During my League Cycling Instructor certification, I learned that the key to bicycle safety was acting as if I were a vehicle. This meant that I must follow all of the basic traffic rules. Even more practically, this meant that I must remain a predictable user of the roadway, bike path, or even sidewalk (if it comes to that.)

For a bicyclist, remaining predictable means that other vehicle operators, bicyclists, and walkers generally know what you are and will be doing. Here are a couple of the basic things a cyclist can do to remain predictable:

> Follow Road Rules – basic road rules are a courtesy of the road. This of course means ride the same direction as traffic. But even for you riders that don’t put your foot down at every stop sign, remain true and predictable to the intent of the stop sign so that you are predictable to everyone in the intersection.

> Ride in a straight line – get out of the door zone and keep your path straight so vehicles know when they have room to pass. Even though you may feel like squeezing over, remaining true and straight increases your predictability.

> Positioning – get in the right position. A future blog topic.

> Consider the bicyclist behind you – if you ride true, then bicyclists behind you will know when you are slowing, turning, or doing something other than just going straight. This is a key tenet to group and recreational riding.

> Avoid blatant disregard of the law – don’t blow through stoplights or dart out of nowhere to cut people off!

> Communicate – let all other road and sidewalk users know what you plan on doing (this will be the topic of a separate post.)

Basic riding courtesies will increase YOUR safety and will model proper riding behavior for all.

For a detailed safety guide, see the Oregon Bicyclists Manual.

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