11 Safety tips and road etiquette every cyclist should remember
Be careful, alert and always obey the rules of the road.
CYCLISTS in South Africa are a friendly bunch and most of the time feel a special affinity with other bicycle riders.
Sometimes however they don’t obey the rules and follow the code of conduct to ensure everyone enjoys safe riding when out on the roads, training and sharing the road with others.
According to our sister Caxton website, Bosveld Review, the following tips are worth remembering:
* Pass other cyclists on the right with an audible verbal warning.
* Use hand signals so other road users know what your intentions are.
* When you reach a red light, wait behind the cyclist who is already there, never pass the rider and stop in front. This is an incredibly rude practice.
* Don’t ride against traffic as this is extremely dangerous.
* Don’t ride with headphones because not only is it against the law, it will hinder your ability to hear warnings and approaching dangers.
* Don’t jump red lights or stop signs Why? If you want to be treated like a road user, you need to act like a road user.
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* No flitting from road to the pavement and back which makes you unpredictable.
* Just like riding in traffic, riding in a group means you need to think about what other people expect you to do. The perfect group ride will be a seamless body of movement and this is, in part, due to the awareness of the riders. The natural extension of this is holding your line. If you have to take the hit and ride through that small pothole, you do it. Just don’t flick the bike around and weave all over the place – nobody can predict that and you’ll eventually cause a crash.
* Don’t overlap wheels. This is like sitting in someone’s blind spot when driving a car.
* Always ride single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends. It is very frustrating for other cyclists as well as motorists.
* Be constantly on the lookout for road hazards and never cross the centre line when cutting corners.
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