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The Secretary of State's office recently asked LMB and others to provide input regarding the bicycling specific content within their driver safety handbook, What Every Driver Must Know.  LMB Associate Director, John Lindenmayer along with the LMB Education Committee provide extensive input on the booklet from simple suggestions such as including a bike related image on the cover and incorporating more graphics throughout, to specific language recommendations regarding dangerous scenarios such as unsafe passing and cutting off a cyclists with the right of way. LMB comments encouraged the need to provide more concrete real life examples of how to avoid driver error caused crashes with bicyclists and stressed the importance or reinforcing the message that bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers.

This booklet is given to all prospective new drivers and is readily available at all SOS offices and as a PDF download on their website. The booklet currently contains a small section related to bicyclists as well as numerous references to bicycling throughout.

We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with SOS to make recommendations on how to promote safer driving around bicyclists in Michigan.

We encourage LMB members to download and review the the booklet as well.  The dedicated bicycling section can be found starting on PDF page 112 (listed as page 110 within the lower right of the document). Please share any comments or suggestions in the comments section below, on our Facebook wall, or by emailing John ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) who will pass along relevant information to the SOS.

We will keep you posted as to the results of our efforts.

Comments  

 

0 #1 RE: LMB Provides Recommendations to SOS on What Every Driver Must Know — John Lindenmayer 2011-10-04 18:41

Here's what the booklet currently says about bicycling. What are your suggestions (be specific)?

Bicycles and Mopeds
Much of the advice about motorcyclists also applies to bicycle and moped riders. Bicycle and moped riders are allowed to ride in a traffic lane, but must stay as far to the right as practical, obey traffic signals, not ride more than two abreast in a single lane, and must ride in the same direction as other traffic.

Bicyclists entering a roundabout are encouraged to ride in the center of the lane, traveling at or near the speed of circulating traffic. Motorists who encounter bicyclists in a roundabout should use caution, be courteous, and share the road.
A bicycle or moped ridden after dark must have a front headlight and rear reflector. But these may be hard to see.

A person riding a bicycle on a sidewalk meant for pedestrians must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and sound a horn or bell before overtaking and passing a pedestrian.

Watch the side of the road for slow-moving bicycles and mopeds without reflectors. Be ready to dim the headlights. While it is safer not to, you may drive beside a bicycle or moped in the same lane. Leave plenty of room by keeping at least 3 feet away. A rider may turn sharply to miss something in the road or avoid a door being opened from a parked vehicle.

 

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