- Ride on the right side of the road.
- Stay in the right third of the lane.
- Always ride with the flow of traffic.
- Do not ride on the sidewalk.
- Always use signals to indicate your intentions to switch lanes.
- Look behind you to indicate your desire to move and to make sure
that you can.
Lane Positioning
Ride on the right
- Travel in the same direction as traffic.
- Ride far enough from the curb to avoid road hazards.
- Stay in the right third of the right-most lane.
- Follow the same rules as motorists, including yielding and
signaling.
- Beware of cars merging into the road from parallel parking
spots
Take the lane
- If there is insufficient road width for cyclists and cars.
- If road hazards narrow the usable width.
- Before intersections and turns to assert your position on the
roadway.
Avoid Car Doors
Car doors that are opened suddenly into the path of a cyclist are
a regular hazard in city riding. Avoid getting “doored”!
Parked cars
- Stay at least three feet from parked cars.
- Look for brake lights; if a car has just parked, a driver may
be about to get out.
Sudden stops
- If a car stops in front of you suddenly, watch for exiting
passengers on either side of the vehicle.
- Then scan and signal to pass on left.
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Lane
Changing
- Plan ahead
- Get in the correct position early.
- Scan
- Note traffic patterns, look for pedestrians, and
identify potential hazards in front of you and behind.
- Signal
- Signal your intention to turn or change lanes.
- Act
- Move decisively when it is safe to do so.
- Improvise!
- If you get caught between lanes while crossing
traffic, ride the white line until clear.
- If traffic is too heavy, use crosswalks.
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Turns and Turn Lanes
Right turns are fairly easy, though you
should signal your intention to turn to cars behind. Watch out
for right turn only lanes; if you are not turning, signal and change
to an appropriate lane before the intersection.
Left turns require much more care.
- Before a turn: scan, signal, and move into the lane that leads
to your destination.
- Signal well before moving.
- To traverse multiple lanes, move one at a time, scanning and
signaling each move.
- Beware of motorists’ blind spots.
 Bike Lanes
Some roads have marked bike lanes to the right side of the road.
In ideal circumstances, cyclists should stay in to the left side
of the bike lane in order to avoid potential road debris and to stay
outside the radius of the doors of parked cars.
Some considerations:
- Bikes are not required to travel in bike lanes when preparing
for turns. If you wish to turn left, always signal as you move
out of the bike lane.
- Be attentive in a bike lane that positions you on the right side
of a right turn lane, especially at stop lights. Drivers turning
right may turn across your path suddenly.
Traffic Lights
- Obey, obey, obey
- Cyclists, just like motorists, must obey all traffic control
devices.
- It takes longer to travel through an intersection on bike;
plan to stop for yellow lights.
- Avoid cars that run red lights by waiting for the signal
to turn green before starting into the intersection.
- Detection
- Detectors are embedded in the roadway at intersections.
- Detectors use magnetic forces to pick up vehicles, not
weight.
- Bicycles must activate a vehicle detector just like a motor
vehicle.
- Unresponsive signals
- Pass through a red light only as a last resort.
- Yield to other vehicles while crossing the roadway.
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