Bicycle Safety Update

Volume 5, Number 2 - Spring 2002

Every year, more than 500,000 American bicyclists are injured seriously enough to require emergency medical treatment. Most of these injuries involve collisions with motor vehicles. Spurred by this toll, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working with a group of Federal and private partners on a sustained effort to make the United States a safer place in which to bicycle.

National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety

An important step toward this goal took place in July 2000, when a group of experts, bicycling advocates, and representatives of Federal agencies met in Washington, D.C., to begin a process culminating in the publication of the National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety. This publication details five key bicycle safety goals, as well as strategies to meet these goals:

  • Encouraging motorists to share the road with bicyclists through public education and amending motor vehicle laws
  • Encouraging bicyclists to ride safely through educational programs, advocacy, and policy reform
  • Encouraging bicyclists to wear helmets through public education, legislation, and enforcement
  • Supporting safe bicycling through the legal system by improving data collection on bicycle crashes and enhancing enforcement of laws designed to protect bicyclists
  • Improving roadways and facilities to safeguard bicyclists, and training professionals to accommodate bicyclists when designing and operating transportation systems

National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety provides specific guidance to organizations, agencies, and advocates who want to take concrete and effective action to improve the bicycling environment. Five organizations are currently coordinating efforts to achieve these goals: the League of American Bicyclists, AAA Foundation, Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, and Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. Copies of National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety can be downloaded from NHTSA's website www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/bicycle_safety/index.htm or the National Bicycle Safety Network website www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike/default.htm.

Bicycle Education Leaders Conference

The official "kickoff" of the National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety will take place at the League of American Bicyclists' Bicycle Education Leadership Conference, to be held in Madison, Wisconsin, June 3-5, 2002. This conference will bring bicycle advocates and bicycle educators together to explore new ways of reducing injuries to bicyclists. Workshops will be held on such topics as Safe Routes to School programs, bicycle safety and the media, bicycle-friendly communities, funding bicycle safety, and innovative teaching approaches. For more information about this conference, consult the League of American Bicyclists' website www.bikeleague.org/educenter/wisconsin_conf.htm, contact the League by telephone at (202) 822-1333, or e-mail the League bikeleague@bikeleague.org. On-line registration is available at league2.securesites.com/commerce/wiscsummitreg.htm.

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IN THIS ISSUE


Bicycle Safety Update

Bicycle Safety Resources

Local Notes

Buckle Up America Week

Buckle Up America On-Line Headquarters

National News