With bicycling season in high gear, Minneapolis is launching a campaign to remind motorists and bicyclists to share the road and be safe.
Posters in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong will carry messages such as "Safety Starts With All of Us" and "Ride Predictably." They will be put up at 27 transit shelters throughout the city, primarily in areas where crashes involving bicyclists are frequent.
More than 3,000 crashes involving vehicles and bicycles have been reported in Minneapolis from 2000 to 2010, according to a report available at www.minneapolismn.gov/bicycles.
The four messages to drivers and cyclists are:
Safety starts with all of us: Data show that cyclists and drivers are equally responsible for bicycle-vehicle crashes in Minneapolis.
Drivers need to look for bicyclists, especially when turning: Forty percent of bicycle-vehicle crashes in Minneapolis involve a driver not yielding to a bicyclist.
Bicyclists need to follow traffic laws: One in three bicycle-vehicle crashes in Minneapolis involves a bicyclist running a red light, riding against traffic or failing to yield the right of way.
Bicycling in Minneapolis is getting safer: Even though more people use bicycles for transportation, bicycle-vehicle crashes have not increased.
