RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The UCI Road World Championships are just 59 days away, but signs that Richmond has very much become a cycling community are all over some streets. Five designated bike lanes have recently been painted around the City, and now, there is a new effort to educate commuters about how to use them.
Today Jason James used the new lane on West Leigh Street to ride his bike to the hardware store.
“I’m really excited to see the progress,” the Bellevue resident says, explaining that he relies on his bicycle for transportation most days of the week because he is part of a one-car family. “I bike to go to my carpool, I bike to run errands, I take my son to the pool.”
While he was riding today with 8News cameras rolling, an SUV driver cut in front of him, using the bike lane to pass.
“A good example of education needed,” James observes.
That is where a new pamphlet from the Sports Backers Bike Walk RVA program comes in.
“Descriptions of what they are, how people riding bikes should use them, how people driving should use them,” Director Max Hepp-Buchanan says, flipping through the pages. “It’s just based on changes on the road that we’re not used to.”
Hepp-Buchanan explains close calls or crashes can happen if commuters are not aware of the etiquette and laws for each marker. A main one that causes concern is how drivers should make right turns across a bike lane. If they cut in front of the cyclist, there is a greater risk of accidents.
“I’ve had to jam to jam on my brakes pretty hard a couple of times to avoid that kind of situation,” James recalls.
Hepp-Buchanan says drivers need to see bike lanes as another lane of traffic. “Just like you would merge into any other lane, you need to give right of way to the traffic that is moving in that lane, so check all of your mirrors, do your shoulder check, move into the bike lane and take your right turn.”
Hepp-Buchanan says these markings are the beginning of a cycling system around the City, so it’s important that everyone becomes familiar with them. Bicycles are a big part of the changing transportation culture in Richmond.
“We like to say people who bike, people who drive and people who walk instead of cyclists, drivers and pedestrians. We’re all people. We’re all trying to get where we need to go, and we’re using different modes of transportation these days to get there.”
The pamphlets went out to 30,000 residents living in zip codes with designated bike lanes and where cycling and driving accidents happen the most.
