Safety first

3-foot rule: Cars must keep at least 3 feet from cyclists when passing. Pull to the side: Slower-moving vehicles, including bicycles, with five or more vehicles behind them, must pull over and let them pass. My suggestion is don’t let them stack up; let them pass immediately.

Mirror: Wear a mirror on your helmet, or one of the new wrist straps with mirrors. Keep an eye on your mirror, without turning your head (which can take you into the lane), to see traffic coming up behind you. Be seen: Maintain fresh batteries in a flashing red warning light, positioned on the back of your bicycle seat.

Stop: Do not blow through stop signs, red lights or intersections, and beware that at T intersections, which may appear safe as you approach from the right on a red light, pedestrians can emerge in crosswalks. Just stop.

Pedal clips: Do not wear pedal clips unless you have practiced how to quickly disengage them. Failure will lead to a fall if you make a stop.

Dangerous downhills: Most single-bike accidents occur when cyclists lose control going very fast around blind turns, then face an obstacle, braking and catapulting over the top. Slow down and use disc brakes, which are best at handling heat from extreme braking.

Groups: In a group, when following a rider, make sure your front tire is out of the driving line of the rear tire of the person riding ahead of you. If the two tires meet, your front tire can stop, and in turn, launch you over the handlebars; happens every weekend. Do not ride two or three across.

Helmet: Wear the best helmet you can get, and even then, do not expect complete protection in an accident. Instead, do not risk accidents in the first place.

Cars: Just let them go by. From any perspective, shouting can’t fix stupid.