Safe Roads: See that cyclist?

Bicyclist shares the road on E. Union Ave. in the Denver Tech Center,
© AAA Colorado/Keith Kaiser

Are you one of the 12 million people who’ve watched the YouTube video that invites viewers to count the number of passes a basketball team makes? If you missed the bear moonwalking his way across the court, you’re not alone.

That failure to see is something that Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic – Why We Drive the Way We Do, calls “inattentional blindness.”

AAA Colorado attended meetings this year and last with representatives of other road users—cyclists, bikers, mass transit, and seniors. And just about everyone in the room agreed that drivers suffer from “inattentional blindness.”

The meetings offered a good reminder that the roadway belongs to many different types of users: cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, buses, pedestrians, construction vehicles, farm equipment and in some parts of the state, horses and wagons.

Looking at the roadway from another point of view is an important part of sharing the road. Motorists and bikers should know, for example, that trucks and buses need longer distances to come to a complete stop, execute turns and change lane. Trucks and buses have much larger blind spots than cars.

Bike riders should know that it’s difficult for a car driver to judge their speed. Drivers should know that bikers must constantly scan for road defects or debris. Pedestrians must walk against traffic, which often puts them on the uneven shoulder of the road.

Knowing the law is also crucial. All road users are entitled to the full lane width when travelling at the normal speed of traffic. When travelling slower than traffic, bicyclists should generally travel to the right of the lane. Motorists must give bicyclists at least a three-foot buffer when passing, and it is permissible for the car to safely cross the center line for a brief period of time when passing. Pedestrians have right-of-way at cross walks and intersections.

Use extra caution at intersections and when passing. Turning in front of a cycle is one of the most common causes of automobile crashes involving motorcyclists and bicyclists. Another involves all types of users running stop signs.

In most cases, Coloradans do a pretty decent job of sharing the road. The key to getting better, and saving lives, is being courteous, alert and knowledgeable.

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