Bike Safety Conversation
Posted by: LeeAnneNov 08 2007, 9:42 am
This morning as I was waiting for the MAX at the Old Town Station with my bike in tow, a fellow MAX rider approached me, asking about the recent bike issues. Not knowing I was a part of the BTA, but just that I was a bike rider and commuter, he asked me these questions. Did I feel safe? What safety precautions was I taking? I told him I try to follow the "zero rule". Don't get hit. The same bottom line rule that we teach 4th and 5th graders in our Bike Safety Education Program. Everyday during the 10 day program, after we learn and review all the rules about being a predictable rider, using hand signals, and knowing the rules of right of way, we ask the class…
And what's the zero rule?
All the kids yell "DON'T GET HIT!"
I follow these same rules everyday because it is what I can do. That's what I told the man on the MAX platform. What would you have said?
I commute to school in the summer when my children are not in school. How I hoped to stay safe was by caring more about my safety than my rights. I wear a "nerdy" bright orange safety vest, I cross intersections and then crossed again rather than using the left-hand turn lane, I stop at stop signs, I make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them and wave, I stay tuned into what is going on around me and don't let my mind wander. I have a responsibility to my family to keep myself as safe as possible, even if that means ceding some of my rights as a bicyclist.
Nov 12 2007 at 9:53 am