Education, Safety and Law

Education and Safety

The bike corral at the finish of the Big Dam Bridge 100 ride.

BACA uses the Smart Cycling Curriculum developed by the League of American Bicyclists. Over the past four years, BACA has worked with our League Cycling Instructors (LCIs) to offer a wide range of bike and traffic safety skills in central Arkansas. LCIs offer courses to suit the needs of anyone. Certified, insured and equipped to teach anything from basic skills to college-level courses, LCIs are the experts in bicycle education and safety. Courses offered include: Traffic Skills 101, Traffic Skills 201, Bicycle Commuting Workshop, Sharing the Road (motorist education), Cycling Skills for Parents, Cycling Skills for Adults, Cycling Skills for Children, and Safe Routes to School (the Traffic Skills 101 course tailored for younger riders, elementary through middle school). LCI's can also offer customized versions of these courses, design bike rodeos, and provide general safety consulting.

Another educational resource is the Yield 2 Life group. Take some time and read over their safety tips for cyclist and safety tips for drivers pages.

Learn to Ride the Right Way... in Traffic or on the Trails!

Traffic Skills 101 is the foundation course for adult bike education, designed to give cyclists the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. The course covers helmet fitting and use, personal safety equipment, bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat tire, traffic laws as they apply to bicyclists, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques.

To find local League Cycling Instructors and when classes are available in Arkansas, check the following link:

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/course_schedule.php

Details and registration information can be found at https://members.bikeleague.org/members_online/members/findit.asp?action=search

For general reference, we've collected some basic bike safety and traffic skills material for home study and reference. Most of this information parallels the curriculum used in the Smart Cycling courses, and can be used as preparation to take a Traffic Skills class.

Traffic Skills 101 On-Line Course: (Here's an option to take the classroom portion of Traffic Skills 101 on-line, including the written test. This allows you to review the material, take the test on-line, and save or print a scoresheet, which you can then take to a local LCI in order to complete the on-the-bike portion of the course in order to receive a certificate for completing Traffic Skills 101.)

Traffic Skills: (Riding in Traffic, or on the Trails). This is a quick review of some of the material covered in the Traffic Skills 101, Traffic Skills 201, and Street Skills classes.
Arkansas Traffic Law for Bicyclists. A class handout which covers the state laws governing bicycling in Arkansas, as well as local city ordinances which place stricter requirements on cyclists, where these ordinances exist.
Road Hazards and Avoidance: (Coming Soon!)
Youth Education: Our youth are the future of cycling in Arkansas. Here's how we seek to reach out to them, and the key things to teach your children about bikes.
Education for Law Enforcement Officers: What can we do to help prevent the proliferation of ghost bikes? We have a few suggestions here...
Group Rides and Mass Ride Events: Group rides bring out the best of the social aspects of bicycling, and help you improve your fitness. Here's some tips on how to be a better participant.
Commuting by Bicycle: Ticked off at high gas prices? Here's some ways to save on gas money and improve your mental and physical health at the same time.
Safe Routes to School: Getting youngsters' feets on the streets, back on bikes, and making our school zones, campuses, and surrounding neighborhoods a safer and friendlier place -- all at the same time.
Sharing The Road: Conflicts often exist between cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists. Here are some ways we can all get along better.
Getting There by Bike. A good introductory video from California State University - Pomona, on bike/driver relationships.

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