Being Safe Around Cars

Look at all those fluorescent outfits!

When you're biking, the most dangerous car is the car that can't see you. A driver can’t avoid hitting something that they don’t know is there. Now there may be several reasons a driver doesn’t see a bicycle. Some of them may be the driver’s fault, such as turning without checking for bikes or texting while driving. Some of them may be the cyclist’s fault, such as biking the wrong way down a one-way street or biking in the dead of night with no lights or reflective clothing. No matter what the factors, there are some things that you as an urban biker can do to eliminate or at least reduce the chances of you getting hit by a car.

Make Yourself Extra Visible

Use both a headlight and taillight, definitely at night, and even during the day. You can also add some other lights on your wheel spokes to light up your side view. Make sure your lights are fully charged each ride and aren’t too dim to be effective.

Wear bright reflective clothing. You’ve probably seen bikers wearing highlighter yellow jackets or even those construction-looking orange vests. Yes, bright yellow isn’t exactly hipster chic, but really, the ultimate goal is to get to your destination safely, right? A good alternative to buying brightly colored clothing is to get a roll of reflective tape. It’s pretty cheap and a little goes a long way. You can put it pretty much anywhere: your jacket, your backpack, and on your frame bike!

Position Yourself Visibly

Now that you have equipped yourself and your bike with reflective brightness everywhere, you can also add some smart positioning to your arsenal. What I mean by that is knowing where a car’s blind spots are and avoiding them. The first tip is to avoid biking between car lanes whenever possible. I admit I will sometimes bike between cars, but for the most part it’s when the cars are stopped at a red light. When they’re just sitting in lines, there’s very little danger of a car suddenly changing lanes right in front of you. If you’re whizzing down the road between lines of moving cars, you may be in trouble if one of them swerves into another lane, especially if they don’t signal. It’s hard for drivers to see an object that’s right next to their car. Conversely, if you mostly bike with the flow of traffic in the middle of the lane, and position yourself directly in front of and behind the cars near you, they will almost certainly see you. And if you have your lights flashing you’ll be doubly visible.

Check that You are Visible to Drivers

This tip is less about how you bike and more about being aware of your surroundings and other people around you. If you’re riding down a street and you approach an intersection with a side street where there is a car trying to turn right on to your street, try to make eye contact with them. Make sure that they have turned their head and seen you before traveling across the point of intersection. Slowing down slightly when I see a car trying to turn right onto my street has saved me from many near-misses. While it is technically the driver’s fault if they turn and end up hitting you because they didn’t check oncoming traffic, the unfortunate fact is that many drivers do not mindfully look for bicyclists. The safe bet is to give a bit of buffer for drivers that may or may not have seen you on the road.

I hope these tips help you and give you confidence while riding the roads!