FM Talk 1065 Podcasts
LAW 251 with Lacy Smith from Tobias and Comer Law Firm - Bike Safety 7-01-24
and welcome back FM talk one oh six five and mobile mornings Dalton or we're here and time for another edition of law two five one and welcome back in the studio Lacey Smith with Tobias and Comer law good morning Lacey I don't know you I am great and great to see you again love when you come by and talk with us in a very important topic this week and it's fitting as the kids are out there out of school for the summer and that means well a lot of things if you're traveling around it means there's going to be more kids out and about maybe they're going to the pool maybe they're going to grandma grandpa's house and we know the way they like to travel right and that's bikes that's right and now e-bikes becoming more and more popular and I know you have some stats that can also be very dangerous with the kids on these bikes right whether it's kids or adults bike safety is is definitely paramount national statistics show us the most recent year we have is 2022 but that year 1,100 people were killed in bicycle accidents those deaths are highest during the summer months as you mentioned that's when kids are out of school and as we might discuss in a little bit kids have a little bit different reaction time and and just their skills are a little bit less but the highest months for deaths on bicycles are in the summer months between June and September failing to yield the right-aways is a huge factor also just bicycle is not being visible to drivers on the road and then there's different kinds of accidents you have people just falling off a bike which is most common but there's also the more serious and more fatal very often are the ones where they actually have a collision with a car but you know regardless of the reasons for a crash prevention is is is huge and can save a lot of lives and there's just some simple steps you can take to just to minimize your risk or your child's risk of being injured in a bicycle accident all right and I know a lot of adults who don't seem to know the rules of the road in vehicles and I presume most of them have you know driver's licenses so they should know children who are on bikes it's probably a great time to start teaching them if you hadn't already what yielding is what all stops sign you got to stop even if you're on your on a bicycle and how that could keep them from being injured or worse just knowing some of the rules of the road but also I know some children make fun of it but wearing the proper protective equipment too when you are on a bike right rules of the road are certainly important and they apply to cyclists just like they do to vehicles it is Alabama law everyone under the age of 16 who's on a bicycle is required to wear a helmet so that can kind of take some of this thing out of being the bad guy if you're a parent it's the law you have to wear your helmet but that's also the most effective way to prevent fatal bicycle accidents another thing that there might be some confusion about is you know I was a child of the 90s and I could swear to you that I was taught if you're on a bicycle you ride in the opposite direction or opposite lane of traffic so you're kind of meeting a head on that's actually incorrect um bicyclists should be traveling the same lane as um you know so right hand side of the road just like a driver of a car should so um you know just refreshers and reminders with your children um you know also being aware people around you um you know your children should be aware that um drivers aren't always going to be looking out for them especially in the iPhone age they might be distracted so um they really need to watch out for themselves first and and and follow the rules of the road. I'm talking with Lacey Smith with Tobias and Comerlau for another edition of law two five one here and uh we've talked um previously about golf carts and kind of how it seems like those exploded in popularity five ten years ago in neighborhoods all around here and the road road of rules of the road aren't always being followed in those when you often see kids way too young to be driving in those and a kind of new method of transportation although it's not necessarily new but it has certainly exploded in popularity here recently are the e-bikes and we talk about them here often they're very cool I mean they're awesome um and I wonder if maybe a lot of parents and grandparents probably don't know the kind of speed that children can get up to on those e-bikes and also anytime you're talking about someone on a bike the faster they go if there is an accident the harder they fall and with these e-bikes I'm sure you've seen some more around just like I have but maybe even more important that the children on those bikes or I mean the anyone not just children but really know what they're doing right to keep themselves out of dangerous situations right um the e-bikes like you said have exploded in popularity and that's definitely the cool way means of travel for anyone you know around my son's age and um you know while they are useful for getting up hills some of them have like the jets and bikes and some other brands have these throttles that can um you know get them up to 15 to 20 miles per hour and um you know going downhill with a throttle even increases that so um certainly uh you know and then again their reaction time um you know when it comes to controlling a bike or that's traveling that fast some children don't have the capacity for that so it's important that they um you know get used to the bike before they just take off outside of parental supervision on those but you also want to make sure they're having those helmets on um you know I've had some adult friends who have had bicycle accidents and they post on Facebook about how their helmet ends up cracked um much better to have your helmet cracked than than your bones or your or your head so um make sure helmets are by far the easiest and most accessible way to protect yourself on a bike yeah no doubt about that and uh just like the car seats you guys have told me about if it's cracked if it's been in an accident previously get rid of it because it doesn't have that same kind of safety value that a fresh helmet or a fresh car seat does and let's talk about also the other side of this too and that would be people in your regular old car your regular old truck and um while bikes aren't always supposed to be on the road you know think highways in there are crosswalks those bikes are allowed to cross those crosswalks legally just like people are and I think it's maybe another thing that especially with these e-bikes moving so quickly someone turning right in a car might not see that person coming up from behind them that's about to cross that crosswalk especially if they're moving fast on an e-bike just kind of another thing for folks in vehicles to think about as they try to stay safe on the road stay safe on the road you talked about texting while driving that can get you right there of course yeah distracted driving is a huge driver of accidents across the board whether it's you know running into pedestrians or running into the car behind you so um and again you want to tell especially your children that um unfortunately not everybody is is following the rules of the road and putting their phone down when they're when they're driving but yeah just with the e-bikes and how much those are exploding and popularity and mobile um you know just make sure you're taking that extra second to look around um your surroundings before you take a turn um and certainly try to share the road um you know maybe kids should be in bike paths or on sidewalks but oftentimes they are either crossing the road or especially in neighborhoods um you know sharing a line of traffic with you and um you know there there's no hurry there's no rush in the world that can replace um you know so a precious life that's on one of these bikes of course um just share the road with them take a breath pull around them when you can but um you know safety first for everybody on the road well some timely information here of course with it being summer a lot more people are out and about and uh with Independence Day um probably going to be a lot of bicycles out there and and e-bikes as well uh so this is some fantastic information and just something for folks to remember whether you are the one on the bike or e-bike or it's your child or you're driving around the car how that could be life-changing in just a split second notice uh the website to biascomerlaw.com you have this information there along with so much other great stuff uh things that people need to know things that people want to know as well but i know if someone has a question for you guys maybe they have uh something they want you to look into they can call for a free consultation at any time and that number two five one four three two five zero zero one but i know they can contact with contact you on the website as well correct um you know we we've got means for anybody to submit an inquiry online um or you know you can call and leave a message and we will always return your call as soon as possible but yeah our website is the easiest and um most efficient way to get in touch with us and um that's to bias at comerlaw.com all right sounds good well uh lacey hope you hope the family have a great rest of the summer can't wait to see in here again and thanks for coming in for another additional law two five one thank you all right lacey smith to bias and comber law check them out online to biascomerlaw.com you'll find our podcast here law two five one there and on our website as well fm talk one oh six five dot com coming up next the jeff pore show he joins us next right here on fm talk one oh six five no representation is made that legal services performed are greater than the quality of legal services of others