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Cycling Safely

The Wisconsin Bike Fed and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Safety have partnered to develop Share & Be Aware materials such as this bike-safety tip.

Ride with Traffic

Bicyclists should always ride in the same direction as other traffic – including on one-way streets. Some people mistakenly believe that bicyclists are like pedestrians and should travel facing motor-vehicle traffic. This is illegal and has been shown to dramatically increase the risk of a collision because:

• Drivers don’t expect bikers to do that and may not be looking for them.

• Bicyclists traveling in the proper direction will have difficulty avoiding a collision with bikers traveling in the opposite direction.

• It forces bikers into oncoming traffic if they must swerve.

• Bikers cannot see road signs.

• Bikers cannot make proper turns.

In addition to increasing the risk of a collision, the “closing speed” (velocity at impact) between a biker and another road user makes such a collision more dangerous.