Class shows safety first
Pedestrian and bicycle safety course participants Susan Carney, instructor Roger Dibrito, Callie Shanahan and Gary Drye cross a busy Highway 93 intersection in Arlee. Dibrito emphasized crossing techniques that will ensure better communication with oncoming traffic.
ARLEE - Educators and community members from across the Mission Valley gathered in Arlee last week to learn the ins and outs of bicycle safety in a two-day, plus four hours on-line, training workshop.
The class was paid for by the Arlee School District's Safe Routes to School Education Grant. Roger Dibrito, from Journeys From Home, introduced the workshop's seven participants to the behaviors and characteristics of children that can lead to injury and death in traffic.
"We want to help children become predictable, responsible and somewhat confident in traffic," he said. "With that, we're hoping that parents will become confident in their children being able to get to school on their own."
The group discussed the need for community facilities like cross walks, signage, etc., but stressed that no matter what facilities are built in a community, education is still the key.
"We need to educate our kids, our bicyclists, and our drivers on how to be safe and courteous when you're out there," Susan Carney, Arlee's Driver's Education teacher said.
After spending hours in the classroom, even a rainy morning couldn't deter the class from venturing into town to practice the proper travel methods learned from Dibrito's instruction.
Taking turns leading the way, the group navigated Arlee's back streets, and even Highway 93's busy crossing zones, safely. Dibrito stressed the importance of communication with motorists.
When you want to cross the street, you need to be in the yellow box, looking at the driver as they approach, he said. If you don't want to cross, stand back away from the road so you are not giving motorists a mixed signal.
Dibrito added that law enforcement officers at the local and county levels need to be a part of the equation. Safe Routes to Schools grant money can even be used to fund outreach and training for law enforcement. With an emphasis on ticketing negligent motorists, law enforcement officials can make a positive impact on the safety of pedestrians in their communities.
"Our goal is for Montana to be a bicycle nation," he said. "For people to be able to ride without getting run over."
Carney, who co-authored last year's grant proposal to Safe Routes to School, hopes that parents and other local organizations will become more involved with the campaign to create a pedestrian-friendly school environment.
"We're all a community," she said. "I want to get this going because I'm seeing more and more kids and hearing from more kids that they want to walk or ride to school, but they need safe routes first."
Bicycle safety 101:
-Always wear a helmet.
-When you want to cross the street, you need to be in the yellow box, looking at the driver as they approach, Dibrito said.
-If you don't want to cross, stand back away from the road so you are not giving motorists a mixed signal.
-Traffic laws apply to persons riding bicylces.
-Persons riding bicycles on a road should be in a single file line.
-No person operating a bicycle should carry any package, bundle or article that prevents the driver from keeping at least one hand upon the handle bars.
-Every bicycle, when in use during nighttime, must have a lamp on the front that emits a white light, front-facing reflectors and reflectors on the spokes of each wheel.
-Bicycle racing on a highway is against the law, unless approved by state or local authorities.
-A person riding a bicycle on a sidewalk must yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and give an audible signal before overtaking them.