Local news features Traffic Skills 101

Happy Friday. Here is a fantastic feature on a local news station in Roanoke, VA, which spends about three minutes plugging an upcoming Traffic Skills 101 course taught by LCI Barbara Duerk.

We would love to see this kind of coverage every time a Smart Cycling course is offered. In the meantime, to see where courses are being offered near you, check out our find-it feature. Go here for more on our education programs.

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In other safety and education news, the StreetsBlog Network directs our attention to an interview on Seattle’s PubliCola blog with a bike-commuting bus driver who offers tips on riding safely around buses. Here’s a snippet of the refreshingly calm and balanced perspective of a professional bus driver:

I could write a book on this subject, but I’ll focus on a few things:

First, Be visible: Wear visible clothing and use lights—day and night.  It makes a hugedifference from a driver’s perspective. I have lots of stories of cyclists seemingly coming out of nowhere at the last second. I can usually see a red tail light three or more blocks away while some lighting conditions can hide cyclists until I’m almost on top of you.  Seriously, please, get front and back lights and use them all the time—I do.

Second: The “three-foot passing rule.” Cycling advocacy groups have been pushing for legislation defining 3 feet as a safe passing distance. Cyclists need to remember that this applies to them as well. When you’re passing a bus (hopefully on the left side and not on the right), please try to give at least three feet. This is especially important for buses, since we are constantly moving to and from the curb to pick up passengers.

Third: Don’t plant yourself in blind spots when waiting for a light.  Many cyclists like to ride up on the right side of my bus and then wait for the light right next to the door.  There are many blind spots on a bus caused by window frames and the fare box, especially for shorter bus drivers. We are trained to “rock and roll” in the seat to expose the blind spots, but relying on a human being to be perfect in all situations is risky. Either wait behind the bus, or get well in front of the bus where you are very visible. Wherever you are waiting, it’s a good idea to make sure you can see the bus driver’s eyes directly.

Photo from PubliCola.net

Darren Flusche
League Policy Director

Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 29th, 2010 at 11:11 am and is filed under Bike Education, Public Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.