|
| Bicycle Safety |
Your child should be ready for a bicycle before you purchase one. It is your responsibility as a parent to teach
responsible cycling to your child.
When your child is ready for a bike, check to see that it is the correct size. A bike that is too large or too small
is both dangerous and uncomfortable to ride. A cyclist should be able to sit on the seat and balance the bike with
toe tips resting on the ground without leaning to either side.
Young children should not attempt to operate bikes equipped with hand brakes. Sufficient hand and wrist strengths
for proper operation are not developed until about eight or nines years of age.
After a child learns to maintain balance and stay on the bike, he/she is ready to master basic maneuvers such as
starting, stopping, signaling and negotiating up and down hills and around curves. Young children should be able to
execute these basic maneuvers in a safe area before being allowed on public roads.
Children younger than eight years of age need close supervision and should not be permitted to drive in the roadway-
even on quiet neighborhood streets.
BICYCLE HELMET LAW - Effective January 1, 1997, In Florida, all children under the age of 16 are required to wear
protective headgear while ridding a bicycle. Passengers are also required to wear headgear. A violation of the helmet
requirement may result in the issuance of a citation. For more information, contact the Traffic Division at
386.424.2427.
COMMON CAUSES OF BICYCLE ACCIDENTS
FAILURE TO YIELD:
A crash may be caused by failure on the part of the bicyclist or motorist to yield the right-of-way at driveways
and intersections.
Safety Tips:
Making eye contact with a motorist will help.
Bicyclists must yield the right-of-way when required to stop at red lights and stop signs.
NIGHT RIDING
Nearly 60 per cent of all adult fatal bicycle accidents in Florida occur during twilight and night hours although
less than three percent of bicycle use takes place at that time.
Many factors compound the danger of riding at night, such as:
- Motorists driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol.
- Motorist’s ability to see what is ahead is limited to the area illuminated by headlights. Visibility is
further reduced by the glare from lights of oncoming vehicles.
- Red reflectors on the rear of a bicycle may be mistaken for reflectors on roadside mailboxes. Before riding
at night, every bicyclist should consider the extreme risk, take extraordinary precautions, reduce the number of
these trips, or eliminate the practice completely.
Safety Tips:
For those who must ride at night, use of additional lighting and reflectors are strongly encouraged. The use of
leg lamps or any other lights that create motion should be considered. Reflective tape on the bicycle and wearing
reflective and/or white colored clothing are additional insurances.
OPENING CAR DOORS / PARK VEHICLES
Some crashes are the result of a motorist failing to look before opening their door after parking the vehicle.
Safety Tip:
Avoid riding too close to parked vehicles.
OVERTAKING CARS
Statistically, this not a big problem during daylight hours. It usually occurs at night on rural roads and involves
an unlighted bicyclist and a motorist who has been drinking. Many bicyclists worry about what is behind them.
Safety Tip:
Become proficient at scanning to occasionally check traffic to the rear will ease worries about involvement in this
type of accident
WRONG-WAY RIDING
Another cause of bicycle/vehicle crashes is bicyclists riding against traffic. By ridding against traffic,
bicyclists remove themselves from normal scanning pattern of other vehicles operators, making them more likely to be
hit.
Safety Tip:
Riding on the right, as required by law, can help prevent this crash from happening.
Additional Resources Online:
SafeKids, Inc - http://www.safekids.org/
|
|
|
