National Bicycle Safety Network, a public-private coalition

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, USDOT
  
  
• Federal Highway Administration, USDOT
  
  
• National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USDHHS
  
  
• Injury Prevention Community (Brain Injury Association, Education Development Center, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, state and local health departments, American Automobile Association)
  
  
• Bicycling Community (Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, League of American Bicyclists, National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Washington Area Bicyclist Association/Thunderhead Alliance)
  
  
• www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike
  

National Bicycle Safety Conference

• To Create a National Bicycle Safety Plan
  
  
• Listing Goals, Strategies, and Action Steps to Reduce Bicycling Injuries and Deaths
  
  
• July 21-22, 2000, Washington DC
  
  
• Working Weekend Conference with 130 Invited Participants
  
  
• Five Themes: Motorist Behavior, Bicycling Education, Helmet Use, Legal System, Bicycle Facilities
  
  
• White Papers and Break-Out Sessions
  Goal #1: Motorists Will Share the Road
  
  Goal #2: Bicyclists Will Ride Safely
  
  Goal #3: Bicyclists Will Wear Helmets
  
  Goal #4: The Legal System Will Support Safe Bicycling
  
  Goal #5: Roads and Paths Will Safely Accommodate Bicyclists

Goal #1: Motorists Will Share the Road

• Create a coordinated "Share the Road" public education campaign that can be adapted at the State and local levels.
  
  
• Amend the motor vehicle code to give precedence to bicyclists in the absence of overriding traffic rules.
  
  
• Include components on "safe bicycling" and "sharing the road" in driver education programs.
  
  

Goal #2: Bicyclists Will Ride Safely

• Create a national "Ride Safely" marketing campaign targeting bicycle riders.
  
  
• Encourage Statewide bicycle safety conferences to promote the National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety.
  
  
• Expand school-based and community-based programs that teach bicycle safety to children and adult bicyclists.
  
  
• Educate community professionals on effective ways to promote safe bicycling.
  
  
• Motivate decision makers at all levels to adopt policies that promote safe bicycling
  
  

Goal #3: Bicyclists Will Wear Helmets

• Create a national bicycle helmet safety campaign.
  
  
• Create tools to promote and increase bicycle helmet use that can be adapted for use at the State and local levels.
  
  
• Assist States and communities that decide to address bicycle helmet use through State and local laws and enforcement.

Goal #4: The Legal System Will Support Safe Bicycling

• Improve the collection and quality of data concerning bicycle crash incidents, including both traffic and non-traffic sites.
  
  
• Create tools that help law enforcement officers enforce bicycle-safety traffic laws aimed at bicyclists and motorists.
  
  
• Promote the most promising enforcement efforts at those local sites where they are most likely to be effective.
  
  
• Encourage the court system to follow through on bicycle safety enforcement by imposing meaningful penalties for both motorist and bicyclist violations.
  
  

Goal #5: Roads and Paths Will Safely Accommodate Bicyclists

• Document and evaluate the safety and effectiveness of facility design options.
  
  
• Improve 100,000 miles of roadways that serve everyday travel by providing striped bicycle lanes and other safe bicycling facilities.
  
  
• Train professionals responsible for the planning, design, and operation of the transportation system to better consider and accommodate bicycle travel.

A Call to Action-Implementation is Key

• 18 strategies are national in scope, local in application
  
  
• Not a Federal Government action plan
  
  
• Implementation requires funding, time, energy, and dedication by a large assortment of groups (89 action steps)
  
  
• NBSN is coordinating implementation (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike)
  
  
• NBSN member organizations are initiating selected strategies
  
  
• Strategies are challenging but realistic in 3-5 years
  
  
• An evolving bicycle safety agenda

Implementation Activities

• NBSN--Grant Proposal for Implementation Coordinator
  
  
• NHTSA-Implementation grants ($250,000, dl: 5/15/02); new cycling videos (grades 5-9); Bikeability Checklist (5/02)
  
  
• AAA-Identifying "share the road" activities of local motor clubs
  
  
• LAB-Bicycle Education Leaders Conference, June 3-5, 2002; Media outreach for sate bicycling; Safe Routes to School Working Group
  
  
• CDC-Literature searches for various strategies; NBSN web site
  
  
• BHSI and SAFE KIDS-Disseminating information on successful helmet campaigns
  
  
• Thunderhead Alliance/CBC-Bike crash reporting practices
  
  
• FHWA-Graduate level, three-day, and one-day bicycle facility courses for highway engineers and planners

This page was last revised or reviewed on: April 14, 2005.

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