How To Avoid Hurting A Cyclist While Driving

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With our roads filling up to capacity with cars, many ecologically minded people are turning to two wheels to avoid both the queues and to avoid polluting our planet any further. Sadly though our roads are unable to get any bigger and the increasingly close proximity of cyclists to cars makes them a serious hazard for even the most conscientious of drivers. This article hopes to give drivers a few pointers on how to avoid inadvertently running into or even killing a vulnerable cyclist.<br><br> Use Your Eyes<br><br> One of the most important things you can do as a driver is to be constantly on the lookout for cyclists. During the winter months this can be made a lot tougher as it is usually dark when traffic is at its height and when most cyclists are on the road so take an extra few seconds at cross roads and roundabouts. You have to hope of course that all cyclists will have lights on their bikes and some kind of fluorescent clothing but don't assume that they all will. Look and then look again.<br><br> Leave Lots of Space<br><br> On a busy road you may find yourself coming up behind a cyclist. For you this may be annoyance as they are in the way of your progress, but the fact is they have just as much right to be on the road as you have. You are however allowed to overtake them. If you do intend to do this you need to be extremely careful. For one, you may come up behind them faster than they are expecting and get a fright as you come past. They also may not be going in a straight line so you should be prepared for them to swerve about a bit. With this in mind the best thing to do is to leave as much space beside them as possible. <br><br> Don't Trust Them<br><br> Finally, and above all, don't trust a cyclist while you are driving. Bikes are not as reliable as cars: they don't have as good brakes as cars and of course have humans instead of engines. Cheap road bikes and cheap BMX bikes also offer a lot less protection than a Range Rover. Similarly they might not be using traditional road bike equipment, they may be using off road tyres and MTB inner tubes, its best to give them extra room as they not have as much grip on the road as they imagine. This all adds up to make cyclists a naturally unpredictable object on the road with you which can fall over, dart sideways or appear out of nowhere with no lights and a drunk cyclist. Be wary and save lives!

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