Bicycle season is in full swing! We use our bikes almost every day, and we hope you do the same. It improves air quality, your health and your wallet. “1 World, 2 Wheels” is mainly targeting the many short trips we make with cars. With the right attitude, many can replace car trips under two miles with a bike ride. Not all, but many! I’ve pledged 28 miles a week, which is about one errand a day – to the coffee shop, the library, the bank, the UPS-store or the Little League baseball field. How many of your car rides could you replace with bike rides? Once you’ve got used to biking, getting into the car is no fun!
We’ve been pouring over web sites and accident statistics about bicyclist and pedestrian issues during the last week and are amazed how many initiatives are out there to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. And improvements are very much needed! According to Transportation for America, the number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed from 2000 through 2009, “is the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of passengers crashing roughly every month”. Additionally, a pedestrian gets injured every 7 minutes. Those are scary numbers!
But there is good news too! It helps to wear a helmet while cycling!!! The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute states that during 2008, 98% (!!) of 714 bicyclists in fatal accidents where not wearing helmets. (And yet, only every other (50%) bicyclist wears a helmet for at least some trips and 35 % use them for all or most trips). The National Safety Council has declared June to be National Safety Month. This week is focused on “Summer Safety“. And guess what? Whether you are skateboarding, inline skating or biking: Wear a helmet! It really reduces the severity of injuries if you happen to end up in an accident. Amazed by the numbers, we talked to George at George Garner Cyclery in Northbrook, IL to learn what to think about when choosing safety gear. We got a lot of information, that we’ll share with you in a separate blog post.
There are two parts to bicycle safety. One is the personal responsibility on safety gear and safe biking. The second is of course a lot of improvements that need to be made to policies, infrastructure planning, and education as well.
The Pededestrian and Bicycle Information Center has plenty of information on all of these topics. If you live in the Chicago area, you can join the Active Transportation Alliance. It is very active in all aspects of making bicycling, walking and public transit safe, convenient and fun.
Enjoy your bike ride but stay safe!
Elisabeth