Advocacy & Safety - Writing a newspaper article on bike safety?

I have worked for a small local newspaper for a few years (as a proofreader, not a writer), and have been told that if I write an article, they'll publish it. I want to write about some of the "increased bike traffic" issues as well as general bike safety for adults and kids who ride to school every day (school starts mid-August here, so it's timely).

This article would be published in a few different editions of the paper, the largest city in our circulation is 150k, the smallest is about 700 people. Does anyone have suggestions for specific points to make? I'm really not all that experienced as a rider (I live in a smaller town and can avoid traffic on side streets, and do so often), so any help is greatly appreciated.

Try this as a source of info... http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

And above all be sure to mention that cyclists have every right to any part of the road that a motorist does.

In fact, cyclists have rights to the road, motorists are granted a privilege to use the road, based on their license.

My motto from teaching freshmen microeconomics/macroeconomics courses, keep it simple and focus on what you consider the top three issues while mentioning that there are many details. Make sure you give a few references. I would also ask your editor whether you could print a few pictures/diagrams. I am sure that many organizations would let you use their diagrams for reproduction.

Good luck.