For National Motorcycle and Bike Safety Awareness Month, here are safety tips for drivers, motorcyclists and bicyclists

Urban Milwaukee photo

May is National Motorcycle and Bike Safety Awareness Month, and state officials are reminding Kentuckians to look out for one another – whether on two wheels or four.

“We’re entering the warmer months, which typically means more motorcycles and bicycles on our roadways,” Gov. Andy Beshear. “Safety is a mutual responsibility and we encourage all road users to do their part in making sure everyone makes it to their destination safely – every trip, every time.”

The state Transportation Cabinet points out that a motorcycle or bicycle is a vehicle with all of the rights and privileges of any motor vehicle though it may be in the blind spots of cars, trucks and SUVs.

“We’re asking motorists to take simple yet important actions when behind the wheel,” Transportation Secretary Jim Gray said. “Taking the extra step of looking twice at intersections and before changing lanes or making turns could be the difference between life and death for a motorcyclist or bicyclist.”

In 2022 motorcycle crashs in Kentucky caused 1,198 injuries and 99 deaths (all of them motorcyclists). Of the 1,575 crashes, 824 involved a motorcycle and at least one other vehicle.

Bicyclists' crashes resulted in 229 injuries and 13 deaths. Of the 344 crashes, 340 involved at least one other vehicle.

The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety offers drivers these tips:

• Put the phone down and pay attention. Driving while distracted increases risk for all road users;
• Perform a regular visual check by checking mirrors and blind spots before entering or exiting a lane of traffic, and at intersections;
• Use a turn signal before changing lanes or merging with traffic to alert others of your intentions;
• Don’t be fooled by a flashing turn signal on a mo­torcycle. Motorcycle signals are often not self-canceling and riders sometimes forget to turn them off. Wait to be sure the motorcycle is going to turn before you proceed;
• Obey the speed limit. Driving at the posted limit allows you to see, identify and react to possible obstacles;
• Drive sober. Alcohol and drugs affect judgment, balance and reaction time. Always make a plan for a safe ride home;
• Buckle up. Wearing a seat belt gives you the best protection against injury and death;
• Allow at least a three-second following distance between you and the vehicle in front of you;
• Do not use designated bike lanes for parking, passing or turning; and
• Pass to the left of a bicycle, allowing at least three feet clearance.

The office offers these tips for motorcyclists:

• Wear a Department of Transportation-compliant helmet;
• Use turn signals for every turn or lane change, and combine with hand signals;
• Wear brightly colored protective gear and use reflective tape and stickers to increase visibility;
• Position in the lane where most visible to other drivers;
• Pay attention by avoiding any action that takes your eyes, your ears or your mind off the road and traffic;
• Obey the speed limit. Driving at the posted limit allows you to see, identify and react to possible obstacles;
• Ride sober. Alcohol and/or drugs can impair your judgment, coordination and reaction time;
• Take a rider training course. Find information at www.ride.ky.gov.

And these tips for bicyclists:

• Ride in the same direction as traffic;
• Wear a properly-fitted helmet that meets that meets the Consumer Product Safety Commission standards;
• Use hand signals when changing lanes or turning;
• Wear brightly colored protective gear and use reflective tape and stickers to increase visibility;
• Pay attention by avoiding any action that takes your eyes, your ears or your mind off the road and traffic;
• Scan ahead for possible obstacles in your path, such as parked cars or cars pulling out or into parking spaces or driveways;
• Check your equipment before riding. Make sure your brakes are working and tires are properly inflated;
• Never ride when impaired. Alcohol and/or drugs can impair your judgment, coordination and reaction time.

No-penalty bill to require bicycle helmets dies, as some senators counted as 'yes' votes fail to show up for final committee meeting

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

FRANKFORT, Ky. – A no-penalty bill to require children under 12 to wear a helmet when bicycling has died for this legislative session, after falling one vote short in the Senate Transportation Committee March 14, and being passed over due to absences at the next meeting, on March 21.

"Adequate notice was given to members of both parties that this bill was going to be up, and some votes that I thought the sponsor could count on didn't show up," committee Chair Ernie Harris, a Republican from Prospect in Oldham County, said after the meeting. He said the bill is dead.

Democratic Sens. Gerald Neal of Louisville and Johnny Ray Turner of Prestonsburg, as well as Republican Albert Robinson of London, were absent.

Rep. Regina Huff

House Bill 52 would require children under 12 to wear a helmet when they ride a bicycle. Violation would result in a courtesy warning, not a fine.

"We had three votes that were nos, and the rest were yeses," sponsor Regina Huff told Kentucky Health News. "Somehow they all weren't in the meeting on the same day, and I don't know if that's by chance or by design quite frankly." The bill passed the House 77-5 on Feb. 2.

At the March 14 committee meeting, two senators that the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky expected to vote for the bill voted against it, and three who were expected to vote yes were absent, according to BIAK.

The lobbying group calls HB 52 "TJ's bill" for TJ Floyd of Oldham County, who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) when he flipped over his handlebars while not wearing a helmet at age 7 in 2010. It says 384 American children die annually from bicycle crashes, and 450,000 more are treated in emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries, with about 135,000 of those seen in the ER related to head injuries.

"It is a bill for safety, for children at play to be safer when they are riding their. bikes," said Huff, a Republican from Williamsburg in southeastern Kentucky. "Helmets are 84 to 89 percent effective against a TBI, and prevention is the only cure for a TBI." 

But Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, who changed his vote to a no, said it would be "an overreach by government." He told Kentucky Health News that after talking to other policymakers and several lawyers, he became concerned about the implications for owners of private property on which children might ride bicycles and non-relatives who might be caring for them when bicycling.

Sen. Ernie Harris

Kentucky Health News asked Harris why he wouldn't hold a special meeting of the committee in the Senate chamber, when all members would likely be available. He said he had already given the bill two chances, which he had never done for a bill before – then said that it didn't have the support advocates thought.

"People have come up to me to say, 'I really don't want to vote on it, but if I have to, I will,' so the votes are not there," Harris said. "I have no explanation for why some people didn't show up. . . . I did everything I could to get people that would vote for it."

Clearly disappointed, Huff said the advocates would try again next year, and she was pleased it had received a hearing in the Senate for the first time. Similar legislation has been considered in the House for several years; last year's HB 122 passed the House 90-6 but was not heard in the Senate.

Help prevent leading cause of child death: unintentional injury

Every day 2,000 children die from preventable injuries, making unintentional injuries the leading cause of death for children in the United States. More of these injuries occur during the summer than any other season.

"Kids are outside more, out of school and less supervised," said Greg Ozark, associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "This leads to an increased risk of injuries, from drowning to head injuries to skin infections from bug bites and poison ivy.

Serious injuries and death can happen in an instant; most drownings occur when a parent hasn't been watching a child for only five minutes.

Ozark said the best method for injury prevention is adult supervision including not only watching the kids, but setting safety rules and leading by example. "Your children are watching you," Ozark said. "They are more likely to do what they see you doing than to do what they hear you saying."

Water safety:
1. An adult should be supervising children spending time around any source of water including pools and lakes; infants and toddlers should be supervised while they are in the bathtub.
2. Children 5 and older should take swim lessons.
3. Young children should always be in arm's reach of an adult.
4. Home pools have to have a four-foot fence surrounding them including a self-locking gate.
5. People of all ages should wear lifejackets while boating, and children should wear lifejackets even on docks and piers.

Wheeled activities like bike riding:
1. Each child needs to wear a helmet approved by the American National Standards Institute. The helmet should fit snugly, sit over the forehead and cover the back of the head. Helmets should be replaced if they get dented or cracked.
2. Children should wear knee and elbow pads and wrist guards while skateboarding.
3. Tell children to be particularly careful around driveways, and children younger than 10 should not be permitted to ride in the street.
4. Always be aware of wear your children are going and do not let them go too far from home.

Playground:
1. Supervise your children while they play on the playground.
2. Playground surfaces should be filled with wood chips or sand, not grass or cement.
3. Report broken equipment immediately, and don't let your children play on it.
4. Home swing sets can pose a strangulation hazard, so check them carefully before children use them.
5. Playground equipment should not be higher than six feet off the ground.

"Be wary, supervise and think about what are potential consequences that could occur by your child's activity," Ozark said. "Whether they are toddlers or teens, there is no age that doesn't need to be supervised."

Kentucky ranks 37th, Louisville 33rd in percentage of commuters who bike or walk to work

Kentucky ranks 37th in the nation for its number of commuters who bike or walk to work. Of the 51 largest cities in the county, Louisville ranks 33rd.

These are the findings of the Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, compiled by the Alliance for Biking & Walking. As well as looking at commuter numbers, it also examined how safe those commuters are and where transportation funding is being spent on "alternative means of local travel," reports Jeannine Stein of the Los Angeles Times. (Times photo by Wally Skalij)

Alaska, despite its cold climate, has the highest percentage of commuters who bike or walk to work. Boston has the highest ranking among cities. The lowest are Alabama and Fort Worth, Tex.

Across the country, 12 percent of all trips are on foot (10.5 percent) or by bicycle (1 percent), though from 2000 to 2009, the number of cycling commuters increased by 57 percent. While numbers are growing, safety is a concern. In the 51 largest cities, 12.7 percent of trips are by foot and 1.1 percent are by bicycle, but 26.9 percent of traffic fatalities are pedestrians and 3.1 percent are bicyclists.

Despite the risk, the report makes a connection with biking or walking and health. It points out cycling and walking levels fell 66 percent between 1960 and 2009, while obesity levels increased by 156 percent. The picture was more grim when it came to children. Between 1966 and 2009, the number of children who biked or walked to school fell by 75 percent, while the percentage of obese children rose by 276 percent.

Despite the physical benefits of the activity, states spend just 1.6 percent of their federal transportation dollars on bicycling and walking, amounting to just $2.17 per capita, the report found.

Instead of biking or walking, people are still relying mostly on their cars. The report found 40 percent of trips in the United States in 2009 were shorter than two miles, but Americans used their cars for 87 percent of trips that were 1 to 2 miles in distance. When it came to trips up to 1 mile long, Americans still used their cars 62 percent of the time.

The report was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AARP and Planet Bike.