Published: August 08, 2008 12:06 pm         

City ramps up bicycle safety awareness campaign

EDMOND — Pete Tate has a friendly reminder for cyclists riding their bicycles around the streets of Edmond — please mind your Ps and Qs for everyone’s sake.

Tate pulls behind his vehicle a 16-foot-long by 8-foot-wide trailer and he said sometimes it’s difficult to get around bikes. He said he’s concerned for riders’ safety, and sometimes he sees them not abiding by city laws that apply to both motorists and bicyclists.

Motorists can be fined for hitting a cyclist, Tate said.

“I don’t want a $500 or a $1,000 fine and I don’t want to hit one,” he said of bicyclists.

Tate said he understands some of the reasons why bicyclists ride — for the pure enjoyment of bicycling, for the exercise, but if a rider is involved in an accident, the benefits don’t matter. Tate said for safety’s sake he would be all for having bicycle lanes added around town.

Jan Fees, Edmond’s city planner, said in this year’s budget the Parks and Recreation Department has $35,000 toward creating a bicycle trails master plan, but more funds are needed.

Fees said a stretch of Kelly between 33rd Street and 15th Street was designed to include bicycle lanes, and future upgrades to the street will be made the same way.

About a month ago, the city put out some new street signs promoting bicycling. Fees said the “Go By Bike” signs were placed on Edmond Road in the North Western Avenue and Santa Fe areas, off Interstate 35 on Second Street headed into town, on Boulevard north of Smiling Hills and on Broadway a half-mile north of Memorial.

The city also will place some banners designed to raise awareness, Fees said. Additionally, there’s an 18-20 minute city video, “Enjoy the Ride,” running on Cox Channel 20. And an Edmond Bicycle Committee meets at 7:30 a.m. on the second Friday of each month.

Edmond Police Department Lt. Chuck Linhardt said the city is a bicycle-friendly community. But both motorists and bicyclists have laws to follow aimed at keeping them safe, he said.

For example, one city ordinance says bicycles should not be operated at “a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under” existing conditions. Another says no riding is allowed on city sidewalks unless it is marked as a bicycle path or trail.

Other ordinances concern carrying articles while riding, parking, emerging from an alley or a driveway and riding restrictions. All the related city ordinances may be viewed on the City of Edmond Web site (edmondok.com) on the EPD section.

Linhardt said bicycle safety is a constant concern because riders are sharing streets with cars going at a speeds of 25-45 miles per hour.

Accidents — and fatalities — do happen. According to the Oklahoma Bicycle Society, it is estimated that more than 45 percent of all bicycle-motor vehicle collisions involve bicyclists younger than 15.

Linhardt said city officials want to make motorists and bicyclists more aware of the rules of the road to prevent future accidents from happening.



marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 108



The Details

City of Edmond bicycle ordinances



10.60.040 Riding on Roadways and Bicycle Path/Trails, Routes or Lanes.

(a) Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway, or upon a bicycle route or lane, shall ride as near to the right-hand side of the way as practicable, and shall exercise due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction.

(b) Persons operating bicycles shall not ride more than two abreast except on designated bicycle path/trails.

(c) Whenever a usable bicycle path/trail is provided adjacent to a roadway, bicycle operators shall use such path/trail and not the roadway.

(d) Designated path/trails shall not be used by motorized vehicles, including vehicles that are motorized but which may also be propelled by human power; provided, this prohibition shall not apply to authorized emergency or police vehicles. (1954 Code § 474; Amended by Ord. 1207, 10/81).

     

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