Safety Precautions when Biking Dangerous Roads
Biking is a great way of commuting, exercising, or just having fun. However, not all roads were designed with a biker's safety and wellbeing in mind. There are certain precautions that bikers should take when traveling along a road that may not be the safest.
Whether your bike commute is uneven, highly trafficked, dark, or affected by bad weather, these are 5 safety precautions that you can take to ensure your own safety. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Always Wear a High-Quality Helmet
If you want to take your safety into your own hands while biking dangerous roads, then the best thing you can do for yourself is to buy a mtb helmet. Wearing a helmet could quite literally be the difference between life and death if you are in an accident on your bike, whether that's simply falling or even colliding with something else.
A helmet protects your head and face from serious injury in a fall, and this is important to keep in mind even if you believe the road you're biking on is safe. You never know when you might lose control of your bike or hit something that comes out of nowhere.
Wearing a helpmet is especially important on rough or steep terrain, where losing control of the bike is far more likely.
2. Attach Flashing Lights to Your Bike
Any road can become a dangerous road at night or in other low-visibility conditions such as foggy, snowy, or rainy weather. A good way to deal with this and keep yourself safe is to attach flashing lights to your bike.
Many companies sell water-proof and battery-operated lights that can be easily stuck to tied to different areas of your bike. These lights constantly flash, making it easy for passing cars or nearby pedestrians to see you way before they get close enough to cause an accident.
Lights can also help make the darker roads more visible to you, ensuring you see where you're going and can avoid rougher terrain.
3.Wear Reflective Tape or a Reflective Vest
Again, darker roads are often the most dangerous for bikers when it comes to being seen by passing cars. If they can’t see you, then they can’t avoid hitting you and causing you very serious harm.
Reflective tape can be attached to your bike or your helmet, shining back at drivers once their headlights hit you. Alternatively, you could wear a reflective vest so that you can be seen even if you have to temporarily get off of your bike in the case of an emergency or accident.
Both of these reflective options make it easier for drivers to see you in their own lights. In fact, even just wearing brightly-colored clothes instead of black can help you be more visible when you're out biking in the dark or in bad weather.
4.Use Handlebar Rearview Mirrors
Not many people know or think about this, but you can easily attach small rearview mirrors to your bike's handbars. With one on each side, you will be able to see if any cars or other bikers are quickly coming up behind you, allowing you to get out of the way on time and never be caught by surprise.
This is especially important if you often bike winding roads. There may be situations in which you can see a car in your rearview mirror well before they have come around a bend enough to see you. This gives you the advantage of being prepared and getting out of the way in an otherwise very dangerous situation.
5.Carry Bike Tire Patch Kits with You
You might find yourself frequently biking along rougher roads and terrain. Things like nails, gravel, sharp rocks, branches, and much more debris can puncture your bike tire and make it virtually impossible for you to get back home safely.
Carrying a bike patch kit allows you to quickly pull to the side of the road, fix up a punctures tire, quickly refil it as best as you can, and at least be able to get to safety without feeling stranded out on a dangerous road.