What’s Bike Safety?

When my dad taught me to ride a two wheeler, bicycle safety was part of my lessons.  He taught me which side of the street to ride on, how to use hand signals, and to obey road signs like STOP. He explained why riding from sidewalk to sidewalk could be dangerous: drivers of cars expect people to walk on sidewalks and to stop and look both ways before crossing. They don’t expect cyclists to be riding on sidewalks. If I would ride my bike on the sidewalk and cross the street at intersections as though I were on a street, a driver could, at the worst, hit me because he wasn’t expecting a bike to fly out from the sidewalk. At best, the driver’s surprise at seeing me where I didn’t belong could cause a near accident. We taught our daughters the same rules.

My observation of kids on bikes the last several years has led me to believe that few parents give bike safety teaching time to their children.

I very nearly hit a boy a few weeks ago as he zoomed down the sidewalk and into the street without pause. No pause at the intersection would be expected if he had been on the street where his wheeled vehicle belonged. But he didn’t pause. He flew right in front of me as I turned left onto that same cross street. I never saw him until I was in the middle of my turn and he was directly in front of my car, in the street. I wasn’t looking out for a bike rider to enter from the sidewalk.

The kids in our neighborhood ride their bikes erratically up and down the street. They swerve, pop wheelies, and turn round and round in circles. They rarely see a car approach because they rarely look for one. When a car does approach, they usually continue their fun until they are ready to stop. And then they just stop where they are. Either way, the cars must yield, stop, and go around them. It makes driving down the street hazardous and backing out of my driveway frightening.

What’s going on with parents these days who don’t care enough about their children’s welfare to teach them responsibility for their own safety?

 We try to stay on bike trails - not even streets!

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