Tess Woods, a project coordinator at Bike Indianapolis, starts off her safety trainings by showing her class a picture of herself riding a bike in the winter, during a polar bear ride. She’s not wearing a bike rider’s typical gear – she’s bundled up.
“My mom’s like ‘You look like you’re 10,’” Woods said. “And I said, ‘I know, because I feel like I’m 10! Riding a bike makes me so joyful.”
Woods grew up on the north side of Indy riding her bike for fun, and now she rides her bike downtown more often. Sometimes, there are scary moments.
“If everyone could be on a bike and have a big truck drive by them really fast, they would drive differently,” she said.
She’s one of 10 cyclists in Indy who shared their tips for what drivers can do to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe on the road.
Tess Woods, Bike Indianapolis
Woods’ safety tips:
“Put the phone down (or food or whatever else they are doing instead of paying attention to driving). We really need to pay more attention while we are driving, and distracted driving is prevalent.”
“Slow down and be patient. Give cyclists space and time. Too many drivers cut around a cyclist when there isn’t room to provide the legal three feet. Gaining a few seconds on your drive time isn’t worth putting someone in danger.”
Watch for cyclists when you open your car door. When drivers open their doors after parallel parking, cyclists can ride right into the open door.
Woods suggests using “the Dutch reach,” which is when the driver or passenger reaches over their body with their inside arm to open their door, turning their body toward the outside back window to check for any riders coming from that direction.
Mauricio Acosta, Nine13sports
Mauricio Acosta started riding his bike because the bus ride from his eastside house to Broad Ripple Middle School took over an hour. He’s been commuting, racing and mountain biking for about 10 years. He works with Nine13sports to educate kids about riding and building bikes.
Acosta’s safety tip:
“Take that extra second to really know what’s around you. I know it’s inconvenient to go the speed limit when you know you’ve got somewhere to be, but it’s not worth hurting somebody, or seriously injuring somebody, right?”
Jackie Elliott, Black Girls Do Bike
Twice a week, Jackie Elliott leads group bike rides for Black Girls Do Bike. She tells people to “come on out and get your wind therapy,” and she takes them on rides all over Indy – the Monon, Eagle Creek Park and the Nickel Plate trail.
For the past 20 years, she’s been riding her bike to stay fit and have fun.
Elliott’s safety tip:
“Slow down when you do notice cyclists. Those are our biggest issues when we’re on the road, is that they think they can stay at the same speed while riding around us.”
Connie Szabo Schmucker, Bicycle Garage Indy
Connie Szabo Schmucker is a cyclist and the advocacy director of Bicycle Garage Indy.
When there’s a crash between a car and a bike, Szabo Schmucker said “there’s usually a lot of focus on what did the bicyclist do? You know, were they wearing a helmet? Did they have lights? Did they have the right clothing and all of that? And not enough emphasis about what drivers can do for safety.”
Szabo Schmucker’s safety tips:
Be patient. Slow down. She also suggested checking out Bicycle Friendly Driving, an online course that can teach you strategies to be more aware of bikes and pedestrians on the road.
When turning right at an intersection, don’t underestimate how quickly a bike might be coming up behind you.
Wildstyle Paschall, community organizer
Paschall has been biking and riding the bus everywhere since 2021. He’s had some close calls while biking, usually when drivers are turning right or left.
“I’ve been lucky, but I’m also cautious,” he said. “I’m not too proud to use the sidewalk, and I do ride defensively.”
One thing an experienced cyclist taught him was to take up more of the road. When you move out into the middle of the road, it’s easier for drivers to see you.
Paschall’s safety tip:
Drivers need to be more aware of other vehicles and of cyclists. “We legally have a right to the road, and in many cases, the road is the only place we can actually use,” he said.
Marc Walter, Central Indiana Bicycling Association
Marc Walter, 68, started riding his bike about 10 years ago, when his kids had grown up and he had more time for hobbies. For almost all that time, he’s been part of CIBA. He lives in Fishers, and he works at CIBA as a ride coordinator and board member.
Walter’s safety tips:
Treat cyclists like they’re cars.
Always make sure there’s not a bicycle sitting there to your right if you’re going to make a right-hand turn. Keep your eyes open for the cyclists.
Stay out of bike lanes if there is one. And when we’re going down the road we need to ride about 3 feet out. If there’s a row of cars parked on the side, please stay far enough out that if they open their car door, we don’t run into it.
Matt Tanner, Rollfast
Tanner, 50, has been racing and riding bikes since 2000. He started a club called Rollfast, focused on mental health in the cycling community. He lives in Carmel, where he hosts the city’s bicycling events each summer.
Tanner’s safety tip:
“Cars never realize how fast road cyclists are actually going. You know, we’ll be going 20 to 30 miles an hour, and I think a lot of time, there’s just mistakes made by cars not judging the speed.”
Doreen Crenshaw
Crenshaw, a 63-year-old resident of the Far Eastside, has been riding her bike since she was a teenager. In 1984, she was 23 and did a long bike ride at the Grand Canyon.
“That was what kick-started a lifetime of cycling,” she said.
She now bikes 6,000 to 8,000 miles a year.
Crenshaw’s safety tip:
“The best way I could sum up a piece of advice is to see the humanity in a cyclist. You know, that’s somebody’s mother, sister, brother, father, whatever.”
Todd Dickey
Dickey, 29, lives in the Holy Cross neighborhood and bikes to and from work in the Mile Square.
Dickey’s safety tips:
Be aware of road markings and what they mean.
- Sharrows indicate cyclists are expected to take the whole lane.
- Drivers are supposed to stop before bike boxes, and not block them.
- Respect the new(ish) “no-turn-on-red” signals.
Avoid parking in bike lanes. Doing so pushes cyclists into traffic, which is very dangerous.
“Drivers typically don’t expect us in their lanes of travel, but if our lanes are blocked, we can’t stay in our own lanes. The worst location for this is along Pennsylvania Street, where the parking lanes separate the car lanes from the bike lanes.”
Rachel Isenbarger
Isenbarger, 32, has been commuting to work by bike since 2021. From 2017 to 2020, she walked to work.
Isenbarger’s safety tip:
“Pay attention to crosswalks and sidewalks. So many times, drivers are so focused on only cars that they don’t see me waiting to cross the street. They will turn immediately when the light changes without realizing a bike was just about to cross. I know now that if I don’t wait to make sure a car sees me, there is a good chance I will get hit.”
Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
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