Not too long ago, I told my 10-year-old son Blake we could do whatever he wanted for the day. Fortunately, he didn’t pick staying inside to play video games. He wanted to ride bikes from our house to a local park (with a beach I might add!).
I don’t know about you, but far too often I am hearing about traffic crashes involving people walking and biking. Being a worried mom, I am reluctant to condone riding on a busy road without a bike lane, trail, etc. So I said, “Let’s look at the way we would go using sidewalks.”
We found a nice route, but there was a 100-yard section without sidewalks where I was pretty nervous about taking my boy on the road. We did it (carefully!), and he had a wonderful time on the ride and at the beach. It was a great day, except for those few minutes of anxiety caused by a gap in our walking and biking path.
Abrupt sidewalk endings can be frustrating for pedestrians and young cyclists.
In case you think I’m just a paranoid helicopter mom, data actually does reflect that pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities are on the rise, up 10 percent in 2015 from the previous year. SEMCOG’s analysis of 2015 Southeast Michigan crash statistics, now available on our website, reveal the facts:
- Approximately 55 percent of bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries occur within or adjacent to an intersection.
- Less than three percent of bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries occurred within a bicycle lane.
- Bicycle crashes are more likely to occur during the afternoon and during the summer months.
- More than 65 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur when the pedestrian is in the roadway and not a designated crosswalk. Many of these are people crossing the road without using a crosswalk.
- More than 10 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur on the freeway, often due to occupants tending to their vehicle after a previous incident.
- More than 62 of percent of pedestrians and 80 percent of bicyclists involved in crashes are male.
- More than 18 percent of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries occur on low-speed local streets.
- More than 73 percent of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries occur along urban, non-freeways in Southeast Michigan.
While some of these trends are likely due to the sheer number of bicyclists and pedestrians traveling in a given location, other trends could be addressed through physical roadway changes and education.
As part of its efforts to share expertise and best practices among communities, SEMCOG is hosting a series of Bicycle and Pedestrian workshops. This included a July 20 SEMCOG University attended by elected officials, police officers, transportation planners, and engineers from throughout Southeast Michigan on the topic “Educating Motorists, Bicyclists, and Pedestrians.”
Education – on the rules of the road and how to share it most safely – is a key area of emphasis in both the Southeast Michigan Traffic Safety Plan and The Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for Southeast Michigan.
At SEMCOG we are also working to address safety issues one roadway at a time with our communities through bicycle and pedestrian assessments. Let us know if you would like our assistance!
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