Rules of the Road

Today’s blog will be short and sweet, but I feel, very important information. In honor of Bike to Work Day, I will talk about the rules of the road. Whether you are on a bicycle or running, there are rules you need to adhere to when on the road with motor vehicles. Having recently moved to a bigger city, I can better appreciate the need for people to follow these guidelines. I also have witnessed how few of these people actually know, or at least follow, them. 

When biking, you go with traffic, your bicycle is your vehicle and you are responsible for all the rules, signs, and lights as a motorist. That means you’d stop at stop signs and lights, use proper signals when turning and be in the correct lane.   If you ride in the early morning or dusk, make sure you wear reflective clothing or at least have reflective lights on your bike; it is not always easy for vehicles to see you. As a cyclist, it is essential to be very aware of your surroundings.  Cars don’t always pay attention and many don’t know to look for a cyclist on the road in the first place. When reading up on bicycle laws and regulations, I came across many discussion boards and I read some pretty negative things people had to say about cyclists. Some people even discussed stories where they aimed their cars at cyclists in an attempt to run them off the road. Needless to say, there is a battle between cyclists and motorists. This makes it even more important that all rules are abided by and extreme caution is used when cycling. 

Now running, on the other hand, has some different rules. Runners are to run the opposite direction of traffic. This way you, the runner, can see cars as they approach, even if they can’t see you.  In general, there seems to be less hostility towards runners by motorists, but I’ve had things thrown and me and cars purposefully aimed at me while running.  Reflective or bright colored clothing is useful when running as well. The more you’re able to make your presence obvious, the safer you will be. Never assume a car can see you, even if you’re in the cross walk.  Of all the close calls I’ve had with cars, they’ve all been when I had the “walk” signal for a cross walk and if I hadn’t checked for cars, they would have hit me. 

If you’re a cyclist or a runner and you take your workouts on the road, be aware of these guidelines.  When you’re driving, be sure to be aware of the potential for runners and cyclists on the roads.