How to Protect Yourself from Bicycle Accidents

You love riding your bike, and the thought of actually getting into an accident has never crossed your mind. Bike riding, especially the more leisurely sort, does not seem like it would be a dangerous sport now would it? Well, unfortunately, bike riding can be dangerous, but you can avoid bicycle accidents by adhering to some simple safety rules.

About Bicycle Accidents

The first thing that you need to think about when it comes to protecting yourself from bicycle accidents is the overall safety apparel that you should be wearing. Unfortunately, many people decide not to wear the most necessary of all safety apparel – the helmet – because they thing that it will make them look silly. Think about it this way: how silly would you feel knowing that you can protect yourself against brain injury simply by wearing a helmet?

When it comes to other things that you should wear in order to protect yourself from bicycle accidents, things include wearing shorter pants (since the pants can get stuck in the spokes) and shoes without long laces (for the same reason). Overall, your clothing should not be baggy in any way, as they can make it harder to move.

Bicycle accidents often occur when a bicyclist darts out in front of traffic without looking. This is something that should be avoided at all costs, and the correct implementation of hand signals should be used. For example, if you are riding along and a car is behind you, make sure that you allow enough time to use arm signals to indicate in what direction you plan on turning.

Something else that is the common cause of bicycle accidents is cyclists not knowing the proper place to cycle. While it is easy to cycle in areas that have bike paths, many cyclists wrongly try to bike in the middle of a street like a car. Cyclists also sometimes try to ride their bikes on the sidewalks, which is not good because they can run into someone that way too.

So, ideally, the best thing for you to do when riding on a street is to stay as close to the curb as you can – this way, you are to the side of traffic. However, make sure that you are not too close to the curb, because you can end up flipping your bike if the spokes brush up against the curb.

Another thing that you should do when it comes to preventing bicycle accidents is to never ride side by side with someone while on a bike path or on a street. This severely lessens the amount of space that is available for riding. For more information on bike safety, be sure to search the reputable websites that are available on the internet.