Running is a normally safe activity: apart from the occasional injury that may bother us or force us to take forced rest, running is quite unlikely to injure yourself. This does not mean that it is not important to observe common sense rules and have a high attention threshold, especially when our reflexes need to be more alert given the speed. What pitfalls can you encounter on the road? Cars, pedestrians, bicycles, uneven surfaces, poorly marked obstacles. Therefore, it is important to pay attention and keep some simple rules in mind.
1. Running the wrong way
If there is no sidewalk to run on and you have to use the side of the road, always run in the opposite direction of the cars. It sounds counterintuitive and dangerous, but it is the best way to be visible and especially to see if the driver coming toward you has seen you. To act accordingly and dodge it, in case it didn’t notice you.
2. Use the sidewalk when there is
It seems obvious and obvious, but so many-especially to avoid some pedestrian who is walking-run on the road even though there is a sidewalk. This can be done possibly to overtake groups or individual pedestrians, except to return immediately. However, people often continue on the road, forgetting that it is made for cars and exposing themselves to danger.
3. Choose safe streets
If there are no sidewalks to run on, the rule for choosing which road to run on is simple: the higher the speed allowed for cars, the less safe the road is for runners. In fact, as speed increases, so does the percentage of injured runners or pedestrians, partly because the faster a vehicle runs, the shorter the driver’s reaction time when seeing an obstacle. For your long out-of-town trips, therefore, choose forgotten provincial roads and avoid state highways and bypasses: besides being normally less pleasant routes than a county road between fields, they are also much more dangerous.
4. Avoid driveways
And gates, especially if they are open or being opened: often a car is coming out of them in reverse, and the driver may not see you in time. Instead, make a wide arc to stay as far away as possible.
5. Use crosswalks and intersections.
Although in Italy crosswalks are seen by motorists as optional rather than mandatory, it is always better to use them, not least because in the inauspicious event of being run over by a vehicle, it is better to be on top of it, thus proving that you were crossing in the lanes reserved for pedestrians. The traffic light regulating pedestrian traffic must be respected at all times, even if it risks ruining your personal best (not respecting it could ruin something much more valuable).
6. Use all the senses
By running you go faster and have less time to react to a setback. This is why it is important to sharpen every sense, especially hearing and sight to predict, see and anticipate possible obstacles or dangers. If you run with earphones use only one or do not keep the volume high to always have a sense of the sound environment in which you are moving and to hear any audible danger signals. Similarly for vision: observe everything is around and in front of you so that you are never caught unprepared.
7. In a group in single file
If you are running with friends stand in single file-you will avoid taking up the whole sidewalk. Do not use earphones to be able to hear what he is telling you or possibly use hand language to indicate dangers to those following you: point fingers downward to indicate obstacles, use arms to indicate a change of direction, signal with one hand behind your back if there is oncoming traffic.
8. Show yourself
Although runners are among the athletes with the most color-challenging and loudest outfits, it is always a good rule of thumb to make yourself highly visible, especially on dimly lit streets: During the day, use bright colors, and in the dark, favor light colors, and especially use clothing with reflective inserts so that you are even more visible. In the dark, you also need to use lights to signal your presence-there are practical and inexpensive LED ones that you can place on your ankles, biceps or chest/back (but overhead is fine too).
These are simple rules that must become automatic: to avoid making an activity that brings pleasure and relaxation into something potentially dangerous.