Bike shop Downey: Avoiding bike wrecks

As owners of bike shop Downey, there is nothing we hate more than to hear about a cyclist in our community getting injured or killed in an accident.
When you come into our shop, we'll make sure you find a helmet that you like, and that fits, because we know wearing one reduces cycling head injuries by 85%.  But while helmets can help you survive an accident, they cannot prevent one.
We will outfit you with good lights and a reliable bicycle, but those things are not enough either.
Sadly, most of the accidents that happen are not caused by cyclists breaking traffic laws, but by motorists who are not being careful and aware enough of bicycles. So following the law, while encouraged, cannot necessarily prevent all accidents either.
The thing that statistically reduces risk of accidents is defensive cycling- not putting yourself in the position where a driver's failures could take your life. Austin cyclist Michael Bluejay has done a lot of research and put together this excellent website Bicyclesafe.com. He has generously made the info available for free use, so we will be sharing parts of it in our series top ten bike wrecks in the next couple weeks.