Originally Posted by
genec
It is just as practical as some of the items LAB listed...
BE PREDICTABLE
Make your intentions clear to everyone on the road. You can only signal your intentions... everyone on the road has to be paying attention before your intentions are clear. Ride in a straight line and don’t swerve between parked cars. Signal turns, and check behind you well before turning or changing lanes.
BE CONSPICUOUS
Ride where people can see you and wear bright clothing. Use a front white light, red rear light and reflectors when visibility is poor. Make eye contact with others and don’t ride on sidewalks. Impossible to make eye contact with people wearing sun glasses, having tinted windows, or staring at cell phones or at night.
THINK AHEAD
Anticipate what drivers, pedestrians, and other people on bikes will do next. I don't read minds, do you, so any "anticipation" you are making is really just an assumption, and those other folks can really do any damn thing they may.Watch for turning vehicles and ride outside the door zone of parked cars. Look out for debris, potholes, and other road hazards. Cross railroad tracks at right angles.
Yeah reality really rears it's ugly head when presented with a bunch of empty platitudes.
The things you called out are things you can do no matter where you are riding. They may work, they may not, but it's stuff you can do to keep you safer, anywhere. What you suggest -- ride where there isn't traffic -- is only practicable in very limited locations and situations.
If you happen to ride where it is practicable, knock yourself out, rule no. 6 in effect!, but for others, it falls off the practical end of things.