Thursday, December 6, 2012

Simple Safety Tips for Motorists With Commuter Bikes

By Rob Sutter


Those who utilize commuter bikes may be interested to know about the facts. In Oklahoma, there has been a spike in the amount of accidents caused by motorists towards pedestrians. There have been severe accidents, if not fatalities, on record for this. In fact, last year in Oklahoma there have been 609 accidents and 47 of those impacted have died. This was something that shouldn't have happened but it seems like AAA Oklahoma is urging cyclists to exercise caution when riding through various tips.

1. Sharing the road. This is an instance of road safety where cyclists and motorists are aware of the roads that they should be on. Pedestrians typically travel along the sidewalk but it seems like more and more cyclists have taken to those roads as opposed to the ones they ought to be utilizing. This is one of the causes of the many accidents that occurred in the past year. For the sake of road safety, it's best for cyclists to simply share the roads with people who utilize cars.

2. Adhere to the road's rules. Too many bikers seem to disregard the rules, believing that they only exist for car and bus drivers. However, those very rules apply to those who use commuter bikes just as well and should be respected. Cyclists should don helmets when going out to ride. Also, it's important for cyclists to halt at all major intersections in order to follow stop signs which apply not solely to drivers. Biking authorities along the lines of Linus Bike make note of the blind spot that these riders have and it's up to the riders to account for it.

3. Just like how helmets are important during any session of biking, reflective lights are imperative during night riding. These are akin to the headlights found on any automobile one can think of and it'd be wrong for any bike to not have them. These are imperative to a cyclist's safety and come in two forms: passive and active lighting. Which ones you require will depend greatly on the state you live in but it's good to have both so that you run less of a risk of breaking whatever the law in your state details.

I believe that these many tips have come to light at a good time where safety has to be a priority in bike riding. Safety has to be exercised in this hobby since the number of accidents seems to slowly climb. For instance, Oklahoma in particular has seen a tall amount of 309 bicyclists in the past that have been part of some crash or another. Yes, this number does not really come close to the 609 statistic stated earlier but it's still a number that shouldn't exist.




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