IPMBA News

Bike patrol stepping up enforcement in August

By DAVID MORTON - Published on July 30, 2015, nooga.com

Photo:  Officer Rob Simmons discusses the Safe Biking Initiative outside the Chattanooga Police Department's 11th Street precinct. (Photo: Staff)

Officer Rob Simmons found something strange when he reviewed five years of Chattanooga police reports on accidents involving bicyclists and drivers.

Drivers were found to be at fault more often when he looked at overall accidents, but cyclists were with accidents that resulted in injury.

Blame is beside the point, though, because cyclists are by far the more vulnerable party in an accident, he said.

"It doesn't matter who's at fault; the cyclist always loses," he said.

The finding has been key to an ongoing initiative to educate motorists and cyclists on safety laws and precautions for sharing roadways throughout the city.

Simmons is going undercover next month to find out how well drivers observe Tennessee's 3-foot law, which requires them to keep a buffer between their cars and the cyclists they pass.

He worked with an engineer from Austin, Texas, to develop a device that measures the distance between vehicles and his bicycle. A widescreen camera attached to the handlebars records activity much like an in-dash camera would.

During the enforcement actions, police cars will pull motorists over who drive too close to the plainclothes officer on his bicycle.

Drivers will be given a citation and pamphlet explaining the laws and other safety considerations. They can either pay a fine and court costs or attend a safety class taught by Outdoor Chattanooga.

One of Fred Fletcher's first actions as police chief was to create the Safe Biking Initiative. He put Simmons in charge.

Police reports show that most of the nearly 200 accidents in the past five years occurred downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods.

There are currently five bike patrol officers. The Chattanooga Police Department's most recent budget provides funding for five more. Twenty-five others are certified to police from bicycles for outdoor events such as Riverbend and Ironman tournaments.

After the upcoming enforcement actions, Simmons said the initiative will turn its attention back toward educating cyclists on safety precautions: how to ride in roadways properly, the importance of obeying common traffic laws, and outfitting bikes and themselves with reflective surfaces.

He hopes the effort will help reduce collisions and make both groups of commuters more aware of each other on shared roadways.

"Our goal is to educate, not cite," he said.

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