Giant Bicycles - Safe Road and Path Riding Practices

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B. Riding Safety
1. You are sharing the road or the path with others — motorists, pedestrians
and other cyclists. Respect their rights.
2. Ride defensively. Always assume that others do not see you.
3. Look ahead, and be ready to avoid:
• Vehicles slowing or turning, entering the road or your lane ahead of
you, or coming up behind you.
• Parked car doors opening.
• Pedestrians stepping out.
• Children or pets playing near the road.
• Pot holes, sewer grating, railroad tracks, expansion joints, road or
sidewalk construction, debris and other obstructions that could cause you to
swerve into trafc, catch your wheel or cause you to have an accident.
• The many other hazards and distractions which can occur on a bicycle
ride.
4. Ride in designated bike lanes, on designated bike paths or as close to
the edge of the road as possible, in the direction of trafc ow or as directed
by local governing laws.
5. Stop at stop signs and trafc lights; slow down and look both ways at
street intersections. Remember that a bicycle always loses in a collision with
a motor vehicle, so be prepared to yield even if you have the right of way.
6. Use approved hand signals for turning and stopping.
7. Never ride with headphones. They mask trafc sounds and emergency
vehicle sirens, distract you from concentrating on what’s going on around you,
and their wires can tangle in the moving parts of the bicycle, causing you to
lose control.
8. Never carry a passenger, unless it is a small child wearing an approved
helmet and secured in a correctly mounted child carrier or a child-carrying
trailer.
9. Never carry anything which obstructs your vision or your complete
control of the bicycle, or which could become entangled in the moving parts
of the bicycle.
10. Never hitch a ride by holding on to another vehicle.
11. Don’t do stunts, wheelies or jumps. If you intend to do stunts, wheelies,
jumps or go racing with your bike despite our advice not to, read Section 2.F,
Downhill, Stunt or Competition Biking, now. Think carefully about your skills
before deciding to take the large risks that go with this kind of riding.
12. Don’t weave through trafc or make any moves that may surprise
people with whom you are sharing the road.
13. Observe and yield the right of way.
14. Never ride your bicycle while under the inuence of alcohol or drugs.
15. If possible, avoid riding in bad weather, when visibility is obscured, at
dawn, dusk or in the dark, or when extremely tired. Each of these conditions
increases the risk of accident.