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Entries tagged: Share The Road

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) has partnered up with the City of Mountain View to offer a new resource to Spanish-speaking members of the community — a class about bicycle safety.

“We feel it is of critical importance to engage daily cyclists and encourage safe riding skills,” says SVBC Deputy Director Colin Heyne. “Many members of the Latin American immigrant community here ride a bike to work because they have no other choice.”

The City of Mountain View identified the need for the classes several months ago and approached SVBC for support. The classes will be taught by a certified instructor who will discuss riding in traffic safely and with confidence.

So far, the main challenge has been getting the word out to the Spanish speaking community. SVBC has engaged volunteers to pass out flyers, as Spanish speakers do not frequent the Coalition’s website.

“We hope that this first attempt at a class makes an impact, and that we can learn from the challenges we encounter to make it better next time,” Colin says.

A Spanish version of SVBC’s Share the Road Guidelines can be accessed in the Alliance’s Resource Library. Do you have Spanish-language resources you’d like to share? Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

This fall, Maryland cyclists can feel more confident when sharing the road with vehicles, thanks to a revision to the Maryland State Driver’s Manual that specifically addresses sharing the road with bicycles.

In recent months, a diverse coalition of regional groups, including Alliance members Bike Maryland and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association worked closely with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and State Highway Administration to improve driver’s education and new driver’s licensing examination questions.

Questions about the effectiveness of the previous manual arose at an early Bike Maryland legislative task force meeting, after misstatements by the MVA printed in the paper insisted that the new 3-foot passing law did not negate the duty of cyclists to move out of the way of cars. This set advocates into action, prompting them to provide MVA with comments and suggestions on how to revise the current manual to mention how bicyclists and cars can safely share the roads.

As noted in the new Sharing the Road section, the manual now outlines that cyclists can lawfully ride in a travel lane. The new language gives cars suggestions on how to approach cyclists, rather than simply pass safely. Fines are now mentioned for motorists that violate the newly imposed rules, too.

While advocates are still waiting for promised improvements to the Maryland Driver’s test — which will help to further progress bicycle safety — this work has clearly strengthened the relationships between bicycle advocates and the Highway Safety Office and the MVA.

Read the full text of the Sharing the Road section here and follow Bike Maryland’s 2011 Legislative Agenda for more updates.

It took four attempts, but the advocates at Bicycle Indiana were determined to get their message on car bumpers and tap into a helpful pot of money. This month, they succeeded.

On June 1, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced that it had approved a new “I Share the Road” license plate that will be available in 2011.

“We are more than a little excited for this win and thankful that our supporters hung with us for the journey,” says Nancy Tibbet, executive director of Bicycle Indiana. “We received over 800 signatures and it was largely accomplished with the assistance of the numerous bicycle retailers and advocacy organizations throughout Indiana.”

With the sale of each license plate, a nice chunk of the $40 fee — $25 — will go directly to Bicycle Indiana. That money, Tibbet says, will be key in helping the organization meet the matching fund requirement for its existing Transportation Enhancement grant. But the prospective cash is making Bicycle Indiana think bigger: they’re hoping to use the funds to revitalize a statewide bikeways initiative, too.

It’s not unrealistic. Other Alliance organizations have made significant strides with license plate funds. BikeTexas lassos more than $300,000 per year with its state license plates, including the “Share the Road, Y’all!” That money, flowing in since 2003, is crucial in leveraging other funds.

Like Texas, Indiana is thinking big. “Our goal is 10,000 plates by the end of 2012,” Tibbet says.

Go Hoosiers!

Colorado bicyclists are excited about the new Bicycle Safety Act, which went into effect August 5th. The Bicycle Safety Act was made possible through the supportive grassroots efforts of Bicycle Colorado members. The new laws, including a requirement that cars give a minimum of 3 feet of space when passing bicyclists, are meant to improve safety for bicyclists and motorists. The new law also allows bicyclists to ride side-by-side when the road is clear of other traffic.

For more information on the new law, click here…

According to the Utah Bicycle Coalition the UT Share the Road specialty license plate legislation has passed both Utah houses and is awaiting signature by the Governor. The plates will be available this September. The cost in addition to conventional registration fees will be an annual $25 donation to the UBC. According to UBC, “In addition to generating funding for bicycle advocacy, this will be another method for cyclists who also drive to express their support and encourage safety for cyclists on Utah roadways.”

For more information, click here…