Sasha on the Street

To Ride Around the City or To Not Ride around the City? Sure saving the environment is extremely important but above and beyond that your personal safety is at the top of the hierarchy.

Is it possible to ride through a city safely?

Thanks to green LA girl for pointing me to this article at bicyclesafety.com. The Article How Not To Get Hit By Cars suggests some great tips for staying safe while riding in the city. The site shows you the top ways of getting hit by cars and how to avoid these situations.

I have committed myself to riding to work as much as possible. I’ve had to adjust my route (it is now about 10mins longer) in order to avoid busy city streets adjacent to the highways.

In Toronto the bi-laws state that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk, but sometimes it is the safest thing to do. Frequent Toronto cyclists have fairly good judgment and know where the sidewalks are very congested with pedestrians, but in those areas where the pedestrians are infrequent, sometimes it is just safer to ride on the sidewalk.

My few tips for city riding:

• Use judgement: road vs. sidewalk, city-street vs. residential road, etc
• Wear a Helmet: and gloves aren’t a bad option too, road rash on your hands is always super painful
• Wear Bright Clothes: cycling isn’t a fashion statement, make sure you are visible to cars
• Always let the Car have the right-of-way: even if you it is your turn and your right-of-way, the car’s size will over-power you and win.