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Too scared to bike? It's true -- Bicycling infrastructure in most U.S. cities are rather inadequate, with roads made for cars and cyclists considered as an afterthought, if at all.
But do you know what, besides waiting for long-term infrastructure changes, can make roads safer for bicyclists? That would be more bicyclists! More cyclists means fewer accidents, reports Wired: "According to a study by researchers at the University of New South Wales, the number of collisions decreases as the number of bicycles in traffic increases. It sounds like a paradox, they say, but motorists are more likely to drive carefully and respectfully when there are more cyclists on the road.”
So get yourself and your friends on a bike! Bicycles are by far the most popular transportation vehicle in the world -- and while we should all be pushing for better local bike infrastructure in our 'hoods, you don't have to wait for your town to turn into a biketopia to take advantage of the convenience and fun -- plus the health, financial, and environmental benefits -- of biking.
To put your fears at ease, educate yourself on bike safety. Start with these 10 Tips on How to Not Get Hit by Cars at BicycleSafe.com. Even if you're a relatively experience bicyclist, the tips are really worth a read -- because I see bicyclists NOT following these simple tips all the time.
Perhaps the most counterintutive tip is that you should ride CLOSER to the lane of moving cars to your left than to the parked cars on your right. You're much more likely to get injured by getting doored by someone getting out of the car than by a car hitting you from behind.
The whole article a rather funny read -- if you share my sense of humor. Many of the statements are so obvious as to seem unnecessary -- i.e. "helmets might help ... but your #1 goal should be to avoid getting hit in the first place" -- but are in fact necessary because of the complete lack of bicycle safety education in most parts of the U.S.
After that, if you still feel shaky, consider taking a bicycle safety class. The League of American Cyclists keeps a calendar of upcoming bike safety classes around the U.S. Check there to see if a class is happening near you -- or look for your local bicycle advocacy organization to find out about local safety classes. Many of these classes will give you hands-on, on-the-streets bike safety training so you can practice your safe biking ways before hitting the streets on your own.
If you're in New York, you're lucky -- Sue Freeman of the New York Outdoors Blog reports that the New York Bicycling Coalition's just launched Bike Walk 2010, a 3-year state-wide program to help keep pedestrians and cyclists safe -- as well as prevent them from running into each other.
For current bicycle safety and advocacy news across the U.S., you can also stop by the Bicycle Advocacy and Safety Blog, written by Freemason Cyclists in Iowa, or the Bike Commute Tips Blog by Paul Dorn in Sacramento, Calif. Both blogs pull the latest news from around the country to discuss trends, policies, issues, challenges, and victories that have to do with biking safely and happily.
And lastly, back to helmets: I strongly suggest wearing one; I do all the time. But if only the law will determine whether or not you'll put a geeky-looking-but-safe headgear on, find out what the helmet laws are in your state.
Photo by M J M
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BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel took a bicycling safety class -- but slept through the on-the-road training portion the next day. She blogs at greenLAgirl.com.
