TARC

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• Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety
• for Transit Bus Operators

• TARC
• Safety Presentation

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Why should we be interested in bicycle and
pedestrian Safety?

• People who walk and ride bikes instead of use
  their cars reduce the amount of traffic and
  congestion on the road, making our job easier.
• They make cities healthier by reducing the amount
  of air pollution created.
• Bicyclists can easily travel greater distances
  to bus stops, thereby increasing our capture
  zone.

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Why should we be interested in bicycle and
pedestrian Safety?

• Bicycle and pedestrian collisions have a low
  frequency rate, but a high severity rate.
• Probably because these accident participants
  don't have a metal shell (or safety cage) around
  them for protection, a single accident can cost
  over a million dollars.

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Why should we be interested in bicycle and
pedestrian safety?

• Per mile traveled, pedestrians are 36 times more
  likely to die in a collision than drivers.
• Nationwide, 5.4 of all trips are made on foot,
  but 13 of all traffic fatalities are
  pedestrians.
• Pedestrian fatality rates in the United States
  are far higher than in other industrialized
  countries. In both Germany and the Netherlands
  the fatality rate was 26 deaths per billion
  kilometers walked, while in the United States the
  rate was 364 deaths per billion kilometers walked
  fourteen times.

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Why should we be interested in bicycle and
pedestrian safety?

• In many areas, intersections with crosswalks may
  be as much as a half-mile apart, leaving
  pedestrians with no safe way to cross the street.
  
• Of the pedestrian deaths for which information
  is recorded, almost 60 percent (59.1) occurred
  in places where no crosswalk was available.

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Why should we be interested in bicycle and
pedestrian safety?

• We are obligated to share the road with them, and
  Its the Law
• The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency
  Act (ISTEA) of 1991 requires transit agencies to
  work towards incorporating different
  transportation modes (like biking) into transit
  systems.
• In 1998, the Transportation Efficiency Act for
  the 21st Century (TEA-21) reinforced this
  mandate.
• Kentucky statutes and regulations have several
  laws dealing with bicycles and pedestrians.

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• Bicyclists

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Significant Kentucky statutes and regulations and
guidelines pertaining to bicycles

• KRS 189,010(19) A person operating a bicycle has
  the rights and duties applicable to a
  driver operating a vehicle
• Sec. 551.103 (c) Persons operating bicycles
  on a roadway may ride two abreast.

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General Safety guidelines pertaining to bicycles

• If in the opinion of the cyclist, if it is not
  safe to ride to the right side of the road, they
  are not required to stay right and are entitled
  to take up the entire lane. It is your
  responsibility to yield to them in this
  circumstance, so overtake them with caution.

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Statistics for BicyclistsNational Statistics

• In 1997, 813 bicyclists were killed and 58,000
  were injured in traffic crashes. Bicyclists
  accounted for 2 percent of the deaths and
  injuries of all the people killed and injured in
  traffic collisions.
• 88 of bicyclists killed were males and one third
  of all bicycle fatalities were between the ages
  of 5 and 15. 53 of bicycle injuries are between
  the ages of 5 and 15.

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Statistics for Bicyclists Major causes of
collisions between motorists and bicyclists

• 22.3 - The motorist failed to yield to the
  bicyclist
• 16 - Bicyclist failed to yield to motorist at
  the intersection
• 12 - Motorist turned or merged into the path of
  the bicyclist
• 11.8 - Bicyclist failed to yield to the motorist
  midblock
• 8.5 - Motorist overtaking bicyclist
• 7.6 - Bicyclist turned into the path of the
  motorist
• All other causes under 3

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Operators may kneel the bus for cyclists placing
  their bikes in the rack,
• This picture shows the problems for the cyclist
  when the bus isnt keeled.
• Always apply the parking brake

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Bicycles that have large boxes or other items
  on the bike that obscure the drivers view should
  not be placed in the bike racks, and those riders
  denied service.

• For liability reasons, we do not assist
  bicyclists with the loading or
  unloading of their bikes on the racks.

• Remind the bicyclist when they are
  boarding the bus to let you
  know when they are getting off.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Keep an eye out for bicyclists. They're not as
  easy to see as a car or truck and you are more
  likely to be looking for other motor vehicles.
  Keeping your windshield clean, as required by
  your CDL, is one of the best things that you can
  do to avoid collisions. Also, to reduce glare,
  keep papers off of the dash.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Remember that bicycles may have the same rights
  as a motor vehicle, but they differ from motor
  vehicles there're smaller and can't move as
  fast. But they can change direction more easily,
  stop faster and move through smaller spaces.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Pass cyclists with care. Give them plenty of
  room. Look ahead when you drive, plan and
  anticipate passing bicyclists quickly and
  efficiently. If you are planning to turn or stop
  after passing a bicyclist, its better to wait
  rather than cut them off. Many drivers do not
  realize how fast a bicycle can travel, and think
  they have time to turn in front of them. Cyclist
  can travel 15 to 30 mph.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Save your horn. Some bicyclists are startled by
  honking, and it could cause them to have an
  accident, or unexpectedly cause them to veer into
  the path of your vehicle.
• Lights. When approaching a bicycle, your high
  beams can be blinding. Although many of you
  rarely use them, remember that they need to be
  dimmed for cyclists as well as other motorists.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Road conditions can affect a cyclists' behavior.
  Cars parked along the side of the road will
  cause them to ride farther out in traffic,
  because they are worried about car doors opening.
  Hitting an open car door may not hurt much when
  youre in a motor vehicle, but it can cause very
  serious injury to a cyclist.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Sewer gratings, soft shoulders, construction
  areas, broken glass, gravel and other debris are
  no big deal for a motorist, but are serious
  hazards for a cyclist. They can cause cyclists
  to ride farther out into traffic or cause them to
  swerve unexpectedly out into traffic. When
  approaching a cyclist, learn to assess the road
  hazards the way the cyclist would and you will be
  better equipped to anticipate their actions.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Be extra cautious around cyclists that don't
  wear helmets. Head injuries cause 75 of all
  bicycling fatalities, and most cyclists know
  this.
• Riders that don't wear helmets are demonstrating
  that they are not safety conscious, and may be
  more likely to break traffic laws or act
  unpredictably.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• The same holds true for cyclists wearing
  headphones, as they need to be aware of their
  surroundings, especially sounds of traffic, and
  can't hear them if they are listening to music.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Be alert to cyclists during left-hand turns.
  Surprisingly, a cyclist is four times more likely
  to be hit by a motor vehicle that is turning left
  than by one that is turning right. Many drivers
  find that turning left is more difficult and
  their peripheral vision to the left (for
  approaching cyclists) is strained.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Watch out for bicyclists that ride up along the
  right side of the bus as you are approaching a
  stop (a frequent occurrence). You could open the
  doors right onto them, or let your passengers out
  right in front of them, causing a
  passenger-cyclist collision. For this reason,
  please curb your vehicle so that cyclists either
  wait behind you or pass to the left.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Be alert for "midblock rideout", which occurs
  when a bicyclists enters the roadway from a
  driveway, alley or curb without slowing,
  stopping, or looking for traffic. This is the
  most frequent crash type for young riders, so
  when you see a child on a bike just off the
  roadway,expect them to dart out and be
  ready.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• 62 of child bicyclist-motor vehicle accidents
  are due to the cyclist failure to yield
  right-of-way to the motorist. 71 of teenage
  bicyclist-motor vehicle accidents are due to
  wrong way bicycling or bicyclist error at an
  intersection.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists

• Watch out for the draft, or wake of air
  created by your vehicle. It can cause the
  cyclist to swerve unexpectedly.

Rear engine vehicles, like TARC buses, can
sneak up on a cyclist. Many cyclists depend on
hearing a vehicle approaching from the rear, and
a rear engine vehicle is usually a lot closer by
the time they hear it. This can startle them,
causing unpredictable behavior.
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Safe Driving Practices Around Bicyclists
Be appreciative when you encounter a cyclist
following the rules of the road, yielding the
right-of-way, or otherwise politely sharing the
road with other traffic. Give them a friendly
wave, a smile or tell them thanks when they ride
responsibly. After all, we want to encourage
that type of behavior.
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• Pedestrians

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Statistics for Pedestrians National Statistics

• In 1998, 5,220 pedestrians died in traffic
  crashes,a decrease of 24 from the previous
  decade.
• 69,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic
  accidents in 1998, a decrease of 18 from 1988.
• 85 of all nonmotorist fatalities are
  pedestrians.
• 78 of pedestrian fatalities occur at
  non-intersections.
• 88 occur in normal weather conditions and 64
  occur at night.

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Statistics for Pedestrians National Statistics

• Walking is far more dangerous than flying or
  driving, per mile traveled
• 0.16 deaths per 100,000,000 miles aboard an
  airplane.

.

• 1.4 deaths per 100,000,000 miles in a car.

• Almost 50 deaths per 100,000,000 miles walked.

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Statistics for PedestriansRanking the major
causes of pedestrian accidents

• 1 Midblock Dart Out
• 3 Vehicle Turn or Merge
• 5 Backing Up
• 7 Vendor Related

• 2 Intersection Dash
• 4 Multiple Threats (A stopped vehicle at a
  crosswalk blocks the view of another driver
  approaching)
• 6 Bus Stop Related

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Statistics for Pedestrians

• State Statistics 461 pedestrians were
  killed in vehicle accidents in 1998. Again, just
  as with bicycling statistics, we were third in
  the nation behind California and Florida.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Increase your defensive driving "scan and
  search" to include pedestrians along the road and
  on the sidewalks. They're not as easy to see as
  a car or truck and you are more likely to be
  looking for other cars.
• Keeping your windshield clean, so that
  pedestrians are more visible, is one of the
  biggest things you can do to reduce pedestrian
  accidents. Pollen, dirt and debris can increase
  glare and reduce visibility.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Be alert to pedestrians during left-hand turns.
  Just as with cyclists, a pedestrian is four times
  more likely to be hit by a motor vehicle that is
  turning left than by one that is turning right.
  As shown in driver work load studies, the left
  turning maneuver is more demanding, particularly
  for older drivers, and drivers appear to have
  problems with visual search and detection of
  pedestrians.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Children under 8 years old are not capable of
  safely navigating around traffic. The American
  Academy of Pediatrics reports that a young
  child's awareness of sounds and the direction
  from which they emanate, their peripheral vision,
  their focus and concentration levels are not
  sufficiently developed until after 8 years of
  age. One study showed that 90 of street
  crossings made by children in K through 3rd grade
  were in error. If you expect children under 8
  near the street to cross incorrectly, you will be
  right 9 out of 10 times.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Areas around colleges and universities
  should also receive special attention at all
  times. Expect students to be darting out, not
  paying attention to signals or traffic, or trying
  to catch the tail end of a walk signal, ending up
  still in the road when the light turns green.
  The same holds true for public schools during
  peak hours in the morning and afternoon.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Slow down! Especially in schools zones and other
  areas rich with pedestrians.
• If a car going 20 mph hits a person, there is a
  95 chance that the person will survive.
• If the car is traveling 30 mph, the person has
  slightly better than a 50 of survival.
• At 40 mph, only 15 of people struck at this
  speed can be expected to survive.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• During the summer months, Operators driving near
  pools and parks should increase their search for
  children who may dart out,
• Expect more people to cross in mid-block in the
  early evening and weekends.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Everybody knows to be alert when a ball comes
  bouncing out in the street, but statistically the
  same or more caution should be exercised
  when approaching an ice cream truck or
  other street vendor.

• Joggers are a special hazard. Some of them
  violate traffic rules because they don't want to
  slow down or break their stride at intersections
  and many of them wear headphones, which takes
  away their ability to hear traffic noises.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Older pedestrians walk slower, which makes them
  more difficult for the eye to pick up. They also
  need more time to cross the street. Older
  pedestrians account for 13 of the population but
  22 of all pedestrian fatalities. They have the
  highest death rate of any age group. Areas
  around retirement homes, senior centers, and
  nursing homes present an increased hazard.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Developments and neighborhoods that don't have
  sidewalks force kids to walk and wait for school
  buses in the streets, increasing the hazard.
  This problem is compounded in the winter months,
  when the low angle of sunlight, and the tendency
  to wear darker clothes makes
  
  
  
  
  them more difficult to see.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Entertainment areas, like 6th Ali, or Bardstown
  road are another potential hazard. 31 of all
  pedestrian fatalities involved an intoxicated
  pedestrian. Some people think that if they are
  too drunk to drive home, they will just walk,
  which turns out to be not much safer.
• Concerns about the inebriated also apply at
  transient areas like Shelby Market, or 11th
  Market.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Be alert to unusual pedestrian behavior around
  Construction areas. Many times construction areas
  or activities force the pedestrian to walk out
  into the street. Pedestrians maybe distracted
  because they are watching the construction
  activities and not paying attention to traffic.

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Safe Driving Practices Around Pedestrians

• Exercise caution while making a Right Turn On
  Red. One significant cause of pedestrian
  fatalities is a turning vehicle in a crosswalk
  striking a pedestrian.

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For bike and pedestrian accident prevention,Give
the road your full attention.

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