3 Use warning devices
Install both a bell AND a horn on your bike. Bells are for warning pedestrians and horns are for
warning cars.
4 Ride on the proper side of the road, with traffic, not against it
This might sound obvious, but a lot of people believe it’s better to ride against traffic so that you see
cars coming towards you and they can’t sneak up and hit you from behind.
Statistically speaking, you have a much higher chance of being hit by a car pulling out onto the road
that didn’t see you because he didn’t check for traffic coming the WRONG way. Stick to riding with
traffic and not against it.
5 Take the lane
On an ebike, ride in the lane if you can travel the posted speed limit of the road. Traffic in many urban
areas, especially downtown and business centers, rarely surpasses 25-30 mph, and is often much less
during peak hours due to stop-and-go traffic. It’s much safer for you to ride in the lane with the cars
so that they can see you than trying to hug the curb and getting passed by cars.
Also, when cars pull out onto the road, they check the middle of the road for other cars and often
miss a bicyclist who is riding on the extreme edge of the road. Giving yourself more space between
you and the curb also provides you with room to work with should you find yourself needing to make
any sudden evasive maneuvers. Lastly, it removes the chance of getting ‘doored’ by a parked car,
which happens when a parallel parked car opens its door before you have a chance to move out of
the way. At low speed these collisions are annoying and result in damages; at high speed on an ebike
they have been known to be deadly.
6 Keep your tires properly inflated
Not only does this help you improve your ebike range, but it will also give you better control should
you need to react quickly to avoid a collision. Keep your tires topped off so you have the best chance
to staving off a crash when milliseconds count. While you’re at it, check your tire tread and make sure
your tires aren’t bald. Worn tires and ebikes are a bad combination due to all that extra power you’re
packing. You definitely don’t want to lose grip with the road when you need it most (or pretty much
ever, for that matter.)
7 Be a defensive driver
Most drivers see a bicycle and think “slowpoke” regardless of how fast the bike is actually moving.
Years of seeing kids on bikes have seemed to reinforce this bicycle=slow mentality of drivers. This can
be a big problem when you’re on a fast ebike and the oncoming driver assumes he has time to make a
turn in front of you. You might think that he obviously realizes your current speed means he’ll never
make it, but all he sees is a bicycle and assumes he’s got all the time in the world.
This situation happens much more often than you may realize and you want to take electric bicycle
safety seriously then have to be prepared for it. I never give a driver the benefit of the doubt and
ALWAYS assume they’ll take make a bad judgement call about when to make a turn or start slowing
down. If I’m wrong then I get left with the pleasant surprise of meeting a competent driver, and if I’m
right then I was already prepared to start braking or move out of the way.
8 Watch out for drunks, seriously
Be extra careful on weekends, especially Friday and Saturday nights. This is when the drunks are out
in force. As bad as drivers can be on a nice, sunny Tuesday afternoon, Friday night it can be like there
is a bounty on your head and the first drunk to get you will claim the prize.
