Posted on: Monday, March 26, 2001

Safety first, young bicyclists told

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ask Morgan Nall, 8, of Kahalu'u, what drivers can do to increase safety for children riding bicycles, and her answer is simple: "Watch out for them."

And then what should drivers do? "They should make sure that they don't hurt them," she said.

Nall was among dozens of young bicyclists who turned out yesterday for the "Kids' Right to Bike Rally" at Nu'uanu Elementary School. Caution, caring and courtesy were the keynotes.

"It comes down to aloha," said State Sen. Rod Tam D-13th (Nu'uanu, Downtown, Sand Island), who is sponsoring Senate Bill 843 to extend fourth-grade bicycle education courses now offered only on O'ahu to public schools statewide.

Tam also said he will ask if the Hawaii Bicycling League can provide cycling safety leaflets to be distributed to all students so they can not only learn from them but help to educate their motorist parents.

"It's my children who remind me to put on my seat belt when I'm driving," Tam said.

State Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-16th (Moanalua, Salt Lake), chairman of the Senate education committee, said he wasn't lucky enough to learn cycling safety in school as a child but learned it from the Hawaii Bicycling League years later when he decided to compete in triathlons.

"I can tell you my helmet saved my life more than once," Sakamoto said.

State Sen. Cal Kawamoto D-19th (Waipahu, Pearl City), chairman of the Transportation Committee, said the Legislature has been working hard to reduce pedestrian accidents in Hawai'i, but that the March 16th death of University of Hawai'i swimmer Tammy Tye, who was struck by a car while riding her bicycle in Mo'ili'ili, illustrates the need to be concerned about cyclists as well.

Honolulu Councilman Duke Bainum, chairman of the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, said that agency had just endorsed $70 million for bicycle lanes on state highways in the next 25 years, and $23 million for such lanes in Honolulu.

Bainum saluted the Hawaii Bicycling League and the youngsters for taking training and education seriously but urged the league to remind adult cyclists the laws apply to them, too.

"I get many calls indicating that some of the adults in the bicycling community seem to think the laws don't apply to them," Bainum said. The most frequent is a complaints of bicyclists ignoring stop lights.

Georgette Yaindl, community relations liaison for the Hawaii Bicycling League, said observation of all traffic laws by motorists and cyclists alike would be the single most beneficial step to improve cycling safety in Hawai'i.