Cyclists, motorists: Share the road

If you're a bicyclist, you're in luck. Chief Charlie Beck of the Los Angeles Police Department is on your side. During a transportation committee meeting in February, Beck vowed to better protect "our most vulnerable commuters" with the implementation of special programs for LAPD officers.

The goal is to make the roads of Los Angeles safer for bicyclists and these new programs will do that, but only if bicycle advocacy groups help the cause by educating motorists and cyclists as well.

The programs implemented by the LAPD will be mandatory for all officers and will hopefully lead to a crackdown in the negligence towards bicycle incidents. An e-learning agenda will be put into place during officer training in order to help officers better understand bicycle incidents. Also, an adjustment to department policy will outline how officers should handle situations that arise concerning motorists and cyclists.

The LAPD has already begun taking action by appointing an official liaison that ensures cycling incidents are handled by the respective traffic division and by creating a department that will work together with advocacy groups.

With roughly 53,000 traffic crashes involving bicyclists in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, these new programs will make the roads safer for all commuters, especially vulnerable bicyclists who have to ride in fear.

Marissa Raya, a former PCC student who rode her bicycle to school every day, thinks that motorists definitely take advantage of their cars.

"I never really thought about safety until I was hit from behind while waiting at a red light," Raya recalls. "I guess the driver didn't see me standing right next to the curb .I was mad and skinned my hands, but he felt bad."

It is situations like these that instill fear in bicyclists everywhere. How can we be told how much more "green" it is to make our commutes by bycicling if we have to constantly look over our shoulder to make sure a car isn't barreling down the road towards us, or if we have to worry about drivers with road rage?

The website iBike.org's list of 60+ Benefits of Bicycling says commuting on a bicycle leaves virtually no carbon footprint, is energy efficient, saves money and offers a healthy exercise routine, but many people are too afraid to risk it.

"After getting hit," Raya says, "I am now constantly looking around me to make sure I am as close to the curb as possible."

But according to a presentation entitled "2008 Bicycle Involved Traffic Collisions" given by the LAPD, the primary collision factors show that cyclists are also to blame for these incidents.

The presentation shows that 18 percent of these collisions occur because the cyclist is going the wrong way, while 6 percent occur because the motorist is going the wrong way. Another 12 percent occur when cyclists have the right of way and 6 percent when motorists are driving at an unsafe speed.

PCC driver Melissa Gomez agrees that cyclists need to be more careful when maneuvering in areas shared with cars.

"At times cyclists are less careful because they assume that drivers will keep an eye out for them and let the cyclists have his or her way," she said. "They don't stop at stop signs which puts them in danger of possibly being hit."

Though many of the accidents are because of cyclist ignorance, it doesn't change the fact that motorists have to familiarize themselves with right-of-way laws and understand how powerful their vehicles are on the road.

The programs that Chief Beck will put in place will definitely alleviate the problems cyclists have on the road, but it is also up to the LAPD to join forces with advocacy groups like the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to decrease accidents due to cyclist ignorance.

More time should be spent not only educating police officers, but educating bicyclists and motorists as well.