Advocacy & Safety - Bike Club Safety Officers

Do any of your bike clubs have a safety officer? Are you that person. I would love to see how your club is setup and how that position functions.

I have recently taken that position in my club, and I am looking forward to getting into helping the club out. But, I need some ideas.

What exactly is such a position supposed to do or enforce?

From my perspective, the position is safety advocacy and education. The previous person who had this postion was very active as an effective cycling instructor.

Also, I can see representing your club where it would benefit safety. e.g. trail committee planning, safe kids coalition, bike rodeos, etc.

Great idea! You may want to contact Jim Baross, who ran the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition for several years, and who teaches a certified Effective Cycling class periodically.

How much autonomy do you have in that position? What I'm getting at is this. Many so-called "bicycle safety officers" around here have never ridden a bike in their life. As a consequence, much of the advice they give (i.e. riding on the footpath, riding against the flow of traffic etc) is simply apocryphal, or at least, wildly inaccurate.

The club I belong to does not have any safety officers per se. It does have a board of directors, of which I am part. Part of the board job is to help ensure the safe riding practices of all riders that participate in our club rides. We do have everyone sign a waiver that does not hold the club responsible if a person is injured on a ride. But we do everything possible to make sure everyone is and stays safe. If anyone has a question we answer it. If anyone does anything unsafe we make him or her aware of it.

Most safety issues are common sense things. That goes with out saying.

Some of the board members also go to the public elementary schools to talk to the grade school kids about bike riding safety. And there has been talk about going to the public high schools to talk to the driver’s ed. Classes about proper driving practices when the new young soon to be licensed drivers come upon a cyclist. There is a lot of doubt that this is even covered in driver’s ed. And if it is it isn’t covered very well at all.

I also am a volunteer with the Sioux City Police Dept. I’m part of a group called Trail Blazers. Our “job” is to “patrol” the local bike trails and make sure they are kept safe for all trail users.

We are not to enforce the laws though. If we witness a major infraction of the law we call the comm. Center and they send an officer. If a person is doing something minor we kindly ask that they stop. If they don’t we then call the comm. Center and again they send an officer.

By minor I mean if they are blocking or clogging up the trail, if they do not have their dog on a leash, or if they are writing graffiti on the trail, (these 3 things is what we deal with the most). Yes this can be considered enforcing the law but it is part of our community-policing program, (meaning every citizen of Sioux City should help to make the city a better place to live). And it is what all trail users should do but for some reason choose not to. So the Trail Blazers handle it.

And if we need it the police do respond if called to do so. Usually it is a member of our Community Action Support Team, or C.A.S.T. that responds.

The way most of the Trail Blazers patrols the trails is by bicycle. But we can walk or even roller blade if we want to.

A lot of us also know basic first aid and are able to administer that if need be. As far as I know there has never been an E.M.T. unit called, yet. For the most part it has been the simple treatment of minor cuts, scrapes and abrasions, usually from falling. I always carry a first aid kit with me.

Another one of our jobs is to make sure all trail users are off the trail by sunset. The trails are not lighted and are closed from sunset to sunrise. Though the parks they are connected are open till 11:00 pm the trails are not. The reason is safety.

I also volunteer every May at a Bike Fair and Rodeo. It teaches kids bike safety. The kids get a free proper fitting helmet, made available through a grant. They get their bikes checked over for free. They can also have their bikes registered with the Police Dept. if they want. I am there as a Trail Blazer member. There are usually 2 C.A.S.T. officers there. The main sponsors are State Farm Insurance and the Kid Safe program.


I hope this helps.

P.S. Does your club have a board of directors? How organized is it? What you are wanting to do is a great idea and every community needs something like this. But with out help and support it can be difficult.

I did joined couple of bike clubs out here in T.O. I know that on some bike clubs they have the so call "sweeper", meaning he/she ride behind the main pack and see to it that everybody is not left behind

I have been considering joining a bike club because I think it would be fun to cycle with a group of people for a change.

However, I do have a concern :

I have fairly severe asthma and on occasion, I have had to stop while cycling to take a dose or two of my ventolin inhaler and rest for a couple of minutes to let it kick in and catch my breath.

While this doesn't happen often, I am worried about holding up the group should I need to stop.

Would it be good etiquette for me just to drop off the end of the group and let them go ahead without me should I run into problems ? That way I wouldn't be holding them up and could either try to catch up with them a few minutes later or join the group the following week.

Any suggestions ?

Justen

Originally posted by Justen
While this doesn't happen often, I am worried about holding up the group should I need to stop.

Would it be good etiquette for me just to drop off the end of the group and let them go ahead without me should I run into problems ? That way I wouldn't be holding them up and could either try to catch up with them a few minutes later or join the group the following week.

As far as I'm concerned, the entire concept of ettiquette is evil and should be abolished. That said, what do they think about it? You'll find that some groups will be more willing to stop than others, I think it's just a case of asking around.

It's important to ride with the type of group that is right for you. Most hard-core roadie groups won't stop for anything-puncture, chain derailment, or asthma attack.
Many more inclusive clubs have rules that nobody will be left behind. If you join a ride where there are several 'bents included, I can nearly guarantee you that you won't be left behind.

justen,
you should let the group Know about your condition.
I Believe it would be a good Idea to let the group leader know before you start that way they will be aware of your condition.
And can plan stops/be ready to stop and offer help. some ride
leaders will tell you that this ride will not be a good one for you.
all will be glad you told them before the ride started.

Originally posted by ahuman
justen,
you should let the group Know about your condition.
I Believe it would be a good Idea to let the group leader know before you start that way they will be aware of your condition.
And can plan stops/be ready to stop and offer help. some ride
leaders will tell you that this ride will not be a good one for you.
all will be glad you told them before the ride started.

Yes..I agree. I have been upfront with them about it and am just waiting for the group leader to e-mail me back regarding how they deal with this kind of thing. However, my cycling over the past few months seems to have actually helped my asthma as my attacks are very few and far between so it shouldn't present too much of a problem if I can just maintain the pace.

Justen

Our bike club has a safety committee. Their current projects are a rodeo for children in the community and Effective Cycling Classes for members. They were responsible for a book entitled, "Street Smart" to be mailed to all the members about safe cycling.

Here is a link that was used to purchase stickers & coloring books for the kids: http://www.imsafe.com (Look for Bicycling)

In addition, Some of the members have gone into the schools to provide classroom instruction for the kids.

They have also worked in coorperation with the EMS(911) and League of Michigan Bicyclists to promote using a decal with MED alert on the bicycle helmet. There is a little package that is located inside the helmet to alert medical personnel of the cyclist's medical needs, emergency contact person and permission to receive medical treatment.

They have also donated several hundred helmets.