Sometimes I hear complaints that Memphis drivers don’t know how to share the road with cyclists.
Or maybe it’s more of a don’t want to share the road with cyclists. (When you hear about things being thrown at people on bicycles, that doesn’t seem like something you should have to teach people not to do.)
But for my purposes, I’m going to assume that it’s a knowledge issue, which I’m sure it is for a majority of the driving population.
A friend of mine posted “How to Drive Around Cyclists” from Bicycling magazine on Facebook recently and, though I’m not completely sure when it was written, it still seems like a good primer.
Drivers and cyclists: If there’s even been an oil-and-water combination, this is it. We both use roads; we’d both prefer to do so without the other in the way. But the juxtaposition puts cyclists in far greater peril than drivers. For that reason, nearly every rider would like nonpedaling motorists to know how vulnerable they are. And, yes, riders also need to take responsibility for their own safety, but a few simple tips for drivers will make the roads safer for everyone.
Most of it seems to boil down to drivers should give bicycles a 3 ft. berth, go slow, and pay particular attention at intersections. The piece also gives riders tips to be safer around crazy drivers. And everybody knows we have a few of those around here.
