Bicycle safety rant (Ocean View: home, to buy, maintenance)

[longneckone]

Bike Safety of Special Concern after Student’s Death | WGMD
Another foreign students biking to or from work killed in auto accident. What a shame. Unfortunately it happens every year. There are groups that offer lights and helmets. I feel there is more that could be done like making safer bike lanes. For instance RT 24 is marked with bike lanes in some places they are fine and in others very narrow or non existent.With little or no lighting in unincorporated areas a rider with no light could not see rough spots in road or any obstacle. Traveling to work at night I regularly see pedestrians and cyclists with no lights or reflective clothing. Maybe if they were hit with small fines that would get their attention.

[nuts2uiam]

I am intimately involved with the ISOP (International Student Outreach Program) and I can tell you we are beyond sick about this. Every year we preach, and have tons of these bike safety stops, where we give the kids free helmets and lights. This year we instituted a special orientation program and reiterated the information they receive at the bike program when they get their bikes. They are not simply handed a bike, they are required to take a safety class and then go for a ride with a safety officer before getting their bikes. They are told over and over again to wear helmets. The orientation program is new this year and reviews local bike laws with a slide presentation in addition to water safety, emergency evacuation for hurricanes, banking etc.

There are 4 churches that host weekly dinners for the kids and there is a bike repair at every dinner in the event there is a problem. The only thing the kids need to buy is a bike lock. There are a few problems however, that we simply have no control over. The kids don't want to use the helmets. There is no law that requires them to do so either. The laws in Sussex County permit riding on the sidewalks in both directions on both sides. This is new this year and has already cause a few minor accidents. The problem is that a driver exiting on to Route 1 for example, is looking to enter the road so his attention is on pacing himself for traffic and is not looking in the opposite direction. The kids have no concept of things from the drivers perspective and they attempt to cross the road and before you know it they have run into a car or vice versa.

We have done everything we can think of including asking businesses with electronic signs to post warnings. We have tried a driver awareness campaign, but the influx of summer visitors makes this all but impossible. All we can do is try, but it is very disheartening to lose a precious child of someone. We will not give up. We have tried to get a law passed but it was a no go.
Keep all of then in your thoughts and prayers.

[longneckone]

Bicyclist cited after colliding with car on Route 1 | Cape Gazette
Head phones and not looking. At least this one lived.

[DelawareLiz]

I am an avid cyclist, but I value my life and wear a helmet and abide by the rules of the road. I see too many who do not. Just a couple weeks ago I was riding my bike and a young man flew out on his bike from a side street and darn near t-boned me!!! He was supposed to stop before proceeding on to this busy road as the law states.

That being said.....I see too many cars who pass cyclists when a car is coming the other way and there isn't a shoulder-- this is illegal. They nearly hit them or run them into the grass. Law states there must be three feet between the car and cyclist when passing. I also witness some bullying. A local town employee (not saying which town, but it wasn't mine) decided to dangerously intimidate me while driving a clearly marked town maintenance vehicle, and I rode right to the town hall and reported him. I had the right of way, but he didn't like that so he pretended like he was going to run into me. Wrong person to pick on, dummy.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

(snipped The laws in Sussex County permit riding on the sidewalks in both directions on both sides. This is new this year and has already cause a few minor accidents. The problem is that a driver exiting on to Route 1 for example, is looking to enter the road so his attention is on pacing himself for traffic and is not looking in the opposite direction. The kids have no concept of things from the drivers perspective and they attempt to cross the road and before you know it they have run into a car or vice versa.
.
Keep all of then in your thoughts and prayers.

Yet another bike accident and it has a direct bearing on the new law .....biking on the sidewalk in both directions is ok. This needs to be changed. I understand the spirit of the law getting the kids off 1 but this is not working.

[canadian citizen]

Would it be TOO easy to tell the kids..............If you don't follow the rules, we WILL take back the free bike... and you can walk ?


Works for me. The principle is easy to understand, observe the rules we set, or suffer the results of YOUR actions.


Jim B.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by canadian citizen

Would it be TOO easy to tell the kids..............If you don't follow the rules, we WILL take back the free bike... and you can walk ?


Works for me. The principle is easy to understand, observe the rules we set, or suffer the results of YOUR actions.


Jim B.

The problem is that the kids need the bike to get back and forth to work and the employers are relying on the kids. Often times these kids are riding over a mile each way to get to work. We discussed that idea but the problem is that the kids will find a bike somewhere else and may buy it from a less than reliable person or shop. The reason the kids are required to go through a Bike safety program is because in addition to wanting them to learn about our laws and rules during the actual 20 minute ride we know the bikes have been checked and certified in a1 working condition by our technicians. There are safety checkpoints all throughout the area during the coarse of the summer. We have had students come in to have a bike repaired that they bought elsewhere and the brakes did not work! This at least gives us a small measure of control in knowing they have been given a safe bike.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

Yet another bike accident and it has a direct bearing on the new law .....biking on the sidewalk in both directions is ok. This needs to be changed. I understand the spirit of the law getting the kids off 1 but this is not working.

We had another student injured this morning. Same thing. Now to be fair, the students have been instructed to make eye contact with the driver before crossing in front of a car. If she had done this, we would not have an injured student. Thankfully she is banged up and bruised, but nothing is broken except for the wheel of her bike.

[longneckone]

Originally Posted by canadian citizen

Would it be TOO easy to tell the kids..............If you don't follow the rules, we WILL take back the free bike... and you can walk ?


Works for me. The principle is easy to understand, observe the rules we set, or suffer the results of YOUR actions.


Jim B.

You are correct there. The problem is they are kids away from home many for the first time who didn't pay attention to their own parents rules either.

[seanlax]

Some of this is driver attitude. I personally know the individual that struck the pedestrian in Bethany/Ocean View, and his attitude towards cyclists (during our conversation, in which I stated that I cycle all over LSD and Ocean City) was that they didn't deserve to be on roads built for cars, and that since cyclists break so many laws, why shouldn't he break them right back at them.

I'm not saying that the collision was intentional, but the consideration was most likely nonexistent.

The attitudes must change with the infrastructure and laws.