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======== Bike-To-Work Week 2004 ========
======== February 2003 ========
Thanks to the painstaking efforts of cycling advocate and NERCC volunteer Bob Morgan, NERCC has
begun emailing the Florida version of our PSA to police departments in the state
of Florida.
This is the beginning of the second phase of NERCC's overall plan: outreach.
Right now, NERCC is planting seeds, and most of our work remains in the background. With our third and largest phase of outreach, we will begin educating media, governments, and the public.
======== October 2002 ========
Colorado State Patrol Supports NERCC Message
We are pleased to announce that the Colorado State Patrol has expressed agreement with our
primary PSA. This is an excellent start to our less-than-year-old campaign, with the Florida
Highway Patrol having previously posted a version of our PSA on their website.
Sgt. Craig LeVere in the Public Affairs Unit of the Colorado State Patrol writes:
"This letter serves as a timely reminder to motorists of the need to be aware of the presence
of bicyclists and their obligation to share the road with them. At the same time, it reminds
cyclists of their responsibility to obey motor vehicle laws as they pertain to the operation
of bicycles. It is the stated mission of the Colorado State Patrol to ensure a safe and secure
environment in Colorado for all persons by providing professional law enforcement through
responsive, courteous, caring, and dedicated service. This includes diligent enforcement of
the Colorado statutes pertaining to vehicles and traffic."
== NERCC attends Las Vegas INTERBIKE convention ==
NERCC director Lauren Cooper attended the Las Vegas INTERBIKE convention in early October to
introduce the cycling world to our work. Over 1000 flyers were distributed, and dozens of
cycling organizations and media outlets were presented with an introduction to our work and
goals. While some mentioned the obvious difficulties of our task in educating the
public about cycling rights and safety, all were supportive of the effort, and wished us well.
In particular, a member of the Int'l. Police Mtn. Bike Association (IPMBA) said he would ask
their board of directors to express agreement with our campaign. This would provide us with a
powerful ally that would help carry our message throughout the nation.
======== Summer 2002 ========
Florida commuter bicyclist, bike club member and NERCC volunteer Kimberly Cooper has been
running a widespread educational campaign in the St. Petersburg region. She writes:
I've been busy with the NERCC letter. I wrote a short letter to the editor of the St.
Petersburg Times (FL) newspaper, with a link to the NERCC letter on the Florida Highway Patrol
webpage. My letter to the editor was printed. Yippee!! It was printed in an issue that gets
distributed to the southern half of Pinellas County (FL).
We bicyclists have written up a petition requesting our county's Bicycle Advisory Committee
to print and distribute the NERCC letter as fliers and have started gathering signatures.
We've gathered signatures from all kinds of bicyclists: sport, recreational, and commuter.
These people are from all socio-economic levels: doctors, lawyers, office workers, fast food
workers, homeless, retired, black, white.... This is the first time we've had all
bicyclist-types working together to accomplish a goal! That's exciting!
We've also turned the NERCC letter into fliers. Memorial Day weekend, I spent the whole three
days distributing the fliers. We had a lot of festivities downtown. I stood on the sidewalk
and handed out fliers as people walked past. This probably sounds pretty labor intensive.
However, I've been working for bicyclists in this county four years and found this to work
better than a lot of other things. I have printed off 6,000 fliers and am distributing them
as possible on the
weekends. So far, I've distributed over 3,000 fliers to citizens as they walk past me on the
sidewalk.
Things are really looking up in St. Petersburg (Florida). We citizens have been distributing
the major Florida state bicycle laws beginning in March 2001. Starting in about early June
2002, we began distributing fliers of "Dear Driver: Please Share The Road", which NERCC got
posted on our Florida State Highway Patrol web page. A couple of weeks ago, I distributed
500-600 fliers in about 2 1/2 hours by standing on a busy city sidewalk and saying, "Road
safety from the Florida Department of Transportation".
Due to all the work we citizens have been doing, a lot more people are out bicycling in St.
Petersburg. We've had such a big increase that even the media has noticed! One of our major
Tampa Bay area TV stations ran a story about all the bicyclists in St. Petersburg!!
Thanks for getting the NERCC message on our Florida Highway Patrol web page!!!
Kimberly Cooper
======== April 2002: First Success ========
The National Equal Rights for Cyclists Campaign announces it's first success with
the endorsement and posting of its primary message on the Florida State
Highway Patrol web page, at
http://www.fhp.state.fl.us/html/BST.htm
In "A Special Reminder To Drivers Everywhere", the Florida Highway Patrol
reminds motorists that they are never to squeeze past cyclists; that the
laws in every state require that "Drivers shall pass at a safe distance.";
and also that "When there isn't enough space for safe passing within the
lane, bicyclists should be given use of the whole lane."
The message also reminds bicyclists that they need to "learn to follow all
the rules of the road to cooperate with other drivers: to signal, merge,
yield, change lanes and use lights at night."
Information on the page was provided by Lauren Cooper and (Ret.) Chief J.
W. Rittenhouse of The Equal Rights for Cyclists Campaign, and was approved
and edited by The State Safety Office of the Florida Department of
Transportation.
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