Bike Safety…Word!

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I have chosen to address bicycle safety for this semester’s capstone project. I plan to create an infograph detailing the more salient statistical information regarding bicycle fatalities and the simple but effective ways to prevent them. Using simple visual aids, I will discuss some of the key information regarding bike accidents in America through the recent years, and things we all can do to keep safer. Along with this graphic, I will create a remixed video touching on the benefits of biking as well as the most important aspects of bike safety—how they are accessible and crucial to all riders.

Bicycling has long been a popular means of transportation, recreation, and exercise; its popularity is consistently growing. Recently, Portland has joined many other cities across America, and the world, in introducing bike-share programs to reduce the number of cars on the road and to give people who enjoy biking a convenient and inexpensive way to do so. Bike share programs are great: they increase the proportion of cyclists to cars in dense, urban areas, as well as foster interest in cycling more generally. But that introduces a paradox.

The more enthusiasm people experience about cycling, the more bikes there tend to be on the road—especially in the city. That means more cyclists sharing the road with cars in heavily populated areas during all hours of the day and night, which can lead to an increase in motorist-versus-cyclist accidents.

Each year, hundreds of bikers are killed in collisions involving automobiles, mostly on urban roads. But there are steps we can take which drastically reduce the chances of a fatal crash. Simply wearing a helmet is the single most protective measure. The overwhelming majority of deaths occur when cyclists do not wear them. Many of these deaths are adults, who often feel that, because they are not children, they need not wear protective gear. Bike lighting is another important thing to consider; a majority of fatalities occur in the evening and night. And just being aware of one’s surroundings is crucial. While it may sound like common sense to warn against distracted riding, the fact that so many bikers are killed in urban areas attests to the need to be aware at all times. Cities are busy places, and bikers need to be just as vigilant as drivers, if not more so.

Bike safety is not a particularly popular area of discussion, though biking itself is on the rise. Because of this, more and more accidents are going to happen. But they are preventable accidents, so long as we are educated in bike safety.

 

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