BIKE SAFELY: 5 easy principles

Cyclists fare best when they act, and are treated as, drivers of vehicles.
Cyclists fare best when act, and are treated as, drivers of vehicles. – John Forester

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The 5 Principles according to the League of American Bicyclists are:

  1. Ride on the right
    • Always ride with the flow of traffic
    • Do not ride on the sidewalk
    • Allow yourself room to maneuver around roadway hazards
  2. Yield to traffic in busier lanes
    • Roads with higher traffic volumes should be given right-of-way
    • Always use signals to indicate your intentions to switch lanes
    • Look behind you to indicate your desire to move and to make sure that you can
  3. Yield to traffic in your destination lane
    • Traffic in your destination lane has the right-of-way
    • Making eye contact with drivers lets them know that you see them
    • Signal and make your lane change early, before you need to
  4. Directional Positioning
    • Position yourself in the right-most lane that goes in the direction of your destination
    • Ride in the right third of the lane
    • Avoid being overtaken in narrow-lane situations by riding in the right third of the lane
  5. Speed Positioning
    • Position yourself relative to the speed of other traffic
    • Left-most lane is for fastest moving traffic, right-most for slower traffic
    • Yield to faster moving vehicles by staying to the right in the lane