Bicycle Safety
As it gets warmer and closer to bike-riding season, be sure to review bicycle safety rules with your family.
Most fatalities among bicycle riders result from colliding with a motor vehicle. However, injuries can happen anywhere - in parks, on bike paths and even in your driveway.
Be sure to study a few bicycle safety tips before the bike-riding season starts.
First - and foremost! - always wear an approved safety helmet. Because head injuries are the most common cause of death among bicyclists, wearing a helmet will significantly reduce your chances of a head injury. When buying a helmet be sure to check for a good fit and ventilation system as well as adjustable straps.
Since June 1994, when New York State's bicycle helmet use law went into effect, all children younger than 14 are required to wear approved helmets when riding a bike. Children younger than five must also wear approved helmets and, when being transported on a bike, must ride in seats attached to the bike. Children younger than one are prohibited from being transported on a bicycle.
There are also local laws, depending on which town you live in, that requires all riders of any age to wear bicycle helmets.
* If there is bicycle lane, you should use it! If there is no bike lane or if its' blocked by parked cars or other hazards, you should ride either on the ride shoulder or near the right edge or curb of the road. Ride as far right as possible, and remain visible to drivers.
* Give your bicycle a safety check. Test drive your bike in the driveway, and look for broken or damaged parts. Check the tires, chain and brakes before every ride.
* Always look to the left, right and left again for traffic when entering a road.
* Obey all traffic signs and signals. Use hand signals to let motorists know where you intend to go. At busy intersections, get off the bike and walk it across the road.
* Ride single file on the right side of the road and in the same direction as the flow of traffic. When changing lanes, look behind you and yield to oncoming traffic.
* Do not wear headphones when riding. Bicyclists should be alert as motorists might not always see them.
* Do not let children younger than nine years old ride on busy roads. They are not always able to identify and adjust to the many dangerous traffic situations.
* Ride to be seen. Wear bright-colored clothing so that drivers can see you more clearly.
* Avoid riding at night, on narrow roads and where highway speeds are more than 35 miles and hour. If you must ride at night, always use lights and reflectors.
Follow these guidelines every single time you take your bike out for a spin. And have a fun - and safe - trip.
[Reprinted from the April 3, 1997 issue of the Times Union Automotive Weekly. Reported by Kim Quinn, Assistant Director for CRADA]