
Be visible and predictable: Safety measures are key when cycling on Thunder Bay roads
CBC
With interest in cycling on the rise and more people taking their bikes out on Thunder Bay roadways, experts are urging cyclists to take some precautions to stay safe.
"Since we're post-COVID, there are actually more people commuting by bike with the return to work," said Ashley Priem, co-executive director of EcoSuperior, which offers cycling education courses in the northwestern Ontario city. "The cycling rates have definitely gone up."
Darrik Smith, the city's mobility co-ordinator, is regularly out on his bike and sees plenty of examples of people not taking steps to stay safe.
"I've seen all kinds of stuff," Smith said. "I see lots of people with no helmets on. I see lots of people with no protective equipment on whatsoever, no reflective gear, wearing dark clothing, biking at dusk.
"It's a big risk," he said. "One of the other things that I see, too, is parents riding with their kids with no helmets. And as a parent myself, one of the things that I try the hardest to do is to model the behaviour that I want to see."
Both Priem and Smith offered a few tips for cyclists heading out on the road.
First, wear a helmet.
"You can get a new heart, you can get new lungs, you can get a new liver," Smith said. "You only get one brain. You get one shot with that brain, and that's who you are as a person."
Cyclists should also make sure they're visible to others, he said.
"Whether that be having reflective stickers on your helmet and on your bicycle, wearing a surveyor's vest that's luminescent with the flashings on it," Smith said.
Priem said being predictable is also a way to increase safety on the road.
"As a cyclist, it's important that you're trying to bike in a straight line, and that you give good hand signals before you try changing direction or lanes."
Cyclists must also stop at red lights and stop signs, and use bike lanes when they're available.
"It is important that according to the Ontario Highway Traffic, a bicycle is considered a vehicle that belongs on the road," Priem said. "That means you're riding along with other traffic.