From hand signals, to watching for cars backing out of driveways, and suddenly-opening doors on parked cars, cyclists need to be taught all about bike safety from a young age.

This according to Constable Lisa Robertson with the Weyburn Police Service, who offered some Bike Safety Tips for this fine spring day.

You can just listen to the full audio here, or read on below.

"You're supposed to be riding your bike on the road and treat your bicycle as a vehicle," she said. "So you do have to obey all the traffic signs and signals."

"If you come to an intersection or a stop sign, please stop. Look both ways, treat it as a four-way stop, never assume that a vehicle sees you and that they're going to stop for you and obey all the traffic laws."

 

"Ride the street the same direction the vehicles are going. Be predictable, ride in a straight line. Don't go in and out of the vehicles. Try to use your signals when you can to make it known to the drivers that you want to turn or you're gonna pull out."

"If you are riding a bike, don't be on your cell phone."

"Don't be distracted. It's best if you don't have headphones in to listen to music, because you want to be able to hear a vehicle, or somebody coming up behind you, so that you're not alerted in caught off guard," she advised.

Robertson reminded cyclists of all ages to practice defensive driving.

"Look before you turn. Just don't assume that the drivers are watching out for you and watching for parked cars, even like when you're pulling out around a parked car, there might be somebody in there, that is going to open their door and they won't see you, so watch for that."

"Children, if they're small enough, they can go on the sidewalk," she noted. "You know it's good if they are taught to watch driveways when they're approaching a driveway to watch for vehicles backing out that they slow down and you know, stop for a driveway if they see their vehicles pulling out or when they're entering a street corner and they're coming off a sidewalk, they must stop and look both ways."

She said if you're going to be on the sidewalk, employ a communication signal like a bell or a horn.

Every cyclist should refresh themselves on hand signals: 

  • When turning left, put your left arm straight out to the side.
  • When turning right,  signal by putting your left arm out to the side with your elbow bent and your hand up.
  • To indicate you are stopping, put your left arm out and down, with bending your elbow. 

Click HERE for more from SGI on Bike Safety.