I read another hub recently that gave what amounts to conventional advice on how to ride a bike in traffic. Some of it I agree with and will repeat in some fashion here. Other parts of it, I just cannot get on board with. There are too many cyclists out there, in my opinion, who have decided to conform and concede to the car culture that dominates most American cities. The so-called rules of the road are set for cars and cyclists are expected to follow them. Such a notion is absolutely absurd.  When I refer to bike safety, I really don't mean cyclists making concessions to a broken system; instead, I think the system needs to become more safe to accomodate cyclists, pedestrians, and the like.

Bikes are completely different animals than cars... and by doing things like stopping at red lights or staying in the bike lane, a cyclist might be putting him or herself in danger. You have to be smart... and you have to realize the system you are forced to operate in... an oppressive and dangerous one thanks to the lunacy of the car culture we live in.

Therefore... the things I say here are to be taken with a grain of salt. If you follow my advice, you do so at your own risk. I take no responsibility for what might happen to you because half of the game is execution when you are actually out in the street. It takes a certain type of person to handle traffic while on a bike in the way I describe. Heck, I ride a fixed gear bike with no brakes. But I know how to ride it and am probably safer than most people who ride with gears and brakes. No matter how you view the issue of bike safety, we all want to do our best to NOT get hurt out there.

First, I don't wear a helmet. I think it is a shame that cyclists face scorn for not wearing one. Shouldn't the system that puts our lives in danger when we choose to ride a bike get the brunt of criticism and the paternalistic scoldings? I love when someone blows by me going many miles over the speed limit and then at the subsequent red light scolds me for not wearing a helmet. What does my lack of headgear have to do with their reckless driving? Should you wear a helmet? Probably. Should you have to? No.

Second, I listen to my iPod when riding. I hear everything that happens - horns, road noise, engines, sirens, you name it. Riding with music makes the traffic noise less of a rattle to the central nervous system frankly. And with music in my ears and no brakes on my bike, I have to concentrate on the road 100% of the time with no deviation. I have to play chess when I ride my bike, thinking of the moves that might be made by cars blocks away. Without the security of brakes, for example, I take nothing for granted. I don't relax. I focus and, in the process, I am safer.

Never ride on the sidewalk. It's death. Cars turning right likely cannot see you in their mirrors and you are often out of the vantage point of people pulling out of parking lots and driveways. Plus you might just murder a pedestrian if you are on the sideWALK.

Don't hug the curb or even stay in the bike lane 100% of the time. Ride where you are visible and safest. If there are rows of parked cars stay away from the 'door zone...' meaning make sure if a door is randomly opened you are far enough away as to not get whacked by it. If a car is turning right (or you think it might be), don't ride by it on its passenger side... get behind and go by on it's left side. And remember, if you are in the traffic lane, you are in front of cars so they can see you... and probably better than if you are tucked away on their right side.

Pick and choose the red lights and stop signs you are going to obey. Be smart. If there are cars going thru green at your intersection, stay put... but if you can get through the red light safely and give yourself a cushion from the waiting cars, do it. This will ensure that they see you up ahead and that they don't blow by you when the light turns green... it is unsettling and makes you virtually invisible. As for stop signs... treat those four-way stops like a ballet. Adjust your speed to time blowing a stop sign perfectly.

Most of all, and I have learned this after riding extensively in San Francisco and now Los Angeles, temper your disdain for how people treat you out there with a 'let it roll off of your back' attitude. The fact is that most people in cars are cool or they simply have no idea what it's like to be one of the few on a bike in a sea of automobiles and raucous traffic. Some people are plain reckless jerks, potential murderers. Stay cool. Realize that on a bike you are free. In a car, they are curtailed. Heck in places like SF and LA you can get places faster on a bike than in a car. Pick your battles.

Ride hard. Have fun. Stay alert. Ride often.