How to Avoid Six Potential Accident Situations
Listed below are the six most common bicycle-related accidents and ways to avoid them. The types of accidents are listed in order from most common to least common.
Causes:
Causes: Cyclists who don't yield, who ride out of driveways without stopping, or run red lights and stop signs, or turn left in front of oncoming cars.
How to avoid: Easy! Wait for traffic to clear. Stop for red lights and stop signs. Don't turn left unless you have checked for traffic and it is clear.
Causes: Bicyclists who ride without lights are hit in many different situations - by turning cars, by overtaking cars, by cars pulling out from stop signs.
How to avoid: Easy, again. Use proper lights.
Causes: These typically involve a cyclist being hit by a car turning or emerging from a side street. The motorist doesn't look in the wrong direction for oncoming traffic and POW!
How to avoid: Ride with traffic, as required by law.
Causes: Overtaking car, unlit cyclist at night. Some involve drunk drivers.
How to avoid: Become proficient at looking over your shoulder without swerving. Get a rear view mirror. Occasionally checking traffic to the rear can help you blend better with the flow of cars, buses, trucks and other bikes.
Causes: Someone opens a parked car door in front of an overtaking bike. Typically, the motorist fails to check for traffic before emerging. This is, by the way, illegal and the collision is the motorists' fault.
How to avoid: Never ride closer than three feet to a parked car.