Probability sucks. The longer I ride my bike to train and commute, the more likely I am to experience some sort of collision or accident. Last year I had a minor run in with a tow truck on a rainy day.
Thankfully, both my bike (commuter) and I were okay. If you follow the road cycling or triathlon community, let alone the experience of work commuters, you know how lucky I am.
I love my sport and I love my life. I’d like to continue enjoying both for years to come. Here are some tips to staying safe on the road.
- Maintain your bicycle in good working order. Simple. You should be doing this already because you care about your bike . . . and you need to be able to stop. A combination of personal care for your bike with tune-ups at your local bicycle store will keep you enjoying the streets and roads.
- Be as visible as possible to others. I don’t always wear hot neon, but I make sure that my LED lights are charged (especially during these gray West Coast days) and that I’m not decked out in all black.
- Cycle in traffic safely and predictably. If drivers can anticipate what you’re going to do most of them will do there best to accomodate you.
- Identify dangers and stay mentally focused. This might be someone in the peloton that you need to stay well ahead (or behind) of. It might be a car that just passed you that is about to make a sudden right hand turn. Staying mentally focused on safety, not just the workout, is critical. Check out bicyclesafe.com for some good reminders and stats on all the different ways cars might come at you.
- Safety over training. If my coach gives me something like intervals to ride, I want to ride them and I don’t want to interrupt my session by slowing down, stopping, etc. I suspect other athletes might be geared the same way. I often have to consciously go against the part of me that wants to train hard at all costs and always ask first if I am riding safe. Of course, with proper planning, there are many safe places to do hard sets, so don’t use safety as an excuse for laziness. Most critically, don’t use training as the excuse to risk your life or wellbeing.
- Know and obey the rules of the road.
- Signal. I point and signal when I am turning or changing lanes. No need to surprise drivers.
- If you are conscious and able, don’t panic.
- Always carry identification. I often carry my debit or credit card and some photo identifaction, but I also wear a Road ID. The Road ID is a simple wristband with basic medical and emergency contact information; a bracelet that can communicate on your behalf, in the event that you’re unable. When I first heard of this product, I thought it was safety overkill. A marketing gimmick. Then I realized that, if I ever actually needed to have one, it could well be the best $20 I ever spent. Road ID is a peace-of-mind product that you don’t ever want to need.
- Protect yourself legally. If you are in an accident or collision, you need to know your rights and be prepared to gather the right information for insurance, court, and other bureaucracies. Download and print the Cyclist’s Collision Checklist. Read it and keep a copy of this in a ziplock bag in your saddlebag. Hopefully you will never need it. This brochure was created by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Clinic, so it is specific to British Columbia, but I believe their advice is relevant for most cyclists.
- Respect the road, respect vehicles, respect your own fragility.
- Don’t be an asshole, even when other people are. This can be really hard sometimes, especially when the adrenaline is pumping. There’s times I’ve cursed, spat, bird-flipped, etc. at drivers for intentionally or unintentionally endangering my person. These reactions fail to teach the driver anything and only increase the driver’s animosity towards cyclists. Plus, these sort of reactions often fail to teach me what I could have done differently to have avoided the situation in the first place. My priority is my own safety, not teaching or telling off drivers.
I might come up with more later, but that’s it for now. Enjoy the road!
