Bicycle Safety Tips

1. Safety Equipment -
• Wear a helmet. It is as simple as this if you like your head wear a bicycle helmet. It is not "fashionable" to have a serious head injury.
• Wear closed shoes without high heals.
2. Bicycle Accessories -
   • Have a horn or a whistle that you can use. If you are embarrassed by the idea, ask your self how you would like to spend some time in the hospital (the hospital is if you are lucky, if you not lucky you will end up somewhere else and I don't mean at home).
   • Bicycles must have the correct reflective gear and back and front light.
   • Have a place that you can carry things with you, either a basket or a backpack.
3. Bicycle Maintaince -
   • Make sure the brakes on your bike or children's bikes are in good working worker. Don't assume they are ok. Check the breaks each time you or your child gets on his/her bike.
4. Correct Size -
• Make sure the bike is the correct size for the rider. Can the rider's feet touch the ground enough to support him/herself while stopped.
• Don't buy a bicycle so the child can grow into it. Buy a bicycle that fits that size of your child, and buy a bicycle that you can raise the seat and the handle bars according to the size your child.
5. Road Saftey -
• Don't assume a car/truck will stop or see you coming. You must ride like the car/truck is not going to see you or stop for you.
• If a child is old enough to ride a bike, then he is old enough to learn how to ride safely.
• Children should walk their bikes when crossing busy intersections.
• Wear bright colored clothing.
• Make sure you stay in site of cars. Don't ride between parked cars or any other place drives might not see you.
• Watch out for pot holes, uncoverd manhole covers, puddles, wet leaves or any other thing that could be in the street.
• Watch out for people suddenly crossing the street, children playing, dogs or anything or anybody that could get in your way.
• Give cars the right of way, they can do you more damage to you, then you can to them.
• Don't ride to close to cars that are parked on the side of the road. Someone might suddenly open their car door.
• Try to ride your bike on streets that not so busy.
• Don't wear head phones when ridding your bike. There are spcial radios and other devices that you can use to listenf to music and ride. Put the headphone around your neck and not on your ears.
6. Passages on a Bicycle -
• Make sure children ride in a special saftey child sit, that fits the weight and the age of the child.
• There are special wagons that are used to carry children and pets. Make sure your child or pet is securaly strapped in. Remmber it takes only one second to have a life threating accedent.
• Only one rider per seat. Don't let friends, children ride on the back, luggage rack, or handle bars.
• Don't let dogs or other pets run next to you while you ride on your bicycle.
• Only one rider per bike(unless the bike is designed for 2 or more riders), no riding on the back, handle bars etc., unless the bike is made for 2 or more people.

Attitude -

Remember if you get hurt it will not matter how right you were, you are the one that is hurt. Don't be concerned about being right, think about being safe.

If you are sitting her thinking nothing will happen to me, think again it can happen to you. Just contact someone that got hurt riding a bike. I am sure they were thinking the same thing.

Don't ride your bike and have a dog run next to you.

Make sure that you keep both hands on the handlebars.

If you think just because you are going a short distance nothing will happen. Think again the distance does not prevent accidents, only people can prevent accidents.

Don't ride drunk! Remember the person you kill can be your mother/father, son/daughter or friend. Save a life don't ride drunk!

If you are reading this then it is still not to late to save your life and/or the life of someone else.