Grant to Help Improve Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety

The Key West Police Department, with the help of a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, is continuing a program aimed at improving the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians in particularly accident-prone areas of the island.

Recent studies have shown that Key West, when compared to cities of equal size, ranks #4 for bicycle injuries and #4 for incidents involving pedestrians. Over the past several years, Key West has dropped in ranking from #1 to #4 for bicycle injuries –with the help of these FDOT grants.

The areas and times for these patrols will vary, but they were specifically chosen as those most often associated with serious bicycle and pedestrian involved crashes.

These High Visibility Enforcement Details are funded through a contract with the University of North Florida in partnership with FDOT.

The program is an effort to educate motorists as well as cyclist and pedestrians. The goal of the enforcement is to change behaviors. Anyone driving a vehicle needs to be aware of cyclists and respect their right to share the road. Motorists must be aware of and yield to pedestrians in the crosswalks. Pedestrians must use crosswalks and be sure they are visible to drivers when walking at night. Cyclists need to obey the rules of the road. The goal of the grant is shows real reductions in injuries and fatalities by changing behaviors.

That means that bikes, when travelling in the road, must go with the flow of traffic, stop at all lights and stop signs, and use lights at night. It’s also illegal for a bicyclist to pass a car on the right, especially through an intersection. Bicycles may ride on sidewalks, however they must yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal when passing someone on foot. Bikes and motorists must yield to pedestrians.