Local bike shop suggests bicyclists, motorists be aware of road rules for summer

By Nick Smith
INDEX Contributor

DAVISON — Summer has arrived, and motorists are finding themselves sharing the roadways with bicycle riders as well as other motorists.

That means motorists, as well as bicyclists out enjoying a ride in the warmer weather, should be aware of basic safety tips and etiquette for sharing the road, says Josh Cox, a manager at Al’s Quick Release Bike Sales & Service.

Basic safety precautions such as wearing a helmet, making sure your bike is in good working order and riding with the flow of traffic are important to both enjoying a bike ride and reducing the chance of an accident, he said.

“It’s a courtesy really for motorists to give a foot or foot and a half of the right side of the road to a bicycler if there’s no sidewalk. Making sure your bike is in good shape and having a helmet is essential too,” Cox said.

Among the most important things for a bicyclist to have is a comfortable-fitting helmet and to always wear it while riding, Cox said. A helmet is a critical piece of gear to own because the risk of taking a spill while riding is always a possibility or having an accident.

“You can’t always see vehicles while riding. A good helmet could very easily save your life,” Cox said.
He said other important rules for bicyclists include obeying all traffic signs and signals, as well as watching for vehicles backing out of driveways. He said in the case of vehicles backing out of driveways motorists should take extra care, but bicyclists need to also be aware that they might not always notice them when pulling out.

“A lot of those people in driveways won’t be looking. Most of them won’t be looking out for you, they’re looking out for vehicle traffic,” Cox said.

Other rules of proper etiquette include staying as close to the right side of the road as possible and yielding to pedestrians on sidewalks.

Cox said the most important, and most often overlooked, rule of bicycle riding is to ride with the flow of traffic, not ride against it. Cox said people tend to want to ride against the flow of traffic so they can see oncoming vehicles, but doing so is not the way to ride.

“This actually is more risky and can make motorists more nervous because they don’t know what the rider is going to do,” Cox said.

Cox said if motorists and bicyclists are aware of each other’s presence and basic rules of sharing the road, there’s no reason why they can’t share the roadways safely without any accidents or trouble.

“As far as the rules of the road, the best thing to do is to make sure the bike is in good shape and safe to shift and ride, and have the common courtesy to go around riders,” Cox said.