7
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Ride on the right of traffic.
2. LESSONS
The lessons that follow relate to some of the most common real situations that children encounter
when riding their bikes. Go over these situations with your child and make sure the lesson objective is
accomplished.
Driveway Rideout:
When a youngster rides out of the driveway and is struck by a car, that is called a
rideout accident.
What can you do?
First, realize the danger of your own driveway. If there are obstructions to the view of passing
motorists (like bushes or trees), trim them back. You might park your car in front of the driveway, if
local ordinance permits. This way, your child can’t use the driveway as a launching pad.
But the most important thing you can do is teach your child about driveway safety. Take your child
outside to the driveway and have him/her practice the following steps.
•
Stop before entering the street.
•
Look left, right and left again for traffic.
•
If there is no traffic, proceed into the roadway.
Running the Stop Sign:
Car/bike crashes can happen when a cyclist runs a stop sign. Most cyclists
who get hit riding through stop signs know that they were supposed to stop. They just thought it would
be OK this time; or they may have been distracted.
The thing to impress upon your child is that while he/she may not get hit every time, running stop signs
will eventually result in an accident.
What can you do?
Take your child to a stop sign near home. Explain what it means by emphasizing the following points:
1) Stop at all stop signs, regardless of what is happening.
2) Look in all directions for traffic.
3) Watch for oncoming cars making left turns.
4) Watch for cars behind you making right turns.
5) Wait for any cross traffic to clear.
6) Proceed when safe.
In order to make this lesson stick, you may have to change your own driving habits. If you creep
through intersections controlled by stop signs, you are showing your child that you don’t really believe
what you preach. For your child’s sake, stop at stop signs.
Turning Without Warning:
Another major accident type involves cyclists who make unexpected left
turns. They neither look behind for traffic, nor do they signal. The key factor here is neglecting to look
to the rear: If the cyclist had looked, he/she would have seen the danger coming up from behind.
What can you do?
Of course, you ought to teach your child not to ride across busy streets
– at least until the child has
had some advanced training and is old enough to understand traffic. But in the meantime, for
residential street riding, you can teach your child to always look and signal before turning left. A big
part of this lesson is teaching the child how to look to the rear without swerving.
Take your child to a playground to practice riding along a straight line while looking behind. Stand
alongside and hold up a different number of fingers on your hand after the child rides by. Call his/her
name. After 15 minutes of practice, a ten-year-old should be able to look behind his/herself and
identify how many fingers you are holding up
– without swerving.
