Letter to the Editor: How to be a visible, legal cyclist
To the editor,
Are you among the many students who brought a bike to campus after Spring Break? Was your mom’s advice about a decade ago to “watch out for cars” your last bike-safety training?
Your mom loves you and wants the best for you but her advice wasn’t what you need now. “Watch out for cars” is not the best guide for how to ride your bike around campus or around town.
“Ride visibly, predictably and legally” for the best cycling experience at USU and in the future. The law says you have to follow vehicular rules and all bike safety programs agree that following the rules is safest.
Wrong-side riding is the leading cyclist-fault cause of car-bike crashes. Most crashes happen at intersections. You can minimize your chances of being in a car-bike crash by riding where a motorist would drive, because that’s where other motorists are looking for conflicts.
Being a “stealth cyclist”, a “gutter bunny” or a “sidewalk cyclist” puts you out of the scan area of typical motorists until the last moment. After the crash, the motorist says “he came out of nowhere” because you did.
You have the legal right to use the road. No one will run you down if you are visible, predictable and legal. If passing cars give you grief, contact me for my secret solution to that problem. (I don’t want to publicize my trick to motorists.)
When you pedal to the walkway network on campus, you must recognize that you are leaving the vehicular realm where you belong and are in the pedestrian realm where you are a guest.
Pedestrians are not obstacles on a slickrock trail to be dodged with minimal clearance. Slow down, give ’em room, expect the unexpected, and call out a greeting before you pass so they don’t turn unexpectedly. Sometimes a longer route on the street can be quicker than a shorter route on clogged walkways.
Enjoy the freedom and speed of your wheeled mobility. Forget your mom’s loving but bad advice as you maximize your safety on the streets and your courtesy to pedestrians on campus walkways.
Become a visible, predictable, legal cyclist.
Bob Bayn