Bicycles On the Road

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Depending upon where you live, your teen may encounter bicyclists on the road regularly or infrequently. In either case, it’s important that your teen learn how to share the road with bike riders.

Excessive speed is a factor in a high number of crashes involving bicyclists. Teach your teen to obey speed limits. And set a good example yourself.

Make sure your teen is aware of how wide their car is when passing a bicyclist. And teach them not to pass too closely. Drivers may move their car into a bike lane to make a right turn if it is unoccupied. But drivers may not use the bike lane for a right turn if it is occupied by a bicyclist. It’s illegal and may block a bike rider’s path.

Bicyclists can travel at high speeds – often as fast as other traffic. So it’s important that your teen doesn’t assume there is more time to turn in front of a bicycle than in front of a car. Also make your teen aware that bicyclists cannot brake and stop as fast as the driver of a car.