As someone who has taught bicycle safety to both kids and adults, here are a couple of thoughts on hand signals.
1. Kids sometimes have a hard time remembering right from left, especially when they are doing something else - like learning to control their bikes in traffic. It is much easier to teach them to "point the direction you want to turn." 2. Drivers seem to intuitively understand the idea of bicyclists pointing the direction they want to go. It always works for me. 3. The last time I used a bent-arm right-turn signal, the driver thought I was offering the one-finger salute, despite the fact that I used my whole hand. 4. Using hand signals is much less important than riding predictably and communicating with drivers. Looking over my shoulder to indicate I want to make a lateral move is actually far more successful, in my experience. Also, hand signals are only required if you can take your hand off the handlebars safely. In some traffic environments or pavement conditions (potholes), that can be tough. 5. Teaching kids to look over their shoulder without veering from a straight line is a much tougher and also much more important skill than using hand signals. After all, even if you signal, that doesn't mean it's safe to turn. For more information about how to teach kids safe bicycling, and why they get into the types of crashes they do (it's not the same reasons or same crash types as adults) there is a free class being offered in Fitchburg by the DOT, Saturday, May 7: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/vehicle/bicycle/docs/tsb-brochure.pdf <http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/vehicle/bicycle/docs/tsb-brochure.pdf> Robbie Webber On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 1:32 PM, Kristine M. Niemann <[email protected]>wrote: > But, I still think the kids should be taught the correct way, just for > safety reasons. > >
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