// MANUAL
What can you do? First, realize the danger of your own driveway. If there are obstruc-tions to
the view of passing motorists (like bushes or trees), trim them back. You might park your car in
front of the driveway, if local ordi-nance permits. This way, your child can’t use the driveway as
a launching pad. But the most important thing you can do is teach your child about driveway
safety. Take your child outside to the driveway and have him/her practice the following steps:
1) Stop before entering the street.
2) Look left, right and left again for trac.
3) If there’s no trac, proceed into the roadway.
b. Running a Stop Sign
Car/bike crashes can happen when a cyclist runs a stop sign. Most cyclists who get hit riding
through stop signs know that they were supposed to stop. They just thought it would be OK this
time; or they may have been distracted. The thing to impress upon your child is that while he/
she may not get hit every time, running stop signs will eventually result in an accident.
What can you do? Take your child to a stop sign near home. Explain what it means by empha-
sizing the following points:
1) Stop at all stop signs, regardless of what is happening.
2) Look in all directions for trac.
3) Watch for oncoming cars making left turns.
4) Watch for cars behind you making right turns.
5) Wait for any cross trac to clear.
6) Proceed when safe.
In order to make this lesson stick, you may have to change your own driving habits. If you
creep through intersections controlled by stop signs, you are showing your child that you don’t
really believe what you preach. For your child’s sake, stop at stop signs.
c. Turning Without Warning
Another major accident type involves cyclists who make unexpected left turns. They neither
look behind for trac, nor do they signal. The key factor here is neglecting to look to the rear.
If the cyclist had looked, he/she would have seen the danger coming up
from behind.
What can you do? Of course, you ought to teach your child not to ride across busy streets - at
least until the child has had some advanced training and is old enough to understand trac.
But in the meantime, for residential street riding, you can teach your child to always look and
signal before turning left. A big part of this lesson is teaching the child how to look to the rear
without swerving. Take your child to a playground or a safe area away from trac or obstruc-
tions to practice riding along a straight line while looking behind. Stand alongside and hold up
a different number of ngers on your hand after the child rides by. Call his/her name. After 15
minutes of practice, a ten year old should be able to look behind his/herself and identify how
many ngers you are holding up - without swerving.
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