Best Biking City in US Lacking High Quality Safety Lights

Bike Safety Lights Recognized As Necessity For Cycling Safety

There are several factors that cyclists consider as either helpful or detrimental to their cycling experience within a community.  While it seems that many cities are making more efforts to improve safety and road conditions specifically with cyclists in mind, this cycling blog based in Texas provides a list of categories that every cyclist should look for in a bike-friendly city, including:

• Protected bike lanes on bridges
• Free tune-up stations
• Car-free hours in parks
• Elevated bike paths
• Striped bike lanes
• Bike boxes at intersections
• Bicycle commuter stations
• Bike-share programs
• Bike-themed festivals
• Elementary school bicycle-trains
• Cyclist-friendly cafés
• Bicycle parking
• Bike racks on buses
• Closed-street cycling events

In 2012, Portland was named the “most bike-friendly city” in America, and was given “platinum” status by the League of American Bicyclists.  This popular city is well-known not only for its outstanding support of cyclists, but also for consistently looking for ways to make improvements to enhance the cycling experience.  

Even though Portland may have proven itself to be bicycle-friendly, it failed to rank high enough in the safety realm with regard to the use of bicycle safety lights.  To test this point, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance put together a “Bicycle Lights Use Survey” with volunteers at 33 different spots around Portland, with the sole purpose of counting the number of cyclists who were utilizing safety lights. 

The results of the survey showed that while 9 in 10 cyclists had front lights, only 1 in 9 were sufficient for safety.   The BTA is working to bring a greater awareness of the need to use bike lights that are safe and efficient.  They are even asking cyclists to carry extra lights to pass along to friends and family who never use any kind of safety light.

The problem lies with a lack of safety information being provided to thousands of cyclists.  There are countless organizations you can partner with in order to create a more bike-friendly environment through enhanced safety precautions.  Health care organizations, children’s museums, school clubs, police departments, universities, and bicycle coalition groups are just a few.

BikeNSafetyPromos provides only the highest quality of bike safety promotional items.  Let us know how we can partner with you in this venture!