Focus for FDOT is reducing bicyclist, pedestrian deaths
Recent letters regarding bicycle fatalities express frustration and ask how we can stop these tragedies from occurring.
As bicyclists ourselves, we also feel this way when a cyclist is injured or killed. The Florida Department of Transportation is focused as never before on reducing Florida's rate of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.
Our Alert Today/Alive Tomorrow program reaches out to all roadway users because we understand there is no single simple solution to this problem. We will have the greatest success when we change roadway users' behaviors through a combination of engineering, education, and enforcement.
Engineering solutions are evolving rapidly, and FDOT is incorporating those solutions with proven safety benefits. Among other changes, we are reducing urban roadway lane widths to provide more space for bike lanes and we're specifying wider bicycle lanes on state roads. Through our new Complete Streets policy, FDOT will require roadways to match the contexts where they are found. We are evaluating our guidance to include options, in appropriate contexts, for off-street facilities (like multi-use pathways) for different types of riders. For instance, how can we design projects that minimize on-street riding for children and others who can't ride in traffic?
In education, we find the data sometimes contradict "intuition." Crash data overwhelmingly indicate riding in the same direction as traffic is much safer than riding against traffic. This is true nationally, not just in Florida, and it's true whether riding on the sidewalk or on the roadway. Cyclists riding on the road are safer operating as vehicles and riding with traffic. Motorists already are looking for traffic going in the same direction. Riding against traffic places cyclists where motorists aren't looking — a common set-up for a crash.
Some bicyclists may not understand riding in a bicycle lane is still riding in traffic, so our engineering efforts and education efforts must work together. For more information about learning to bicycle safely, visit the Florida Bicycle Association (floridabicycle.org) or the American Bicycling Education Association (abea.bike).
The safest bicyclists and motorists follow the law, so enforcement efforts are critical. Florida law specifies how bicycles must be equipped and how cyclists must ride on the road (floridabicycle.org has details).
As one example, bicycles used in the dark must have a white front light and a red rear light. Statistically, we know unlighted cyclists are more likely to be involved in a crash. Law enforcement recognizes the safety threat of unlighted cyclists and must make sure the cyclist also is aware of it. It's an education challenge, too – did we adequately alert the cyclist about the need for lights? It may even be an engineering challenge – how can we light our streets and intersections more effectively? Further, why are bicycles produced without lights knowing they could be used at night?
Though only about 20 percent of bicycle crashes involve motor vehicles, these crashes tend to produce the majority of fatalities. Drivers must be aware that everyone shares the road, and FDOT and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles have added bicycle traffic to driver training materials. In addition to enforcing drunk driving and hit-and-run laws, we must enforce Florida's 3-Foot Clear law and the right of cyclists to control the travel lane when appropriate.
FDOT believes we can make bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers safer through better engineering, education, and enforcement. Changes cannot come fast enough — any fatality is one too many — but changes have begun.
Billy Hattaway is FDOT District One Secretary; DeWayne Carver is
FDOT Statewide Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator.