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Bicycle Safety
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Nashville is changing. A countywide bicycle plan has been adopted, new bike lanes
are being striped, and new greenway trails wander ainteger our waterways. Together, these projects are making cycling
a safer, more practical choice for transportation and recreation in Nashville. A bike-friendly community promotes
healthy lifestyles, reduces traffic congestion, provides better mobility for children and those who don’t drive,
helps clean the air, and improves our sense of community. Bicycling is also one of the healthiest and least expensive
ways to get from place to place.
Improving the bicycling environment is part of Nashville’s new focus on a multi-modal transportation system.
A multi-modal system offers citizens a practical, safe choice between walking, bicycling, transit or driving for a
given trip, instead of having to rely on a single mode for all trips.
This guide was designed to help you understand your responsibilities as a cyclist and to safely assert your rights
while using Nashville’s public rights-of-way with other roadway users.
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Safe Cycling
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Ride Predictably
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Riding Fundamentals
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Lane Positioning
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Turning
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Riding On Bikeways
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Handling Common Hazards
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Safe Cycling
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Safe cycling starts with the fundamentals: the proper maintenance, the right
equipment, the right fit.
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Maintenance checklist
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Always make sure your bike is in good working order before each trip. The basics :
If your bike has hand brakes, the levers should not touch the handlebars when
you squeeze. Also make sure the brake pads hit the wheel rims and not the tires
themselves.
Spin each wheel. Look to see that the wheel is “true” (does not wobble) and
that the rims don’t rub the brake pads.
Make sure your tires are inflated to the pressure indicated on the side and
that your wheels are tightly secured to the bike frame by the axle nuts or
quick release levers.
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Bike style and fit
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If your bike is the wrong size, it’s hard to ride safely. There are several variables in getting
the right fit for you and the right bike for the type of riding you do. See a bike dealer for detailed
advice, and always follow these basic rules:
Clearance is critical! While standing in front of the saddle, and straddling
the bar, you should be able to put both feet flat on the ground.
When sitting on the saddle, your knee should be slightly bent when at the
bottom of the pedal stroke. Adjust the seat post as necessary.
Children and adults who have just started to ride may lower the seat so they
can put a foot down while seated. Once their skills improve, the seat can be
incrementally raised to the proper height.
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Helmet fit
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No single item of equipment is more important in reducing serious head injuries than a helmet; but it must fit correctly
to protect you. Make sure your helmet is certified for safety by SNELL, ASTM or ANSI. Helmets should be replaced after
a crash or even after about five years of normal use.
How to Test for Proper Helmet Fit:
The helmet sits level on your head – not back at an angle.
The helmet fits securely and doesn’t shift to the front, sides, or back of your
head.
Position the strap under your chin just loose enough to allow two fingers to
slide through.
For kids, wearing a helmet is not just a good idea – it’s the law. Whether
riding a bike or in a carrier or trailer, it’s the parents’ responsibility to
ensure that children under 16 are wearing their helmets.
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Ride predictably
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For the most part, people driving cars all follow the same rules as each other. Traffic flows with relative
safety because all drivers can reasonably predict what other drivers will do. When you as a cyclist disobey
a traffic law, drivers can’t predict what you will do next, so they’re not sure how to respond. If, however,
you operate your bike like a vehicle – stopping at red lights, signaling turns, turning from the correct
lane – drivers can predict what you will do. And when you follow the rules of the road, motorists will come
to respect cyclists as drivers of vehicles, which is what bikes really are.
Remember following principles:
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Know the traffic laws and follow them
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In Tennessee, bicyclists are granted all of the rights, and are subjected to all of the duties,
applicable to cars. In addition, regulations specific to bikes can be found in Nashville’s bike
ordinance at
Munciple Codes. Look for Title 12, Chapter 12.60.
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Communicate
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Make eye contact with drivers, signal your moves, and make noise when necessary.
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Be confident and alert
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When you practice good riding skills, assert your rights safely, and ride predictably,
other roadway users will take you seriously.
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Be assertive - not aggressive
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Don’t compromise your own safety for the convenience of others, but do be courteous to other
road users without giving up your right to the road.
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Riding fundamentals
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Be visible
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Wear brightly colored clothes and maintain your bike’s reflectors. At night, a white front
headlamp and both a flashing red rear lamp and rear reflector are required by law.
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Look behind you
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You must know how to look over your shoulder while riding in traffic, without losing your balance or swerving.
This simple act helps you to safely move left or right, avoid hazards, change lanes, or make a turn. A look over
your shoulder also indicates to approaching cars that you are aware of their presence. Practice this technique
in an empty parking lot or a vacant side street.
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Be ready to brake
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Always keep your fingers near or over your brake levers so you can stop quickly. When you brake, squeeze the
front and rear brakes at the same time. Using the front brake alone can flip your bike. Remember that in wet
weather you need more distance to come to a stop.
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Ride safely with others
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When riding with others, you can legally ride two abreast if it does not impede traffic – but not more.
If you are riding slower than cars, it is courteous to give drivers reasonable opportunities to pass safely.
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Communicate with others
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Bikes are smaller, slower, and quieter than other vehicles, so you need extra efforts to communicate
with drivers and make sure they notice you.
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Be alert and aware
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As you ride you have to avoid two things: hazards on the ground in front of you, and the cars
and pedestrians all around you. Accordingly, you should always know what’s going on with the pavement and with the surrounding traffic.
To do this, get into the habit of looking at the ground about 30 feet in front of you, then up at traffic,
then back down at the ground.
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Use hand signals
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Hand signals are an important way to communicate, but use them only when you know you can remove your
hand from the grip without losing control of your bike. Although some people remember the old hand signals
taught in school, you may do better to point in the direction you intend to go; however, the old “stop” hand signal
still applies.
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Lane Positioning
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Traffic laws say that slower vehicles should stay to the right. Since bikes are usually slower than cars, these
rules usually apply, but there are exceptions.
Here are the basics:
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When to ride to the right
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Stay to the right when you are moving slower than the prevailing traffic – which is most of the time. However,
you don’t have to ride in the gutter. Take your rightful share of the roadway a safe distance from the curb or
parked cars. When you ride a little bit further from the curb, oncoming motorists and those on cross streets
can see you better. Also, riding closer to traffic discourages drivers from passing you and then cutting you
off with a quick right turn.
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When to ride in the middle of the lane
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When you’re moving at the same speed as cars, it is safe to ride in the middle of the lane. This is also true
when you have to avoid pavement surface hazards, like parallel asphalt joints or rough shoulders.
When you’re on a narrow road, riding in the middle requires drivers to pass you as they would a car - in the
opposite lane - instead of trying to squeeze past too closely.
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Bike lanes
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When riding on a street with bike lanes, use them - it’s the safest place to be. However, you have the right to
ride in the adjacent travel lanes when surface hazards - like debris or standing water - are present. You may
also need to exit the bike lane in order to merge into the appropriate lane for your movement through an intersection.
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Never ride against traffic
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Some riders reason that if it’s safest for pedestrians to walk counter to the flow of cars on streets without
Bikeways, it must also be true for cyclists. However, twenty percent of car/bike collisions happen when
cyclists are going the wrong way.
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Turning
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Always follow these simple guides
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Look behind you.
Use a hand signal to let drivers know you are merging left.
When clear, merge into the appropriate lane for a left turn.
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The box turn
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For cyclists less comfortable in traffic, at some complex intersections, or when traffic is especially heavy, you may
need to use a box turn:
Proceed straight through the intersection remaining in your usual position on
the right side of the road.
When you get to the curb on the other side, reorient your bike so that you are
facing the direction in which you want to go.
Proceed at the appropriate time.
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Bike lanes
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When riding on a street with bike lanes, use them - it’s the safest place to be. However, you have the right to
ride in the adjacent travel lanes when surface hazards - like debris or standing water - are present. You may
also need to exit the bike lane in order to merge into the appropriate lane for your movement through an intersection.
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Never ride against traffic
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Some riders reason that if it’s safest for pedestrians to walk counter to the flow of cars on streets without
Bikeways, it must also be true for cyclists. However, twenty percent of car/bike collisions happen when
cyclists are going the wrong way.
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Riding on Bikeways
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In Nashville, bicycling on Bikeways is allowed only ainteger streets with few or no commercial establishments. In
Downtown or Hillsboro Village, for example, you may not ride on the Bikeways. If you’re not comfortable
riding in the street in areas like these, become a pedestrian and walk your bike on the Bikeways.
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Handling Common Hazards
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Parked cars
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Don’t weave in and out of the cars parked ainteger a street – it will confuse
drivers. Instead, ride in a continuous, straight line, about three feet away
from the parked cars.
If a car door does open in front of you, yell and brake.
Swerve to the left only if you know you have enough room to do so.
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Blind spots
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Know where a driver’s blind spots are and stay out of them.
Don’t follow a vehicle so closely that you can’t see potholes or other pavement
problems until it’s too late to react.
Don’t follow a vehicle so closely that it blocks your field of vision.
Position yourself so that the car in front of you doesn’t block other drivers’
view of you – especially at intersections, where there are a lot of cars at a
lot of angles relative to you.
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Railroads
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Some railroad tracks cross streets diagonally. The gap between the rails and the adjacent pavement is an easy
place to get your bike tire stuck and have an accident. Cross the tracks as close to a right angle as possible,
especially when the street is wet.
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Roads to avoid
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All interstate highways and some state roads restrict access by bicycles. All such limited access roadways are posted at entry ramps.
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