Bicycle Safety And Awareness

On July 17 of this year, there was a PCB fatality involving a cyclist and an SUV. A year ago, a friend’s grandson, 29, was riding his bicycle on his way to work and was hit and killed by a garbage truck. Years ago, my own daughter was struck by an uncaring motorist who didn’t stop to help her while she was exiting a strip mall parking lot.

And the hazards don’t stop there! Bicycle riders have experienced trash, litter, and old coffee thrown at them; right side vehicle mirrors hitting their left shoulders because motorists fail to move over the 3 feet minimum required by law and have had obscenities shouted at them as motorists perceive cyclists as a nuisance. “Not my child,” you say. Wrong. They can be in jeopardy each time they ride.

“FL has the highest bicycle fatality rate across the nation,” claims Paul Simpson, Research Coordinator, UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. Shocking right? Remember, riding a bicycle, electric or otherwise, is not always the fun transportation and exercise that we assume.

When we as parents excitedly buy a bike for each one of their kids as they get old enough, we think we are buying a toy for our child, one that teaches a new skill and allows more freedom.

But the State of Florida wants bicycle riders, yes, all bicycle riders, kids included, to follow the rules of the road. That’s unless kids are riding on the sidewalk (because there’s no bike lane) then, pedestrian laws apply. For instance, one can receive a ticket not for riding on the sidewalk, but for riding across a crosswalk rather than walking across at an intersection. It’s all a bit more complicated, but clarifications can be had by attending a new bike safety program now being developed for Bay County. Sign up for an introductory course with Sue 850-871-4020 on December 10th.

 As our children are learning to become independent from us, their parents, they push boundaries. When it comes to bicycles, kids are notorious for riding through stop signs and weaving across lanes of traffic. Electric bikes, scooters, hoverboards and the like make these infractions even more frequent. Difficult for drivers. Dangerous for kids. There are admittedly adults that do this also, but it’s the kids that must be protected until they can do that for themselves.

 What can you do to help make our community safer and lower the possibility of more deaths, injuries or disabilities? If you’re a parent, train your child to ride with traffic going the same way. Another way to help? Volunteer to train to be a Bicycle Helmet Fitter. The training is free and planned for the first week in November just in time for the Holidays. Free helmets can then be given out to the public! Call 850-871-4020, ask for Sue to get more information.

Christmas is coming! Let's keep our loved ones SAFE!