by Raymond L. Marr

Created on: February 28, 2008

When you consider biking safety, there are two distinct ideas, either cycling as a vehicle, vehicular cycling, or riding like a pedestrian, against traffic on the sidewalk at higher risk due to the inability to predict what you will do and when you will do it.

Vehicular Cycling, to ride a bike as a vehicle, to act as a vehicle and signal like a vehicle. Enabling simpler prediction as to what you will do and when you do it. To cycle as a vehicle, does take some awareness of the basics in signaling, lane position, and defensive cycling techniques. Even the recently revised Department of Motor Vehicles manual shows some of the hand signals to use while biking, clarifying the point, a bicycle is a vehicle and should be ridden and treated as a vehicle.

Pedestrian Cycling, though you are on a bike, by law a vehicle you still ride as if you are a pedestrian. Meaning you are riding against traffic, on the sidewalk without considering the risk thus associated. Even simply riding in the road against traffic puts you more at risk then riding with traffic.

Cycling as a pedestrian makes it more difficult for a driver of a car to predict what you will do or when you will turn thus increasing the risk factor and the likelihood of an accident. Besides the fact if you are riding the sidewalk besides, pedestrians, animals, each can cause an accident. That curb there, the one you are about to jump cause you think it is cool. .. realize the fact that first when going against lane flow, drivers are unsure how to react. You make that jump, you may be jumping into a path of an ongoing car going at least double what you are going and the weight with momentum to match. the stopping power of such a vehicle is reduced with the weight figured in. You make that jump into the road, you may just become a statistic. Simply because you thought it would be cool to make that jump, and did not think it necessary to become aware.

The point of this, is simply, to ride safely follow the rules of the road, just as it takes passing of the test to drive a car consider that a bicycle, lighter and slower then a car is still a vehicle. As a vehicle, use the same techniques and you will be all more safer, because you made that quality decision to become aware and put it into practice.

Thanks for Reading - Ride On ... Safely and with Traffic.

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