favorite safety quote

[erikinop]

a local college magazine is doing an article on cycling and i need some good, old fashioned safety quotes! spit your best line!

(mine is "when metal touches metal... grease!")

[Bekologist]

"Brakes? Overrated, they just slow you down."

"Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades."

two of my favorite, not necessarily safety oriented bike quotes....

[Gojohnnygo.]

Alert today. Alive tomorrow.

[atbman]

Here lies the body of Edward Grey, who died, defending his right of way
He was right, dead right, as he pedalled along, but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong

[maddyfish]

Keep the shiny side up, the greasy side down.

[ken cummings]

Red means stop, Green means go, Orange means go very fast. Just kidding. Actually:

Three on an Orange. People have been road raged for not getting far enough into the intersection to let the next driver get their front wheels over the white line so that that driver could then get thru the intersection when the light cycled.

[cashew]

Drinking and riding do not go together. This past spring a local college student was riding his bike home after bar close. Rumor has it that he had had a few but not too many. Ran a stop sign and got smacked by a car driven by someone who had had a few but not too many. The rider is now recovering from his brain injury, will not be continuing his education for quite some time. He was the only operator sited in that accident for failure to yeild.

[ken cummings]

"Look both ways before crossing"

[joejack951]

Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.

Pretty much sums it up.

[Artkansas]

a local college magazine is doing an article on cycling and i need some good, old fashioned safety quotes! spit your best line!

My maxim in regards to vehicular traffic is "Let trouble pass you by". In otherwords, most *******s want nothing more than to get ahead of you. Let them and your problems are minimized exponentially.

[mechBgon]

Not precisely cycling-related, but I like this quote seen on the rear of some semi trailers: If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you!

[Stacey]

Go in covered?

[bike2math]

My maxim in regards to vehicular traffic is "Let trouble pass you by". In otherwords, most *******s want nothing more than to get ahead of you. Let them and your problems are minimized exponentially.

Hehe! I often think to myself while driving or biking, "The evil I know is better than the one I don't"

[JLauren]

Hehe! I often think to myself while driving or biking, "The evil I know is better than the one I don't"

And I'd rather have that evil in front of me where I can keep an eye on it.

[wild animals]

that reminds me of "if there's a hornet in the room, i should like to know where it is."

[donnamb]

My great-uncle used to tell me to "always pay the closest attention to the driver in the car that is just behind the one in front of you."

[tomcryar]

My old Grandad from Alabama--an old farmer, told me that a mule in the road is better than two birds in a tree.......to this day, I've got no friggin' idea what he was talking about! But I do know this: you need to look out for everything---Especially on a good long decent ride, because you can become complacent--and it only takes a second.........

[Bruce Rosar]

... i need some good, old fashioned safety quotes! I'm not sure that it's old fashioned, but my favorite when teaching vehicular cycling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling) is: Be visible and predictable. (http://www.utahstatesman.com/news/2006/03/20/Opinion/Letter.To.The.Editor.How.To.Be.A.Visible.Legal.Cyclist-1690251.shtml)

[gbcb]

I love the Calvin & Hobbes storyline about Calvin doing a safety poster. He ends up going with "Be careful or be roadkill!", ignoring his parents' suggestions:
Mom: "Before you cross, look each way, and you will get home safe each day."
Dad (love this!): "Cyclists have a right to the road too, you noisy, polluting, inconsiderate maniacs! I hope gas goes up to eight bucks a gallon!"

[(51)]

Give me three feet!
<----------------

[AndrewP]

It's better to be 30 secs late in this world, than 30 years early in the next.

[recursive]

Keep the rubber side down and keep it between the ditches.

[slagjumper]

The only ones who do need helmets are those with nothing to lose.

[Mr_H]

I love the Calvin & Hobbes storyline about Calvin doing a safety poster. *snip*
Dad (love this!): "Cyclists have a right to the road too, you noisy, polluting, inconsiderate maniacs! I hope gas goes up to eight bucks a gallon!"


I just printed that one out to put in my office at work last week :D

[recursive]

The only ones who do need helmets are those with nothing to lose.

I don't quite understand that one. If they have nothing to lose, why would they wear helmets? Typically, helmets are used to protect something from damage/loss. If there's nothing to protect, what use could a helmet possibly have?

[mwrobe1]

Cover your stump before you hump?

No seriously...a few of my favorites are:

Get a medical check-up before starting any exercise routine.
Never check a gas tank with a lighted flare.
In the event of a water landing...your seat can be used as a flotation device.
While on a ladder, never step back to admire your work.

[2manybikes]

To avoid that run down feeling, look both ways before crossing.

[wild animals]

To avoid that run down feeling, look both ways before crossing.


haha, nice

[chipcom]

Plan for Murphy. Always expect the other vechicle/bike/ped/ped/critter etc. to do the stupidest thing possible.

[slagjumper]

I don't quite understand that one. If they have nothing to lose, why would they wear helmets? Typically, helmets are used to protect something from damage/loss. If there's nothing to protect, what use could a helmet possibly have?

Should have been:
Only people with something to lose, need to wear helmets.

[Helmet Head]

Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.

Pretty much sums it up.
+1

Although, if you put it in print, please cite it correctly...

"Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles." - John Forester, author of "Effective Cycling" and developer of the Effective Cycling cycling education program.

[JohnBrooking]

Don't remember the wording exactly, but this is from Robert Hurst in The Art of Urban Cycling:

Hoard responsibility. Gather all of it that you can, and use it more wisely than those around you.

And the old foreign policy saw is applicable too: Trust but Verify.

[maximusvt]

Kid: Look ma, no hands!
(rides around the block and back)
Kid: Look ma, no teeth!

[CrosseyedCrickt]

The best one I have heard is about temptation:
"I told the devil to get behind me, and when he did he pushed down".
So if you can not see your enemy you will not know what he is up to.

[PaulH]

"Beware the Hun in the sun!"

Paul

[slowandsteady]

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

[sbhikes]

Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey. Except for one of those pedals.

[sggoodri]

Walk Left, Ride Right

[WorldWind]

Only you can prevent forest fires.

[bent-not-broken]

We aren't Blocking traffic...We are Traffic!

[WalterMitty]

Always yield to greater mass.

[lyledriver]

Don't draft Lyle

[sggoodri]

Same roads, same rights, same rules

[genec]

Traffic is predictable, individual motorists are not.

[Helmet Head]

Traffic is predictable, individual motorists are not.

In deciding how and where to ride in traffic, you can rely on the vast majority of motorists to be predictable and reasonable most of the time, and you can and should be vigilant and prepared for, and not surprised, threatened or agitated by, the relatively rare individual exceptions (i.e., the exceptions are ultimately predictable too).

[genec]

In deciding how and where to ride in traffic, you can rely on the vast majority of motorists to be predictable and reasonable most of the time, and you can and should be vigilant and prepared for, and not surprised, threatened or agitated by, the relatively rare individual exceptions (i.e., the exceptions are ultimately predictable too).

Riiiiiight. Now go read the thread about the Pro cyclist being hit and run (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=226550) by the motorist turning right from the left lane. And try to recall some of my rants about motorists making unpredictable moves... in particular similar to one making a right turn from a left lane.

It's alright... I'll wait while you try to explain how he wasn't positioned within inches of some arbitrary point that only you and Forester know about... and how this caused the motorist to then leave the scene of the crime.

Oh yeah and don't forget to remind me that this motorist was obviously doing all they could to avoid an accident.

[FLBandit]

The faster you go the less it hurts in the end. (Of course that was from a motorcycle forum)

[Helmet Head]

In deciding how and where to ride in traffic, you can rely on the vast majority of motorists to be predictable and reasonable most of the time, and you can and should be vigilant and prepared for, and not surprised, threatened or agitated by, the relatively rare individual exceptions (i.e., the exceptions are ultimately predictable too).

Riiiiiight. Now go read the thread about the Pro cyclist being hit and run (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=226550) by the motorist turning right from the left lane.
I read it. It's a perfect example of "the relatively rare individual exception". Any bets on whether Bahati (the pro cyclist) was using a rear view mirror and being vigilant and prepared for that rare but not unpredictable, especially in the presence of an "in the way" cyclist, right turn from a left turn only lane at a T intersection? What's your point?

And try to recall some of my rants about motorists making unpredictable moves... in particular similar to one making a right turn from a left lane.
If you can't predict that that happens, rarely, but it happens, then you suck at predicting.

It's alright... I'll wait while you try to explain how he wasn't positioned within inches of some arbitrary point that only you and Forester know about... and how this caused the motorist to then leave the scene of the crime.
I don't know where Bahati was positioned or how it might have mattered, but it's clear by the fact that he was not only surprised, threatened and agitated by the maneuver, but that he was hit and injured by it, that he was not being vigilant and prepared for "the relatively rare individual exceptions". Instead of relying on "the vast majority of motorists to be predictable and reasonable most of the time" (which is what I promote), he seemed to be relying on "ALL motorists to be predictable and reasonable ALL of the time".

Oh yeah and don't forget to remind me that this motorist was obviously doing all they could to avoid an accident.
Huh? The motorist was obviously NOT doing all they could to avoid an accident... that's why we need to be vigilant and prepared for the relatively rare individual exceptions when we're out there.

[Keith99]

Excuse me!

This was far from unpredictable. From his own words it looks like the pro rider decided to get into a 'race' with a car. I'm not at all saying the driver was right or anything close to it, but seems to me that the rider in question didn't give a d@mn about his own safety.

From the article:

"This woman tried to race me to the corner," Bahati told Cyclingnews. "It's just a two-lane highway ending at PCH, and I'm in the right hand lane where you can only go right and she's in the left hand lane where you can only turn left. But she turns right and I t-boned her right over the hood. Once I got to my feet she looked at me and she just took off!"

[genec]

I read it. It's a perfect example of "the relatively rare individual exception". Any bets on whether Bahati (the pro cyclist) was using a rear view mirror and being vigilant and prepared for that rare but not unpredictable, especially in the presence of an "in the way" cyclist, right turn from a left turn only lane at a T intersection? What's your point?


The way I read it is the cyclist and the motorist were parallel... where a mirror would not have made a difference anyway... similar to my situation where the motorist and I were on parallel but separate paths... until the motorist chose to vary their path from that prescribed by the signage and lines on the road.


If you can't predict that that happens, rarely, but it happens, then you suck at predicting.


Clearly... I have yet to win the lottery... but perhaps some folks do have the power of "Carnac the Magnificent." I wasn't aware that seeing into the "unpredictable" future was a requirement to ride a bike in traffic.


I don't know where Bahati was positioned or how it might have mattered, but it's clear by the fact that he was not only surprised, threatened and agitated by the maneuver, but that he was hit and injured by it, that he was not being vigilant and prepared for "the relatively rare individual exceptions". Instead of relying on "the vast majority of motorists to be predictable and reasonable most of the time" (which is what I promote), he seemed to be relying on "ALL motorists to be predictable and reasonable ALL of the time".


Then pretty much vaidates my quote of "Traffic is predictable, individual motorists are not."


Huh? The motorist was obviously NOT doing all they could to avoid an accident... that's why we need to be vigilant and prepared for the relatively rare individual exceptions when we're out there.

Pretty much validates my current rant that motorists are not doing their best.

Thanks for the validation.