Streets like 21st, bike lanes allow cyclists to keep a good distance from cars. Still, keeping an eye out is a life or death matter.
Police cars, and a twisted bike lying along the road. It's a scene repeated several times in the last couple days in Bakersfield.
Tuesday morning, 17-year-old Derrick Sarberam swerved out in front of a car and was hit, landing on the vehicle near the Garces Circle. He survived even with head and neck injuries.
Friday 51-year-old Sam Boyd died after being struck on his bike. Zac Griffin of Bike Bakersfield gave us some safety tips. "As a cyclist, we always rationalize the reality that I may have the right to that road, but I also may die in the process of exhibiting my right to that road."
Griffin and I took a ride on our bikes. "Obviously when you can , you want to stay to the right as a bicyclist, but when you can't you want to make yourself as visible and as known to the people behind you so that you do not startle them or catch them off guard to provide safety for yourself as well as them."
We went over making turns, in this case from a bike lane on 21st to the center lane turning left. "Stay in that lane until you have scanned behind you. And scanned in front of you like you would do in an automobile to make sure that you have a clear path to get over you would signal preferably 100 feet before hand, if it's a left turn you're gonna say this, if it's a right turn, gonna say this," says Griffin.
Griffin says wearing a helmet and bright clothing is a good idea. Police say drivers and bicyclists need to behave defensively. "Motorists need to be aware of the bicyclists on the edge of the road, and bicyclists need to be aware of the motorists on the road as well, something that is preventable if we all look out for each other," says Bakersfield Police Sergeant Allan Abney.
Bike Bakersfield is lobbying the city to widen some of the bike lanes in areas where the speed limit is 55 miles per hour. The group is having a bike safety class on October 1st and 8th. For information to register, you can call, 661-321-9247 or log onto
www.bikebakersfield.org
