Expanding Urban Cyclists: Educating and Enforcing Traffic Laws for the Growing Demographic
Expanding Urban Cyclists: Educating and Enforcing Traffic Laws for the Growing Demographic
By Sam Witz
Thesis
By instituting basic licensing requirements paired with a small division of the Chicago Police Department dedicated to cycling traffic, existing bicycle laws can be enforced to improve traffic flow and reduce the growing cyclist accident and fatality rate in Chicago.
Background and Analysis
With increasing population and traffic congestion in dense urban environments, commuters are continuously transitioning to bicycle-transport. The number of cyclist has nearly tripled since 2010, as they are becoming a more significant component of our traffic system. Failure to properly integrate this growing demographic has resulted in increased cyclist fatalities.
It is not uncommon to see cyclists disobeying traffic laws without consequence, including the running of red lights, stop signs, and general disobedience towards basic rules of the road. This display of misconduct is understandable in a system with little education or enforcement. While no educational requirements exist for cyclists, there is a current effort put forth to control cyclist traffic by the Chicago Police Department falls subject to spontaneity and inconsistency. 410 cyclists in the City of Chicago have been ticketed from 2005 to 2016, most of which occur at temporary checkpoints that are set up on a few given days of the year.
Under this current system, enforcement holds a select group of unsuspecting and uninformed cyclists to a set of rules they have no familiarity with, and fail to consistently inform and enforce the many laws and regulations pertaining to cyclists that are already in place. To maintain a collective population of law-abiding commuters, we must create a reliable system of education and enforcement directed towards cyclists on main roadways in the City of Chicago.
Talking Points
As cyclists continue to neglect traffic laws while maintaining a pedestrian status, drivers develop disdain yet are forced to comply to avoid fault in the case of an accident.
With the development of E-bikes and ride-sharing programs, cyclists are traveling in greater numbers and at higher speeds, contributing to the 15,000+ accident count over the last decade in the City of Chicago alone.
By creating a channel of education and enforcement of law, cyclists are held to the same standard as drivers and are forced to comply with the rules of traffic under risk of monetary penalty and forfeiture of privilege.
The Policy Idea
The Illinois Department of Transportation should institute a code resembling California Vehicle Code 39002(a), allowing a city to regulate those authorized to cycle on select roadways. The City of Chicago should administer an ongoing brief, public session that informs cyclists of the existing laws and regulations expected of them on main roadways in exchange for licenseship to ride on select city roadways. The Chicago Police Department should then appoint bicycle-traffic officers to patrol main roadways and begin enforcing rules and regulations pertaining to cyclists while continuing educational efforts.
Policy Analysis
Prior to 1939, there existed no licensing requirement to drive an automobile in the City of Chicago. It wasn’t until city officials recognized automobiles as an evident major component of transportation that appropriate action was taken place in instituting a standard of precedent and enforcement. We now find ourselves in a coinciding point in history by which we recognize cyclists as an expanding component of transportation, and begin to see a cyclist’s responsibility comparable to operating a vehicle in a smaller yet present sense. While cyclists are not as capable of destruction to others, their susceptibility to damaging themselves and disrupting traffic with collisions is unprecedented. This calls for equal recognition from both the Department of Transportation and Police Enforcement.
California Vehicle Code 39002 states “A city or county [...] may provide in the ordinance or resolution that no resident shall operate any bicycle, as specified in the ordinance, on any street, road, highway, or other public property within the jurisdiction of the city or county.” While no city or county in California has utilized this code for implementation of a licensing requirement, it has opened the door to that possibility. With the implementation of this code, the City of Chicago would be authorized to implement a basic licensing requirement on roadways they deem necessary of licenseship. By then offering an ongoing public session that is both condensed and accessible, it is reasonable to expect all regular commuting cyclists to comply if given an extended window of time. The institution of this basic licensing requirement would take place over years to give both time for the information to reach all parties of concern, as well as time for concerning parties to act upon the given requirements.
Next Steps
The Active Transportation Alliance is a Non-Profit bicycle-centered organization that has deep political ties and has assisted in making Chicago the very bike-friendly city that it is today. They, along with the Metropolitan Planning Council would have the ability to garner attention from City Department Directors and the Chicago Police Department. The Chicago Community Trust has deeper pockets that could assist in writing grants that could push this policy proposal into action. The clear rise in accidents and fatalities is already raising public attention, which would garner a solid backing and support group for a proposal that aims to increase safety. These three organizations can collectively assist in modifying the policy to make it most attractive and purposeful, given their advocacy divisions that dedicate themselves to moving and implementing policy.
Key Facts
In 2015, bicycle fatality rates increased 12.2% in the United States from the year before, coming to a total of 818 bicyclists killed and 45,000 reported injuries in motor vehicle collisions.
Over 70% of these collisions occurred in urban environments, while the average age of cyclists killed in 2015 was 45, children making up only 5% of total fatalities.
Some might assume that cars are almost always at fault in a bicycle-motor collision, where the national average found cyclists at fault 57% of the time.