Adding more excitement to Bike to Work Week, AAA has partnered with the League to produce a series of bicycle safety videos, designed to educate both motorists and bicyclists on the importance of sharing the road.
AAA’s newly redesigned ShareTheRoad.AAA.com offers bicycle and helmet fit guides, safety tips and riding skills advice.
“This year’s theme for Bike Month — One Ride, Many Reasons — recognizes that cycling enhances our lives in countless ways, from keeping us fit to giving us a fun way to get to work,” said League president Andy Clarke. “We’re excited about AAA’s strong support of Bike Month and commitment to educate motorists, so every ride is safe and comfortable for drivers and bicyclists alike.”
Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.
He may work for the American Automobile Association, but Paul Gaffney likes getting around on two wheels, too. In the latest issue of VIA magazine, the president and CEO of AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah dedicates his entire column to cycling promotion and share-the-road safety.
Paul Gaffney likes bikes
“While I do work for an auto club, I still ride a bike,” Gaffney writes. “I’m happy to report that I’m not alone. Cycling is on the rise in most parts of the country. People ride for fun, for exercise, and, increasingly, just to get from here to there. According to a Rutgers University study, the number of bike commuters in the United States grew 64 percent over the past two decades.”
Gaffney goes on to applaud the growth in bicycling in major cities, like New York and San Francisco, and encourages folks to get out and ride, whether its pedaling to work or enjoying one of the region’s many bike trails. And, at the very end, he poses a particularly exciting question.
May is National Bike Month, but don’t let the calendar limit when you ride. With the current price of gas, cycling is good for your wallet. It’s also good for your health and good for the environment. It might even put you in a better mood. There’s something liberating about hopping on a bike that brings back a freewheeling sensation of childhood and learning to fly without training wheels…
More cyclists on the road makes me hopeful about a healthy future. We still think of biking as alternative transportation, like taking the bus or riding the train. Wouldn’t it be interesting if bicycling became as mainstream as driving?
Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.
On October 1, 2010, 15 cyclists left Outspokin’ bike shop in Augusta, Ga. on their weekly ride across the state border into Aiken, S.C. A truck, driven by Daniel Johnson, collided with the group and injured four cyclists and tragically left one other, Dr. Matthew Burke, critically injured with severe head trauma. After 128 days in a coma on life support, Dr. Burke passed away on February 6, 2011. The Palmetto Cycling Coalition and South Carolina cycling attorney Peter Wilborn worked on the case, and Johnson was charged with reckless homicide on February 8, 2011. After eight months of investigation and legal wrangling, Johnson admitted to his crime yesterday, October 17 and pled guilty to felony manslaughter. Johnson was taken immediately into custody and will be sentenced today, Tuesday, October 18th.
“Matt Burke’s legacy is that drivers can and should be treated as criminals for killing cyclists. Throughout the country, cycling deaths are regularly dismissed by law enforcement as mere traffic ‘accidents.’ But often they are not accidental, the needless fatalities are tragic consequences of reckless driving and lawless drivers,” Wilborn writes on his BikeLaw.com blog. “The driver’s felony conviction here proves to police, policymakers and drivers to take cycling safety seriously. This case from South Carolina is an example of how to do it right.”
Johnson claimed to have been distracted while reaching for something. Dr. Burke, a U.S. Army major and orthopedic surgeon, had been home from Iraq for about a year. “The police originally said it was just an accident,” says Wilborn. “We asked the police to just consider the data, and you know what? They listened. They did their job … and charged the driver with reckless homicide — the most serious thing that a driver could be charged with.” The South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Aiken County Solicitor’s office performed the investigation.
Dr. Burke is survived by his wife Bonnie and 1-year-old daughter, Anna. Dr. Burke was only 38. Paul Burke, the cyclist’s brother, stated on Wilborn’s blog: “Today’s felony conviction establishes the criminal responsibility of Daniel Johnson for the senseless death of Matthew P. Burke. Dr. Burke was riding legally in a group of fifteen cyclists when he and four other riders were struck from behind by Mr. Johnson on a long, flat straight road in broad daylight.”
To learn more about improving cycling safety and police enforcement, read “Enforcement: The Final Frontier” in the July/August issue of American Bicyclist magazine.
Meghan Cahill League Director of Communications
Cahill joined the League in December 2008 and has a BA in Media Communications with a concentration in Italian Studies from the College of Charleston.
More people are commuting by bicycle every year, thanks to Bicycle Friendly Communities and other motivators like high gas prices. To ensure that motorists and bicyclists are sharing the road safely and learning about the Rules of the Road, AAA and the League of American Bicyclists have partnered to promote safe cycling. We hope to make the roads safer and more enjoyable for everyone. Andy Clarke, president of the League, joins Rhonda Markos, AAA traffic safety specialist, on AAA Talk Radio to chat about our partnership, bike safety facts and tips for motorists and cyclists alike, and why bicycling is moving up the ranks as one of the most popular modes of transportation. Listen to Clarke and Markos’ interview below.
Whether bicycling to work, to improve their health, save money, or to reduce their overall carbon footprint, bicycling is on the rise and the League of American Bicyclists and AAA want motorists and bicyclists to make safety on our shared roadways a priority.
“As more cyclists hit the road and trail, we welcome the opportunity to work with AAA to reinforce the safety messages that both cyclists and motorists really need to take to heart,” said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. “We have a shared responsibility to share the road – and the reality is that most cyclists are also motorists at some point.”
“Education–on both sides—is key for all road users, of all ages,” said AAA’s Traffic Safety Specialist Rhonda Markos. “Despite conventional wisdom, children are not the primary victims of bicycle crashes.” Of the 630 bicyclist deaths in 2009, eight out of ten were adults over 21, so the League of American Bicyclists and AAA have partnered on a campaign to encourage adult bicyclists to take five easy steps to safer riding:
Follow the Rules of the Road:
Always ride with traffic, using the rightmost lane, obeying the same laws as motorists.
Use hand and arm signals to indicate your intention to stop, merge or turn.
Be Visible:
Ride where drivers can see you. Do not ride on the sidewalk.
Wear brightly colored clothing at all times. At night, use a white front light and red rear light or reflector, and wear reflective clothing.
Be Predicable:
Ride in a straight line and don’t swerve between parked cars.
Make eye contact with motorists to let them know you are there.
Anticipate Conflicts:
Always be aware of traffic around you and be prepared to take evasive action, exercising additional caution at intersections.
Learn braking and turning techniques to avoid crashes.
Wear a Helmet:
Helmets, when worn properly, are up to 85 percent effective in protecting the head and brain in the event of a crash. Should you crash, or have an impact that affects your helmet, replace it immediately.
Fit matters: Wear your helmet level on your head, low on your forehead, with no more than two finger widths above your eyebrow.
“AAA is pleased to work with the League of American Bicyclists to remind adults about safe bicycling practices and to encourage motorists and bicyclists alike to share the road,” Markos said.
Motorists should also make an effort to reduce bicyclist injuries and fatalities.
AAA is encourages it’s members to take the following precautions when sharing the road with bicyclists:
Stay alert, avoiding all distractions while driving.
Yield to bicyclists when turning.
In bad weather, give bicyclists extra passing room.
Check mirrors and blind spots for bicyclists before entering or leaving a lane of traffic.
Slow down and give at least 3 feet of clearance when passing.
Reduce your speed when passing bicyclists, especially when the road is narrow.
NEVER honk your horn at a bicyclist just to let them know you are there; it could cause them to swerve into traffic or off the roadway and crash. Save your horn for emergencies.
Always check for bicyclists before opening your car door.
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Blog
Aiken, S.C. A truck, driven by Daniel Johnson, collided with the group and injured four cyclists and tragically left one other, Dr. Matthew Burke, critically injured with severe head trauma. After 128 days in a coma on life support, Dr. Burke passed away on February 6, 2011. The Palmetto Cycling Coalition and South Carolina cycling attorney Peter Wilborn worked on the case, and Johnson was 
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