Due to the thinness of the tires on a typical bicycle, there are certain road hazards that could increase the chances for a bicycle accident. Each of those hazards threatens to impede a bike rider’s progress.
Potholes are one such hazard.
There are 2 types of potholes.
—Those that would qualify as a temporary fix; sometimes such a fix would not rate as a job well done.
—Those that result from the repeated wear and tear on the roadway.
While potholes can damage an automobile’s tires, their effects on thinner tires could force a bicyclist to walk, rather than ride. Personal injury lawyer in Lethbridge knows that the dangers associated with such a hazard can be reduced, if authorities arrange for placement of a warning sign at a point close to the hazardous pothole.
Sewer grates belong on any biker’s list of potential dangers.
Sometimes the grate’s shape or the direction in which the grates run can increase the chances that a bike’s wheels might get stuck in such that grated hazard.
Ways for minimizing the amount of danger associated with a grate:
—Have grates run in direction that is opposite to the direction of traffic. The rider on a bicycle should be following the direction of all the traffic on the rider’s side of the road.
—Place a cover over all or part of a grate
—Make sure that the grate does not sit low on the roadway. Grates that had been placed in such a low position could become a hazard. Any one of them might become the floor of a puddle following a rainstorm. In other words, the rider on a bicycle would be unable to spot the danger that existed under all of that dirty water.
A third danger: Railroad and trolley tracks
Sometimes the tracks’ features increase the chances that a bike’s tire might get stuck in the small space between the track and the ground that surrounds it.
Those that must check for road hazards need to ask these questions, when encountering any railroad or trolley tracks:
Do the tracks run in the direction of traffic?
Do the tracks curve, as they cross the road?
Have the tracks been positioned at an angle, at those points where any of them cross the road?
Are the tracks still used?
There is really no reason to have unused tracks on a section of roadway. Unfortunately, some cities have used old tracks as a guide for creating the path that should be taken by newer or longer tracks. That approach could be used to provide the public with more sources of public transportation. Sadly, though, the old tracks could become a danger to another recognized alternative to the automobile (the bicycle).