Ord 1997-003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3.3 Safety and Education This section identifies various bicycle safety improvements and recommends specific actions • which are designed to enhance safety for bicyclists. While improving safety is extremely important and a high priority, riding a bicycle involves inherent risk that no improvements, including those listed in this section, can completely eliminate. Education programs to teach current and potential bicyclists of all ages about the fundamentals of bicycle riding are important to establishing good riding skills. The following steps are recommended to build upon this effort: • Continue the bicycle education program that is taught yearly to school children (kindergarten to 5th grade) and senior adults. Include "bicycle rodeos" where children are given actual riding lessons in school. • Establish a bicycle helmet program through various statewide helmet programs that provides low -cost helmets to school children. Helmets should be mandatory for any student riding a bicycle to school. • Establish an adult bicycle education program through the adult school, parks and recreation, and other departments that teaches adults how to ride defensively and encourages people to ride to work. This program may include the use of volunteers from local bicycle clubs and possibly sponsorship of bicycle tours and races. • Educate drivers about the rights of bicyclists through a variety of means including making bicycle safety a part of traffic school curriculum, producing a brochure on • bicycle safety and rights for public distribution, enforcing existing laws regarding both motorists and bicycles, encouraging the state to include questions about bicycle safety and operations on drivers license exams, and providing signs at strategic locations advising motorists to share the roadway with bicyclists. Licensing bicycles at schools helps reduce theft by providing an identification number for the police. It can also serve as a regular forum for providing education to young riders. • Consider establishing a bicycle licensing program for school children. Crossing protection improvements should be targeted for all major intersections on the proposed bikeway network and at locations where school children cross a busy'street. • Consider installing new traffic signals at locations that meet Caltrans signal warrant(s). These signals may by activated by loop detectors. In conjunction with these improvements or as an alternative, crosswalks could be enhanced by adding rippled waming pavement 100 feet in advance, installing adequate overhead Tight standards, and providing warning signs. Locations and types of signals and other improvements 38