Although many states have tried to legally protect cyclists from car drivers' abuse, there are still many things that we can do to create peace in the streets
5 Ways to Create the Safest Ride Possible
1. Drive your bike.
The bike, after all is treated as a vehicle in the eyes of the law. That's why considering yourself driving your bike instead of just riding, is probably a good idea.
2. Obey the law.
. Salmon biking (driving your bike against the flow of traffic), and completely breezing through stop signs or red lights are the two offenses that most make motorists see red. The road is a limited resource - if cyclists want to share it they need to respect the rules of the road.
3. Arm yourself with a smile and a wave....
Sometimes car drivers can be pretty aggravating - they stupidly dart around slower traffic, they make sudden, unexpected moves, and they pretend not to notice when they've done something asinine to you. Well, guess what? Same thing with bikers. The best way to drive your bike is to drive defensively, but maintaining Zen-like serenity if at all possible. So choose style and safety over speed. And, oh yeah. Respect the pedestrians.
4. ....and don your finest, brightest plumage.
Not only is it great to give other motorists a little eye-candy in addition to plenty of lights and reflectors on your bike, it's also best to be as visible to everybody as possible. It's okay to stand out in traffic.
5. Remember, biking has a bell curve.
Most of your bike experiences are statistically likely to be good ones, without road rage or other incidents. "For every million hours of biking, the mortality rate is just 0.3 - that's better than driving's 0.5. To put it another way, Canadian study says the risk of dying in a bike crash are about the same as dying in an SUV crash". Therefore, you should arm yourself with a smile to deflect rage, the right amount of lighting, and yes, even a mirror. To paraphrase Dori the fish from Finding Nemo: just keep riding.