By ALLISON McVICKER
BGSU Student Journalist
The city of Bowling Green’s bike network score is 35 out of 100 and ranks 28th out of 83 cities in Ohio, according to the PeopleForBikes organization, an organization that works to make it safer and more convenient to ride a bike for transportation and recreation.
The organization awards a city’s bike network score based on its protected bike lanes, off-street paths, slow shared streets and safe crossings that enable people to comfortably bike around a city.
However, members of Bowling Green’s Bicycle Safety Commission have their own impressions on the safety of bicycles in the city.
“If you follow some basic rules, what we call the ‘rules of the road,’ Bowling Green is a very cycle-friendly community,” said Bicycle Safety Commission chairperson Steve Langendorfer. “It’s hard to convince people of that because they think of Main Street and Wooster Street and that it’s terrible to ride on it. It’s actually not, I ride on them all the time.”
Bicycle Safety Commission secretary Andrew McDermott said one of the “rules of the road” for cyclists is to be a part of traffic on the main road as opposed to on the sidewalk.
“The vast majority of accidents happen with cyclists when they are riding on the sidewalks and not on the roads,” McDermott said. “Usually when motor vehicles are on the roads, they pay attention to other motor vehicles or just other things on the road and they do not take the time to check the sidewalks as often as they should.”
Some BGSU students said other potentially hazardous bike routes are the campus’ sidewalks.
“I think that biking is a good way to get around especially with longer distances,” said BGSU student Madison Cope. “However, I think many of the bikers are extremely careless and expect people to move out of the way of them. Overall, bikers need to be more cautious and concerned for others walking.”
The Bicycle Safety Commission offers monthly events called “slow rolls” between April and October to help riders gain a better understanding of bicycle safety.
“We try to show people how to ride safely on the roads,” Langendorfer said. “The thing that I say at all these slow rolls is ‘be seen.’ Wear bright colors, make sure you’ve got lights on your bike, be sure that you’re out in the lane and use hand signals.”
The commission’s next slow roll, “Spooks and Spokes,” is scheduled for Oct. 19.
In addition to their events, BG’s Bicycle Safety Commission is also an outlet for both hobby bikers and those interested in building a safer community.
“Biking is something that I like to do, particularly because I’ve been on the Bicycle Safety Commission,” Langendorfer said. “We really focus on bicycle safety and advocate for more bicycle infrastructure.”
McDermott said he hopes that there can someday be unity between bike riders and community motorists.
“I really hope that we can find this way where vehicles and cyclists don’t need to be grumpy with each other about sharing a road, and that we can all just coexist,” McDermott said.
