Be the best bike town around: Bike Safety Bonanza rolls up Oct. 18

The image of a bike denotes something so simple and optimistic. Freedom. Fresh air. Good health. But there are also a few potential perils attached to those wonderful wheels: Collision with vehicles. Thefts or vandalism. A bad spill.

And on Daniel Island, where residents truly take advantage of the bike-friendly neighborhoods and town center, the good is taken with the bad – though that doesn’t mean the latter goes unaddressed. Our community leaders and law enforcement have been swift to respond to issues of traffic flow and signage, as well as stolen and damaged bikes. The best response, however, is for our residents – young and old – to be more proactive with prevention.

On Sunday, October 18, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Daniel Island School, a Bike Safety Bonanza will serve to reinforce that mindset. Taking place on the “Walker B” side of the school (near the bike racks on the south side of the school), the event will emphasize all aspects of bike safety, from understanding traffic rules to proper helmet sizing to making sure every bike is in safe working order.

The bonanza is sponsored by DIS PTA, Cooper River Cycles, MUSC, Trident Safe Kids, City of Charleston Police, and the Daniel Island Community Fund. Participants are invited to bring bikes for complimentary safety checks, minor repairs, and adjustments. In addition, bikers will be offered proper helmet fitting, instructions for effective locking, and hands-on safety instruction right on school grounds where proper crosswalk and sidewalk safety procedures can be practiced. Refreshments from King of Pops will be for sale, and members of the DIS Beta Club have volunteered their time to the free affair.

Additionally, in an effort to curb theft – or at least expedite the safe return of “misplaced” bicycles - Daniel Island’s Team 5 from the City of Charleston Police Department will be on hand to register bikes, with the associated fees generously covered by the Daniel Island Community Fund. “(Bike registration) doesn’t necessarily prevent the theft, like a good quality lock might,” affirms Team 5 Commander Lt. James Byrne, “but it gives thieves one more thing to think about, and it helps us identify whether a bike belongs to someone other than the person in possession of it. It also helps us return a found bike to its proper owner, rather than putting it in police property and possibly having it auctioned off.”

Rindy Ryan, Daniel Island School PTA vice president, said that a need for this type of event became particularly evident this year. “The social media chatter has been abuzz for the past several months with residents’ concerns about the safety of cyclists and pedestrians alike,” Ryan states. “At our Back to School Celebration in August, Gage Cooper of Cooper River Cycles brought out a tent and was prepared to offer bike and helmet safety checks at that event. Very few people rode bikes that evening, but Gage and his crew spoke to a great number of DIS families who overwhelmingly called for some kind of bicycle safety course.” With Cooper’s desire to spearhead the event, the PTA pulled in the remaining partners to make it relevant and useful to not only DIS families, but to the entire community.

Ryan sees Daniel Island as a “community of cyclists,” acknowledging that it is one of the most-treasured attributes of the city’s island town. But she also concedes that, all too often, she observes youth riders failing to demonstrate “defensive” biking, and that she has frequently had to remind her own children of the need for caution. “With so many distracted drivers on the roads these days, I don’t think anyone walking or riding a bike can be too careful,” Ryan asserts. “I am hopeful that having kids hear from someone other than their own parents how important the rules of safe cycling are may have an impact and lead to some improved attention to safety in our community.”

Representatives from MUSC Children’s Hospital and Trident Safe Kids will be on hand to demonstrate proper traffic etiquette and guidelines to follow the rules of the road, and Cooper River Cycles is providing free bicycle inspections and on-the-spot minor adjustments. The island bike shop will be offering 10% off Giro brand helmets in all children and youth sizes, and will have safety items such as lights and bells available at a discount as well.

Cooper maintains that the hardest part of making cycling safe is educating all of our riders. He concedes that helmets are not mandatory in South Carolina, but insists that they are always a good idea, as are lights at the front and rear of all bicycles. “Our reasoning is this:” he shares, “even if you are the safest, most aware and careful cyclist in the world, that doesn’t mean that the people piloting cars, trucks, and other vehicles will be as aware of you as you would like.”

Pointing out that a biker’s rights of the road match a motorist’s, but not their size does not, Cooper implores riders to travel defensively at all times. He believes that Daniel Island has great infrastructure to support cycling, and that a well-safety-educated public would make it a town that could really set the standard for incident-free bike-ability. Such is the mission of the Bike Safety Bonanza.

“We hope that people will take advantage of this opportunity,” Cooper states, “to practice safe riding by wearing a properly fitted helmet, using lights and bells to create awareness, and keeping their bike in proper working order so that they can maintain a safe and happy riding experience.”

For additional information about the Bike Safety Bonanza, contact Gage Cooper of Cooper River Cycles at (843) 480-4464 or Rindy Ryan of DIS PTA at (843) 437-0156.

Lt. Byrne’s candid bike-speak
“I have seen bike riders, both children and adults, who either don’t understand or don’t observe basic traffic laws regarding bikes. I have seen stop signs and traffic lights disregarded. I have seen bikes going the wrong way on one-way streets. And I have seen bikes weaving between cars with a disregard for the potential consequences of a collision. Moreover, I have seen bicyclists and motorists who have abandoned common courtesy and common sense - the roads are supposed to be shared, not conquered. A cyclist might be correct, but he or she might need to yield to an inattentive or aggressive driver to avoid a collision that the cyclist is unlikely to fare well in. Likewise, a motorist might have the right of way, but he or she might need to allow a cyclist to proceed to avoid a collision. As a police department, we would much rather have a cyclist or motorist alter their behavior because they received a citation or a warning, not because they were involved in a serious collision.”

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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