When I was twelve, I got my first “ten-speed” bicycle, and it opened up a whole new world of mobility for me. I was able to ride all the way across town and grind back  up the long hill that led to my neighborhood in northwest Reno. I was free to go where I wanted, and I loved that bike. And I'm still in love with bicycling, regularly tooling around the Rose Garden, Willow Glen, and Downtown areas.

I was a pretty careful kid, I lived in a smaller town, and I was lucky. Most importantly, however, I had attended a safe bicycling class in school and taken the lessons to heart. I knew what was safe and what was not, and I generally rode (and still ride) very safely, or, to be more precise, like I'm scared to death of cars. I had some close calls and had the stuffing scared out of me once or twice, but, so far, I have never been hit by a car.

On the other side of the coin, of course, I drive a car, quite a lot. I have had to slam on my brakes several times here in the neighborhood to avoid dangerous bicyclists darting out from an “invisible” location (usually riding against traffic or on the sidewalk). I cannot imagine the full horror of hitting a bicyclist with my car, no matter how unsafely the bicyclist was riding or how little he or she might be injured. One day I was turning off of The Alameda when a bicyclist suddenly appeared in the crosswalk in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and missed him by a couple of feet. By the time I got home (a block away) I had tears in my eyes and I had to sit in my car and let the tension dissipate before I could get out. To say I was extremely distraught when poor Breanna Slaughter-Eck was killed right here in our neighborhood, on a street I have ridden many times, is an understatement.

So I wanted to use this space to remind everyone, briefly, of the importance of safe bicycling in the hopes that adults will refresh their own knowledge of safe riding and will impart the importance of safety to their kids. In fairness, I have had more unsafe encounters with adults on bicycles than children, but I worry a lot more about the kids. Here are five simple rules I have found help me stay safe on the streets of San Jose:

1. Remember that the bicycle is a vehicle, and ride accordingly. Follow all applicable traffic laws, including stop signs and stop lights. People expect all vehicles on the road to follow the same rules, and accidents happen when unexpected things happen. It's insulting to have to mention that you should ride on the right side of the road, in the direction of traffic flow, but I recently watched an entire family ride up the sidewalk and then the wrong side of Bascom, then cross four lanes in an illegal turn. I was flabbergasted, so I mention this here.
2. Be visible and vigilant. Signal when slowing down, stopping, and turning. Wear bright clothing, and use lights after dark. Look for cars before you enter an intersection, and know where the cars around you are when you're in traffic. Remember that people open doors of parked cars suddenly, and plan ahead when you are passing parked cars (especially cars that are  just parking).
3. Anyone over the age of 10 or so should ride safely in the street, NEVER on the sidewalk. Kids younger than 10, of course, should ride on the sidewalk, but only on uncrowded sidewalks and only at about walking speed, and should always walk across driveways and crosswalks. Don't do as I saw one man do, encouraging his kids to careen down the sidewalk on the Alameda, following him on his bike. Think about how you drive a car when you pull out of a blind alley or driveway: you creep forward at a speed that accommodates walking traffic, then look right and left. Someone walking down the sidewalk at 3 mph will be able to avoid you as you creep forward, but someone riding a bike won't. Similarly, making a left turn, you look down the sidewalk a little ways in each direction to ensure no one is stepping into the crosswalk, but you may not even notice a bicyclist half a block away, hidden by a parked S.U.V. until he or she is in the crosswalk in front of you. An enormous number of bicycle vs. car accidents happen in crosswalks and on sidewalks because drivers either don't see or don't expect the bicyclists. Add to this the danger of hitting a pedestrian on the sidewalk with a bike and you see that bicycles really have no place on a sidewalk.
4. Keep your bicycle in good working order. My most embarrassing bicycle accident occurred when I had purchased a used bike and was riding home from work in west Los Angeles. I was slowing for a railroad crossing, when the front brake simply detached  itself from the bike, traveled around, still clamped to the wheel, and, reaching the end of the cable, proceeded to flip me over the handlebars neatly on my face in the middle of the street. I literally found myself face-down on the asphalt, just short of the railroad tracks, arched gracelessly with the bicycle, my feet still on the pedals, perched over my head. Fortunately, I was on a street with little traffic; had this occurred in heavy, fast-moving traffic it might have been more tragic than funny. There are a fair number of moving parts that can fail on a modern bicycle, and the failure of any of them can precipitate a serious accident.
5. Look for alternate routes. Riding on busy streets like The Alameda, Coleman, and San Carlos is stressful and dangerous, especially if you ride slowly. There are a lot of cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles on busy streets, they are moving a lot faster, and it only takes one of them to run you down. Riding on the side streets may entail more stops and starts (I hate them, too) and more time, but the riding is much less stressful and generally safer.

More complete lists of rules, suggestions, are readily available, and I encourage anyone who rides or who cares about someone who rides to review the safety rules. Here are some good links for bicycle safety:

• Scenarios and advice on avoiding accidents – excellent advice: http://bicyclesafe.com/
• Rules and activities for kids: http://www.mcgruff.org/Advice/riding_right.php 
• More for kids: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/KidsandBikeSafetyWeb/index.htm
• The law (California DMV): http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/tocd11c1a4.htm
• Local bicycle advocacy: http://svbcbikes.org/