Bicycle safety
Cycling Safety Tips
It’s essential to protect your family—and yourself—while riding your bikes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asks cyclists to observe these seven guidelines:
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- Protect Your Most Important Body Part – Your Head Always wear a well-fitting helmet when riding your bike.
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- Make Sure Your Bike is Ready for the Road Only ride bikes of the right size for you. Be sure to check all of your bike’s parts before riding; a certified mechanic can make sure everything is secure, safe, and in good working order.
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- Understand the Road Rules Police consider bicycles vehicles; they belong on the road, not the sidewalk. Cyclists must follow the same traffic laws as motor vehicle drivers.
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- Ride Your Bicycle as if You Were Driving a Car Ride your bicycle on the right-hand side of all roads. Observe and blend with the flow of traffic. Be sure to stay to the far right side of all road as you can; however, don’t risk hitting potholes, slipping on gravel, or riding on unpaved shoulders.
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- Stay Visible Assume people can’t see you when cycling. Be responsible for making yourself and your bike visible to all pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.
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- Be Courteous When riding your bike, act like you’re driving a motor vehicle; safety always comes first. Use bike lanes whenever available; if not, pay extra attention to pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. Be polite and ride in a predictable fashion to ensure safe cycling.
- Stay Alert and Focused Never wear your headphones when cycling; they prevent you from hearing oncoming cars. Ride Defensively and always maintain a clear situational awareness.
Avoiding Bicycle Theft
The best way to protect your bike is to keep it safe by following these simple anti-theft suggestions:
- Always lock your bike. If you keep it in your college dorm, a garage, or your apartment stairwell, you should still take a few extra seconds to lock it when returning home.
- Attach your bike to fixed objects like parking meters, street signs, and bike racks. Be sure not to attach your bike to short, narrow poles or fence posts with nothing attached to their tops; thieves can easily lift your bike up and off of poles, even if your bike is locked. Also, avoid locking your bicycle to anything that is easily cut, removed, or broken.
- Lock your bike in visible, high-traffic, and well-lit areas.
- Use a sturdy U-lock. Position your wheels and bike frame so the U-part of your lock takes up as much space as possible. If you lock you bike up tight, it’s harder for thieves to cut your lock. Make sure your U-lock keyhole faces the ground; however, your lock should not touch or be close to the ground – this gives thieves more options for breaking it.
- Don’t repeatedly use the same location to lock up your bicycle. Thieves could notice this pattern and choose your bike as a target.
- Registering your bicycle with the well-known National Bike Registry.
Of course, don’t forget for the best insurance offer for your bicycle.
Protecting your future
Whatever your needs, give us a call, have you been told you can’t insure your risk, been turned down, or simply unhappy with your current insurance? Since 1995 we’ve been providing coverage to our customers, and helping people across United States.
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