A Website That Could Help You Ride Safer

With information we can avoid danger and affect positive change. As bicyclists who ride through the crowded city we rely on our skill and experience to get us from point to point safely. We also hope. We hope that drivers give us the three feet of space the law requires. We hope that drunk drivers stay far from us. We hope that a sink hole has not cropped up in the bike lane since we were last there. We hope that lady in the SUV on her cell phone with three kids trying her nerves from the backseat sees us. Hope is a good thing. But when my health and safety are on the line give me information over hope any day. Roadguardian.com provides cyclists with the means to report and receive information about danger spots so they can ride smarter and safer. I was made aware of this helpful site by a post last week at www.bikerumer.com. Roadguardian.com provides cyclists with information regarding:

• Where have cyclists experienced close calls?
• Where have cyclists been hit and injured?
• Where have cyclists been killed?
• Where have dogs chased cyclists?
• Where are the pot holes located?
• Where have cyclists been harassed by motorists?

At the moment the site has only two incidents listed in Chicago. For our city, the site is not yet a useful resource. But if enough bicyclists post incidents on the site it certainly can be. With accidents and incidents posted on the site perhaps trends will become clear and danger areas can be corrected or simply avoided. It is up to bicyclists to make this a useful tool. Let's get to work.