Delta police are offering safety tips for cyclists after a pair of accidents involving bicycles — one of them fatal — in Delta earlier this week.
On Aug. 7, a cyclist was killed at 72nd Street and 36th Avenue, near the Boundary Bay Airport. Then, a day later, a teen on a bike was involved in an accident on Ladner Trunk Road.
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In the wake of these incidents, the Delta Police Department bike unit is offering a few safety tips learned at the one-week course officers took to learn how to safely handle their police bikes.
“Just like other cyclists, we want to work or bike hard, enjoy what we do and come home uninjured at the end,” said Const. Jeff Miller in a press release.
Miller and his partner in the unit, Sgt. Roy Garnham, shared the three “Bs” that they use to stay safe:
• Be conspicuous (visible, obvious)
• Be predictable (if you’re in a lane that turns right, people expect you will turn right)
• Be aware
According to a DPD press release, the majority of collisions between motor vehicles and cyclists occur in intersections, and several studies have found the fault in vehicle/bicycle collisions is essentially equally shared between cyclists and drivers. As well, the majority of cyclists were going straight ahead.
Miller noted that the rules of the road, as well as traffic signs and signals, also apply to cyclists. As such, he had five further rules to share with cyclists:
• Stay to the right, generally one metre from the curb to avoid obstacles
• No riding in a crosswalk
• In the dark, bikes must be equipped with a headlight and a tail light
• No side-by-side riding on the roadway
• Always wear a helmet
“Probably the most significant thing cyclists can do, is be conspicuous.” Miller added. “The most common comment by a driver in a vehicle/cyclist collision is ‘I didn’t or I couldn’t see them.'”
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