A great message from Manitoba Public Insurance as every life on the road matters — let's work together to protect cyclists by staying alert, driving with care, and always sharing the road.
Common safety tips for all cyclists to keep in mind when riding on roadways include:
•Always wear a helmet
•Obey traffic control signals and signs
•Use hand signals and eye contact to communicate
•Ride in a straight line, don’t weave between vehicles
•Ride single file when riding with other cyclists
•Don’t carry anything that is large enough to affect your ability to maintain safe control and balance of the bicycle
•Watch for debris and road hazards that may impede your travel or the travel of a vehicle
For motorists, some safety tips are:
•The safe distance between a vehicle and a cyclist increases as speed increases, so the faster you go, the more distance you need to provide between your vehicle and a cyclist
•Reduce your speed and leave a safe following distance
•Change lanes, if possible, to give cyclists plenty of room
•If it is not possible to change lanes, pass at a safe distance (more than one metre for speed zones over 50 kilometres per hour)
•Avoid using your horn
•Watch for cyclist hand signals indicating change in direction of travel
•Watch for debris that has collected near the curb that a cyclist may need to avoid, requiring more room
Road safety truly is everyone’s responsibility. If we share that responsibility, everyone will get home safely.