Bicyclists are not immune from the laws of the road.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
About two weeks ago, Sea Isle City Police Chief Tom McQuillen encountered a guy in his 30s who was traveling the wrong way on Central Avenue at 42nd Street.
“I said, ‘Hey, sir, you’re riding the wrong way. Do you realize that?'" McQuillen recalled asking the man.
He looked at McQuillen and seemed confused, apparently unaware that he wasn’t following the “rules of the road.”
This was no motorist, though. He was a bicyclist who was riding against traffic by traveling north on Central Avenue in the southbound lane.
McQuillen spoke of the incident to underscore the importance of the Sea Isle Police Department’s new bicycle safety program this summer.
Just like at other Jersey Shore beach resorts, Sea Isle’s roads teem with bikers of all ages sharing the same space as cars and trucks during the bustling summer vacation season.
Sea Isle’s new program is intended to educate bikers about traffic safety, rather than serve as a harsh crackdown by police. McQuillen stressed that all bicyclists are required to comply with motor vehicle laws.
“We all have to share the road,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Police Chief Tom McQuillen says the new safety program emphasizes that bikers must obey traffic laws when riding on the road.
Up to this point, police have not been handing out summonses to bikers for violating traffic laws, McQuillen said. However, that could change after the safety program wraps up in a few weeks, he noted.
“We don’t want to come across as heavy-handed or anything like that,” he said.
As part of their patrols, police officers are conducting “educational outreach” to let bikers know about traffic safety. Instead of writing them a ticket, the officers will give bikers a safety pamphlet.
“We try to keep it positive,” McQuillen said. “It’s more about education at this point.”
The safety program emphasizes that bikers must:
· Stop at stop signs
The oceanfront Promenade is another popular spot for bikers.
In addition to the roads, Sea Isle’s oceanfront Promenade is another popular route for bikers. They are permitted on the Promenade on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 5 a.m. to noon.
So far this summer, there have been no accidents in Sea Isle involving bikers and motorists, McQuillen said.
Bicyclists Mark and Renata Manning, a married couple from Wilmington, Del., who take summer vacations in Sea Isle, said they have had some close calls when they have been out riding on the roads.
“It’s somewhat unnerving to ride side by side with traffic. There’s not that much space,” Mark Manning said. “I constantly have to worry about someone in a parked car opening their door or a driver not seeing me.”
Renata Manning noted that she has been riding her bike more on the sidewalks out of fear of getting struck by a car on the roads.
“I tend to ride on the sidewalks now because I’m afraid that a motorist will not be paying attention and will not see me,” she said.
Mark Manning described how he saw one motorist who was busy fixing her hair instead of concentrating on driving. The Mannings have also noticed more and more young drivers who appear to be distracted by their mobile devices.
“You’re one text away from being hit,” Mark Manning said ominously.
The Mannings are hopeful that Sea Isle’s new program will make everyone more safety conscious – bikers as well as motorists.
“This is a two-way street in that bikers have to be more aware of the rules of the road today, too,” he said.
Bicyclists Mark and Renata Manning, vacationers from Wilmington, Del., have had some close calls while riding in Sea Isle.
