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Rules of the Road

By James Durand

By James Durand

Rhyley and I have been riding to school most mornings for the entire year.

In fact, she rode every morning from the start of the school year up until her Christmas break. After that the weather turned ugly and we only managed a couple of days per week.

I always ride in front and never really thought about traffic rules, but a few weeks ago I let her lead and had an eye-opening experience. Not realizing that she never had to pay attention when following me, I trusted she would ride safely, but she rode right through a stop sign. Luckily there were no cars present, but it reminded me it was time to start teaching her the rules.

So for the last few weeks, I let her lead and I make sure she obeys signs, signals her turns and stays close to the curbs.

She has done great and when she starts riding by herself in a few years I’m sure she’ll be very safe.

Last week, Rhyley was getting excited about Bike to School Week and we started riding every day again. One morning she wanted the whole family to ride. Off we went, me and Rhyley on our bikes and Chenoa towing Regan in the bike trailer. We stopped at a four way stop in a school zone. A car stopped and we proceeded. We were about 1/3 of the way across when I looked down to see how Rhyley was doing and make sure Chenoa and Regan were still with us. When I looked back up the car was rushing in front of us. To be honest, it was still five feet away and wasn’t close to hitting us, but can you not wait 10 more seconds to let a six-year-old and her family cross the intersection on their bikes, especially when they have the right of way?

I’d like to think the driver never noticed us and this was an honest mistake, but she gave me full eye contact as she sped in front of us.

At first it bugged me and I probably yelled something inappropriate at her, but then I thought about what a great lesson this was for Rhyley. As diligent as you may be at obeying rules, there is still some idiot out there that will happily run you down to save a few seconds on their commute, so even when following the rules of the road, be extra careful and make sure you look out for yourself first.

On a good note, we encounter far more drivers that stop, smile, and wave. Apparently the nice people are less rushed in the mornings.

I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…