The Champaign Police Department will be conducting a specialized bicycle safety enforcement day on Wednesday, Sept. 5, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to emphasize proper rules of the road for bicyclists. The enforcement zone will be on Green Street between Neil and Wright Street.
As more individuals are bicycling to commute, for exercise, or just for fun, the Champaign Police Department reminds everyone that by law, bicycles on the roadway are vehicles with the same rights and responsibilities as motorized vehicles. With about 80 million bike riders sharing the road with millions of motorized vehicles each year – potentially creating additional hazards – the importance of safety precautions in traffic cannot be overstated.
As expected, when a crash occurs between a motor vehicle and a bicycle, it is the cyclist who is most likely to be injured. Bicyclists accounted for 2.2 percent of all traffic deaths in 2016, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
To promote safe travel environments and prevent future accidents, additional officers will be placed throughout the enforcement zone to educate riders and motorists alike on laws, etiquette and how to properly share the road to ensure everyone reaches their destination safely.
Among others, officers will be looking for:
-Cyclist’s failure to yield.
-Motorist’s failure to yield.
-Wrong way riding by cyclists.
-Interactions at intersections with proper use of signals.
-Proper use of bicycle lanes.
Although this is one day of bicycle safety awareness and accident prevention, we encourage the public to think about bicycle safety year-round.