Is it safe to ride?

By Steve Magas The Bike Lawyer
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You see it everywhere, I’m sure. In your neighborhood – with your kids. Do you kids wander around town on their bikes? Probably not.
For me, as a teenager in the mid-1970’s, it was nothing to leave the house in the morning on the bike and MAYBE come home for lunch. My and my buddies would be riding all over – from ball diamond to park to ice cream stand. For, I am certain, a variety of reasons that just doesn’t happen any more.
One downside of this is that kids miss out on learning the absolute JOY that comes with the freedom of being on a bike. Kids miss out on being able to MOVE from place to place without a play date and without waiting for Dad or Mom to take them.
Can we develop a SAFE way to encourage kids to ride again without exposing them to the statistical population of cycling fatalities? I guess that is one of the many challenges facing the bike industry, bike safety experts and those encouraging our country to RIDE. Those 1975 cycling fatality statistics were littered with dozens of “dart out” cases – kids jumping from sidewalk to roadway, without paying attention to traffic. Safe Riding means teaching everybody – Kids & Adults – about the Rules of the Road and how to ride safely in traffic.
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https://ohiobikelawyer.com/uncategorized/2010/04/bicycle-crash-statistics-is-it-safe-to-ride/oldId.20100427145606216