Most people do not require the help of a professionally trained instructor to learn how to bike, but bicycle safety requires you to attend a local biking school. At the school, you will learn techniques in a short amount of time, which would have otherwise taken months to discover on your own. Training will also minimize chances of injury. There is a fine line between riding a bicycle around the residential colony, and taking it out on the highway. This is surely, a transition, which takes time, and attending bicycle safety class in the supervision of trained professionals will help making the transition smooth.
Head gear
The American Bicycle safety Institute issued and order regarding the importance of wearing a helmet to reduce the risk of an injury, in the case of a bicycle crash. Only choose a helmet, which has a stamp of recommendation from United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, and one which is made from polystyrene. Also make sure that the helmet fits properly.
Inflated Tires
Inflate your tires every day before heading to work or exercise on the bike. According to bicycle safety requirements, if your tires are not properly inflated, you may have to put more effort in the journey, and the bike may develop handling issues until it is properly inflated.
Working Brakes
After taking off on the journey, press on both the brakes individually to check whether they are working properly, and whether or not one of the brakes is a little loose. A number of other precautions, such as having a patch kit, and a spare tube along are requisites of bicycle safety.
Rules to Remember
There are a number of rules, if followed, would considerably lower the risk of you getting in contact with a motorist on the road.
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Make sure you are not at a motorist’s blind spot, that is, the portion behind then, and at his slight left or right side.
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Check in the mirror for all the traffic approaching from behind.
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Ride the bicycle on the left hand lane.
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Make a habit of never overtaking vehicles from their right side.
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In the case that the vehicle in front of you has slowed down considerably – 9 mph – you should too.
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If the slow moving car is wearing you down, just signal to the left by hanging your left arm out, and pass the car on their left hand lane.
How to Avoid Collisions
According to the bicycle safety precautions, one must not ride on the sidewalks, as you may come in contact with a pedestrian. In that case that you move from the sidewalk to the street, you would be literally invisible to motorists who are taking a turn. Make sure to mount you bicycle with headlights – both front and back.
In the United States, it is obligatory in a number of states to have working back and front headlights on the bike, especially, when you are riding at night. Although, you must ride to the side, but do avoid being too close to the curb. The space between you and the curb is necessary, in the case that a vehicle is approaching from the back, or a pedestrian is crossing the street, and you are required to have some room. Avoid using the highway in rush hours, as a requirement of bicycle safety.