Safety Prevention for Bike Riding

New York City has numerous bicycles on the road, and as time goes along, the number continues to increase.

The DOH (Department of Health) reports that approximately 500,000 adult New Yorkers use a bike, at least once a month. Since 2006, the city has laid down more than 250 miles of bike lanes. While safety improves with more bikes on the road, there are guidelines bikers should follow to help prevent accidents.

Rules to Follow to Prevent Bike Accidents

Sometimes drivers are inattentive or careless, making accidents difficult to avoid. Even so, there are rules riders can follow that help them avoid bicycle accidents. Some safety guidelines recommended by bikerent.nyc include:

• Wear helmets
• Yield to pedestrians
• Ride with traffic
• Obey traffic signals and signs
• Ride on streets (not sidewalks unless 12 years old or younger)
• Use bike lanes and marked paths
• Stay off expressways
• Use bells, horns and reflectors
• Be predictable
• Make yourself visible and heard
• Avoid driver’s blind spots in vehicles
• Create extra room when biking around trucks, buses and parked cars
• Make eye contact with drivers and pedestrians when crossing intersections
• Stay alert
• Use hand signals if changing lanes or turning
• Do not text or talk on the phone while riding
• Do not drink and ride
• Wear only one earphone, but preferably, no earphones at all

The Most Common Reasons that Motor Vehicles Cause Bicycle Accidents

The NYPD and NYC departments of Health and Mental Hygiene, Parks and Recreation, and Transportation, did a study of crash-related bicycle accidents. The main reasons for bicycle crashes were:

• Driver inattention (31%)
• Unspecified human error (29&)
• Failure to yield (9%)
• Speeding (4%)
• Disregarding traffic controls (4%)

As a bicycle rider, being aware of these causes and staying extra alert might help you avoid an accident.

When bike accident injuries are serious or result in death, it is wise to seek representation from experienced New York bike accident attorneys