Oceanside, California — May is National Bicycle Safety Month, and Oceanside Police are encouraging more people to take bike rides actively and safely.
“Bicycling is a great means of transportation and recreation, and everyone deserves to ride to their destination safely,” Sergeant Clint Bussey said. “Let’s look out for one another and share the road responsibly.”
To help keep people biking or walking safe, the Oceanside Police Department will conduct a traffic safety operation throughout the month focused on driver behaviors that put bicyclists and pedestrians at risk, such as speeding, making illegal turns, failure to yield the right of way, and stop sign/red light running.
The Oceanside Police Department suggests the following safety tips for bicyclists and drivers:
Drivers
• Slow down and follow the speed limit. Be careful traveling through intersections.
• Look carefully for bicyclists and pedestrians before turning or opening a car door near streets or bike paths.
• Be patient when traveling behind a bicyclist and give them space when passing. California law requires drivers to change a lane, when possible, to pass
bicyclists.
• Never drive distracted or impaired.
Bike Riders
• Use lights at night.
• Although not required for riders 18 and older, always wear a properly secured helmet. Helmets significantly reduce the chance of a head injury in a crash.
• Bicyclists must travel in the same direction of traffic and have the same requirements as any slow-moving vehicle.
• Yield to pedestrians, just as a driver would. Pedestrians have the right-of-way within marked or unmarked crosswalks at intersections.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic
Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
