Bicycle is adventurous, eco-friendly and healthy. However, at the same time, the bicycle is dangerous. Florida and especially Miami witness hundreds of cycle crashes and cyclists deaths every year. In the past few years, when the cycle crashes have reduced to more than 50% in other states, they have reduced by only 9.7% in Florida. Therefore, the data makes it clear that Miami is risky for bicycle lovers.
The accidents not only lead to physical agony but much more than that. Claiming the medical insurance and searching the bicycle accident attorney in Miami are just to name a few. All these things add to the misery of the injured.
Thus, it is better to avoid crashing your bicycle in the first place. Here is a list of common situations of bicycle accidents and how to avoid them.
Five Common Reasons for Bicycle Accidents
1. Head-on Collision With Vehicles – Out of 3300 accidents from 2008 to 2012, 74% of deaths resulted from head-on collisions between bicycles and cars. It is either the cyclist or the driver that is driving in the wrong lane. However, the one who is more likely to get severely injured is the cyclist.
2. Hit From The Back – A little less than half of the accidents happen when a vehicle hits a cyclist from the back. In such cases, the vehicle and the car travel in the same direction and usually, the car driver miscalculates the speed of the cycle and hits it from the back.
3. Cycle Hits a Vehicle While Turning – This is another most common reason for a bicycle accident. A driver of a vehicle turning usually left unintentionally notices only the absence of cars and not the presence of a motorcycle or a bicycle. It is quite common for such a driver to either not notice the bicycle or miscalculate its speed and eventually end up being hit by a cycle.
4. Crossing Roads – It is quite likely for a vehicle to run into a bicycle while crossing roads. When a vehicle and a cycle run into each other perpendicularly, the scenario becomes life-threatening for the cyclist. This is due to the extreme jerk faced by the collision. Moreover, the speed of the vehicle converts into the energy of the collision making the experience almost fatal for the cyclist as well as for the vehicle-driver.
5. Night and No Light – Well, it might sound obvious to have proper reflectors and lights on the bicycles for riding at night. However, there have been mishappenings where the reason emerged out as the loss of visibility for the drivers. Clearly, the reflectors and front and rear lights of the bicycles were absent in those cases. It is obvious for the drivers of the vehicles to not notice a bicycle without lights until it was too late for them to react.
Safety Tips to Avoid Bicycle Crashes
The ultimate thumb rule to avoid any accidents is to follow traffic rules wisely. As per the best bicycle accident attorney in Miami, if you follow the following safety tips while riding a bicycle, your chances of meeting with an accident drop significantly.
- Always wear safety gear like helmet, knee guards, elbow guards, etc.
- Ride the appropriate size of the bicycle.
- The rider should always wear bright clothes, especially at night, to make himself/herself easily visible to the other riders and drivers.
- The rider should always ride in the right lane to avoid colliding with the traffic flowing in the opposite direction. Also, respect the pedestrians who are walking on the roads.
- Always check the brakes, lights, and reflectors of the front and rear end of your bike before starting. Make sure the batteries aren’t low.
- Be fully attentive and vigilant about the vehicles on the road.
- Keep the speed of your bike in conjunction with the traffic rules as well as the traffic flowing in the area you are riding.
- Try not to ride your bicycle on the road full of traffic or highways.
- Signal properly while turning or changing lanes with your hands.
- Be very careful while crossing road intersections. In case of an empty road, be extra careful to look for speedy vehicles from both directions.
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