Bikers Obligation to Staying Alive, and How to Do It.

Besides being logical, Bikes have a legal right to the road. Many drivers will argue the obvious fact that according to law, a bicycle is to be treated the same as any slow moving vehicle.
Some say that bikes should be on the sidewalk, the ditch or anywhere except the road, but bikes have every right to be on the road, and no more business on a sidewalk than a car does. All travel on a sidewalk should be at pedestrian speed, or in other words, walking your bike.
Bikes are meant to be ridden and bikes were on the roads before cars. Bikes will probably be on the roads after cars are all gone!

Legally if a car hits a biker on the sidewalk, say for instance at a cross-street or driveway, the biker technically will be at fault. Why? He should not be riding on the sidewalk, is why. That is the law. Bikes should be on the road.
In spite of the fact that in many places there are “bike trails and paths,” that does not change the law nor obligate riders to use them.

Personally, I think there should be a lot more bikes and a lot less cars, but that is the biker in me speaking. In reality bikers and cars must get along together on the same roads. While I can’t educate drivers, I do hope to reach some riders. What I say might save your life.

Right to be on the road also mean responsibilities. Certainly, at 12 a child can’t be expected to know all the traffic laws, but there are some important common sense laws that are absolutely imperative children should know. We should all know these, and for that purpose I have listed them below.

1.Never assume a driver sees you.
2.Ride on the right-hand side of the road, not against the traffic. This is not only a good idea; it is the law. It is a good idea because first, car drivers look for traffic in the right-hand lane. There is a much better chance of being seen if you are where a driver expects you to be! It cannot be stressed enough that the secret to survival on the roads is to be visible! No one hits a biker on purpose; they hit them because they just didn’t see them. Make it a point to do everything possible to be visible.
Riding on the right-hand side is best because if, unfortunately, you do get hit by a car, chances are higher that the car hitting you will be the car closest to you. Riding head-on to traffic means your chance of a hand-on are higher. In a head-on, you are going to be hurt much worse than by a car that hits from behind, where your speed will help mitigate the impact forces. Is this understood clearly? In a head-on, you add the two speeds together to arrive at collision force. In a rear-end collision, subtract the speed of the slower vehicle from the faster one to arrive at collision force. Remember, collision force is exponential, so any reduction means a better chance of life-after-wreck.
3.“I want to see the cars coming at me! I can dodge them” Wrong. Seeing them generally does not prevent accidents. Swerving to one side or the other rarely removes you from the collision line. Them seeing you prevents the accident. This point must be tressed. When you are in front of a car, going the same direction, there is a longer time for the driver to recognize you, and to slow down. This factor saves more lives than dodging ever has.
4.When you are riding, signal your intentions clearly. Use your hands and make exaggeratedly large gestures. There are hand-signals listed in every driver manual, for left and right turns, stops, etc. Learn them and use them!
5.Prior to a hand-signal, reach up and tap the top of your helmet several times quickly. This alerts drivers that you are about to do something. It is an unnatural movement, and it grabs people’s attention. That is what you want; peoples attention to your signal. A signal does no good if it is not seen.
6.When you signal a turn, use your full arm, not just your hand. Tap you head twice and then point directly at where you are going to turn. It does not matter which hand you use, and learn to use both.
7.Don’t be shy about your signals. Be a signal-master!
8.When going straight through a busy intersection, make a “going straight” signal. The signal is two pats to the helmet top, and two karate-chops at arm’s length in front of you, repeat. This will reduce the times that cars pull in front of you.
9.Do not stop before an intersection when the light is green, or when the traffic is, “carrying you through.” Go with the flow. Continue past the light to a safe distance and come back, if you realize you should have turned. Cars have a lot to worry about at intersections, and 80% of accidents happen in intersections.
10.Make clear eye-contact with drivers that are entering what you consider your danger-zone; your danger-zone is anywhere a car can strike you. Understand your danger-zone.
11.Do not assume that eye-contact means driver sees you. It does not.
12.Once you have eye-contact, raise your two first fingers to your eyes and then point to the driver, and then back to your eyes, twice. This message is “see me!” Drivers will usually make a head movement, a nod or a dropped jaw…if they look away as if they didn’t see you, they probably didn’t. Take immediate and appropriate safety measures.
13.Learn to whistle very loudly without your fingers. A shrieking whistle is better than a shout at getting attention. Be always aware that inside a car, there my be loud music playing. Don’t trust on sound signals.
14.Never never never listen to any music device while you ride. That can get you killed. You need every sense, and ears are second only to sight for alerting the rider to danger.
15.Cars that come from the side yet appear to “not change angle” from your point of view are on a collision course with you. Watch them carefully, because from their view, you are not a moving object. If neither one of you takes action, you will collide.
16.When coming to a busy “tee” in the road and you intend to turn left, but the intersection looks dangerous, be prepared to us the “right-turn option” to go left. To do this, stay near the right and turn to the right. Don’t forget to signal you are turning to the right. Once you have cleared the intersection and the road is open, slow to a stop on the shoulder, look and walk across the main road and continue in your desired direction. Tee’s are deadly for bikers.
17.Take your share of the road. Never ride on the ditch-side of the white line. When you are “in the ditch,” you are not a vehicle. Cars will “blow by you” without considering how dangerous this is. The driver’s eye draws a mental line in from the white line and if your tires are outside the line, you are “off the road,” despite the fact that you are on the road. It is well proven that drivers will pass you at dangerous speeds entirely too closely when you are over or even on the white line. To prevent this, drive on the traffic-side of the white line. Establish your “right to be on the road.” It is the drivers obligation to pass you at a safe distance, at a safe speed. By driving on the traffic side on the line, cars tend to slow down, give you wider safety area, and they see you. Remember, your survival depends on them seeing you, not on you being “polite to drivers.”
18.Never play games with cars.
19.Always wear protective clothing and never ride without a helmet! Buy a good one, one that fits.
20.Never assume a driver sees you. I started with this, and I also end with this. No one hits a biker on purpose. They just don’t see you. Make it a point to be seen. Avoid riding at night if at all possible. If you have to ride at night, be sure to have a light front and back. A light mounted on your helmet is better than one on the handle bars. Use it to shine the eyes of drivers by looking at the driver. Learn the fashion-sense of reflecto-tape! Plaster it everywhere.

There are many more things you can do to save your own life, and bike-riding is a skill that one never fully masters; there is always something more to learn. Be a learner and also, be a teacher. Teach your ride-buddies your hand signals, and make more!
Always check your equipment carefully and teach others how to maintain their equipment. Listen to the stories of the older riders, ask them for tips on not only how to ride better, but how to live better.
The best teacher on how to avoid accidents is experience; preferably someone else’s experience!

The fact is, when we are riding, we exist somewhere between a dreamer and a god. Yet we are still soft unprotected bodies that can be hurt very easily.
There are dangers on the road, plenty of them.
But it is a big beautiful world; go ride it!

Besides being logical, Bikes have a legal right to the road. Many drivers will argue the obvious fact that according to law, a bicycle is to be treated the same as any slow moving vehicle.
Some say that bikes should be on the sidewalk, the ditch or anywhere except the road, but bikes have every right to be on the road, and no more business on a sidewalk than a car does. All travel on a sidewalk should be at pedestrian speed, or in other words, walking your bike.
Bikes are meant to be ridden and bikes were on the roads before cars. Bikes will probably be on the roads after cars are all gone!

Legally if a car hits a biker on the sidewalk, say for instance at a cross-street or driveway, the biker technically will be at fault. Why? He should not be riding on the sidewalk, is why. That is the law. Bikes should be on the road.
In spite of the fact that in many places there are “bike trails and paths,” that does not change the law nor obligate riders to use them.

Personally, I think there should be a lot more bikes and a lot less cars, but that is the biker in me speaking. In reality bikers and cars must get along together on the same roads. While I can’t educate drivers, I do hope to reach some riders. What I say might save your life.

Right to be on the road also mean responsibilities. Certainly, at 12 a child can’t be expected to know all the traffic laws, but there are some important common sense laws that are absolutely imperative children should know. We should all know these, and for that purpose I have listed them below.

1.Never assume a driver sees you.
2.Ride on the right-hand side of the road, not against the traffic. This is not only a good idea; it is the law. It is a good idea because first, car drivers look for traffic in the right-hand lane. There is a much better chance of being seen if you are where a driver expects you to be! It cannot be stressed enough that the secret to survival on the roads is to be visible! No one hits a biker on purpose; they hit them because they just didn’t see them. Make it a point to do everything possible to be visible.
Riding on the right-hand side is best because if, unfortunately, you do get hit by a car, chances are higher that the car hitting you will be the car closest to you. Riding head-on to traffic means your chance of a hand-on are higher. In a head-on, you are going to be hurt much worse than by a car that hits from behind, where your speed will help mitigate the impact forces. Is this understood clearly? In a head-on, you add the two speeds together to arrive at collision force. In a rear-end collision, subtract the speed of the slower vehicle from the faster one to arrive at collision force. Remember, collision force is exponential, so any reduction means a better chance of life-after-wreck.
3.“I want to see the cars coming at me! I can dodge them” Wrong. Seeing them generally does not prevent accidents. Swerving to one side or the other rarely removes you from the collision line. Them seeing you prevents the accident. This point must be tressed. When you are in front of a car, going the same direction, there is a longer time for the driver to recognize you, and to slow down. This factor saves more lives than dodging ever has.
4.When you are riding, signal your intentions clearly. Use your hands and make exaggeratedly large gestures. There are hand-signals listed in every driver manual, for left and right turns, stops, etc. Learn them and use them!
5.Prior to a hand-signal, reach up and tap the top of your helmet several times quickly. This alerts drivers that you are about to do something. It is an unnatural movement, and it grabs people’s attention. That is what you want; peoples attention to your signal. A signal does no good if it is not seen.
6.When you signal a turn, use your full arm, not just your hand. Tap you head twice and then point directly at where you are going to turn. It does not matter which hand you use, and learn to use both.
7.Don’t be shy about your signals. Be a signal-master!
8.When going straight through a busy intersection, make a “going straight” signal. The signal is two pats to the helmet top, and two karate-chops at arm’s length in front of you, repeat. This will reduce the times that cars pull in front of you.
9.Do not stop before an intersection when the light is green, or when the traffic is, “carrying you through.” Go with the flow. Continue past the light to a safe distance and come back, if you realize you should have turned. Cars have a lot to worry about at intersections, and 80% of accidents happen in intersections.
10.Make clear eye-contact with drivers that are entering what you consider your danger-zone; your danger-zone is anywhere a car can strike you. Understand your danger-zone.
11.Do not assume that eye-contact means driver sees you. It does not.
12.Once you have eye-contact, raise your two first fingers to your eyes and then point to the driver, and then back to your eyes, twice. This message is “see me!” Drivers will usually make a head movement, a nod or a dropped jaw…if they look away as if they didn’t see you, they probably didn’t. Take immediate and appropriate safety measures.
13.Learn to whistle very loudly without your fingers. A shrieking whistle is better than a shout at getting attention. Be always aware that inside a car, there my be loud music playing. Don’t trust on sound signals.
14.Never never never listen to any music device while you ride. That can get you killed. You need every sense, and ears are second only to sight for alerting the rider to danger.
15.Cars that come from the side yet appear to “not change angle” from your point of view are on a collision course with you. Watch them carefully, because from their view, you are not a moving object. If neither one of you takes action, you will collide.
16.When coming to a busy “tee” in the road and you intend to turn left, but the intersection looks dangerous, be prepared to us the “right-turn option” to go left. To do this, stay near the right and turn to the right. Don’t forget to signal you are turning to the right. Once you have cleared the intersection and the road is open, slow to a stop on the shoulder, look and walk across the main road and continue in your desired direction. Tee’s are deadly for bikers.
17.Take your share of the road. Never ride on the ditch-side of the white line. When you are “in the ditch,” you are not a vehicle. Cars will “blow by you” without considering how dangerous this is. The driver’s eye draws a mental line in from the white line and if your tires are outside the line, you are “off the road,” despite the fact that you are on the road. It is well proven that drivers will pass you at dangerous speeds entirely too closely when you are over or even on the white line. To prevent this, drive on the traffic-side of the white line. Establish your “right to be on the road.” It is the drivers obligation to pass you at a safe distance, at a safe speed. By driving on the traffic side on the line, cars tend to slow down, give you wider safety area, and they see you. Remember, your survival depends on them seeing you, not on you being “polite to drivers.”
18.Never play games with cars.
19.Always wear protective clothing and never ride without a helmet! Buy a good one, one that fits.
20.Never assume a driver sees you. I started with this, and I also end with this. No one hits a biker on purpose. They just don’t see you. Make it a point to be seen. Avoid riding at night if at all possible. If you have to ride at night, be sure to have a light front and back. A light mounted on your helmet is better than one on the handle bars. Use it to shine the eyes of drivers by looking at the driver. Learn the fashion-sense of reflecto-tape! Plaster it everywhere.

There are many more things you can do to save your own life, and bike-riding is a skill that one never fully masters; there is always something more to learn. Be a learner and also, be a teacher. Teach your ride-buddies your hand signals, and make more!
Always check your equipment carefully and teach others how to maintain their equipment. Listen to the stories of the older riders, ask them for tips on not only how to ride better, but how to live better.
The best teacher on how to avoid accidents is experience; preferably someone else’s experience!

The fact is, when we are riding, we exist somewhere between a dreamer and a god. Yet we are still soft unprotected bodies that can be hurt very easily.
There are dangers on the road, plenty of them.
But it is a big beautiful world; go ride it!