BlackWednesday - Kentucky's Home For Insurgent Democrats - New Push Addresses Bike Safety In Louisville

New Push Addresses Bike Safety In Louisville

Posted by -Chuck
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
City Launches Ad Campaign By Andy Alcock/WLKY LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There's a new push tonight to address the problem of bike safety in Louisville. A new series of public service announcements are airing on local television stations, including WLKY, discussing bike and motorist safety. Police may soon take the additional step of more aggressive ticket writing if the problem doesn't improve. On Sept. 30, a motorist struck cyclist Jennifer Futrell, 27, while she was on her bicycle on Bardstown Road. A few days later, she died from her injuries. Her friend Andy Cook, who's been riding his bike to work for two years, said he constantly faces hostility on the road. "I still have people screaming at me from their cars, 'Get on the sidewalk,'" he said. "Well, they obviously don't know that is illegal." According to Louisville Metro Police, there were 158 collisions involving bikes in 2006 -- two of them fatal. In 2007, there were 153 collisions involving bikes, one of which was fatal. As of last Monday, 2008 has seen 122 accidents and already three fatalities -- as many as the last two years combined. "The cyclists and the vehicle motorists are equally at fault from our review of what we see as relates to accidents," said Chief Robert White of Metro Police. To address the problem, a series of public service announcements is airing on local television to encourage cyclists and motorists to better share the road. But as Mayor Jerry Abramson knows, while educating the public is important, so is changing people's attitudes. Abramson said he confronted seven cyclists who were illegally riding on the sidewalk this weekend. "Five of them didn't have helmets, and I also mentioned I think they should have helmets," he said. "Three of them responded with a very interesting sign back to me." "I've seen cops on sidewalks so much on their bikes, I want to scream at them, too, but I think they'll arrest me, you know," Cook said. In addition to the PSAs and stricter enforcement of road rules by police, White said the department is in the process of putting together a short video about bike and car laws every officer will have to view. -Original Article- Sphere: Related Content