Bicyclist & Driver Education
Too often education efforts for bicycle safety are aimed exclusively at bicyclists, setting them out as the wrong-doers. The absurdity of blaming the most vulnerable in a car-bike crash must never escape us. That is why we always emphasize that driver education for driving safely with bicyclists must come first. Below you will find a few good examples of driver education programs.
There are also many terrific bicyclist education programs available for adults and children. Here are a few:
Arizona Bicycling Street Smarts
League of American Bicyclists' riding tips and a video demonstrating them
The GROOVIEST bicycle education video ever!
Classic bike safety video: One Got Fat
Bike New York's Learn to Ride step-by-step for new riders
Louisville's driver and bicyclist safety videos
If you need something much shorter, here's a fun one-page bike ed handout.
Please note: bicycle education does not equal helmets! Before initiating a bicycle education program, make sure to read our page on the bicycle helmet problem and avoid scaring people away from cycling with overblown shock horror helmet propoganda.
DRIVER AWARENESS TESTS & TRAINING PROGRAMS
Watch these video awareness tests to see how important driver awareness education is. Keep in mind that if you are visiting this web site, you are amongst the most aware!
|
|
A good example of a driver training video:
And the next time someone complains to you about how many cyclists roll through stop signs, point them to this Stop Sign Violation Report from Safe Kids and ask them who loses in each type of violation. Then make sure to point out that car violations are more frequent than bike violations.
Another misconception that leads to motorist hostility towards bicyclists is that bicyclists are different than they are. In fact, most bicyclists also drive. They might even be sitting right next to these misinformed motorists at their jobs or at the ballpark on weekends. To demonstrate this important point, Bike Fort Collins came up with this clever campaign: You Know Me, I Ride a Bike.
BICYCLE EDUCATION PROMOTION CAMPAIGNS
Because educating significant numbers of bicyclists is difficult to do through scheduled classes, some jurisdictions have found great success by adding promotional campaigns to their education efforts. Take a look at these excellent examples:
And The San Francisco Police Department has brought great bicycle education promotion to their officers with this video:
Source: www.OneStreet.org