Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Tips

Posted on 03/06/2023 by Traffic Safety Team

Florida’s weather may be unpredictable, but it offers many great opportunities to get outside. Residents, snowbirds, and vacationers enjoy riding their bikes and walking. Your Community Traffic Safety Team wants everyone to stay safe by following these pedestrian and bicyclist safety tips!

*Wear bright colors. Increase your visibility and use bike lights/reflectors.*

With so many people heading outdoors for a bike ride, motorists – please ALWAYS WATCH for bicyclists on the road. Bicyclists, wear bright colors or reflective gear, so you are visible.

*See and be seen. Make eye contact with drivers when crossing streets.*

Walking is great for your health and environment! Lace-up and get moving, but be sure to SEE and BE SEEN. Make eye contact with drivers. Drivers, please look in all directions for people on foot!

*Be predictable. Use sidewalks where provided. Cross streets where it is legal to do so.*

It’s essential when riding your bicycle to be predictable. Use sidewalks and cross where it is legal. Motorists are to give three feet by law when following or passing cyclists.

*Stop! Look left, right, and left for traffic.*

Walking is a great way to get fresh air and exercise. Remember to look left, right, and left again for traffic. Motorists, please drive with care and share the road.

*Walk defensively. Be prepared for the unexpected.*

Pedestrians should walk defensively and be prepared for the unexpected. Drivers, please remember to focus on driving and eliminate distractions; phones down, eyes up!

*Be careful in parking lots. They can be more hazardous than streets!*

Be careful in busy parking lots – these areas can be more dangerous than streets! Drivers must proceed with caution and be on the lookout for pedestrians.

WALKING AND BIKING DEFENSIVELY

Walking and bike riding are great ways to stay active and healthy. Exercising is also a great tool for people of all ages and improves driving skills, especially older drivers. To learn more, check out our Defensive Driving Tools.

Exercise/Fitness Benefits:

Enhances mobility, flexibility, and balance
- Helps maintain or lose weight
- Reduces impact of illness and chronic disease
- Helps with better sleep and more energy
- Improves mood and self-confidence
- Boosts cognitive function

Click here for more great pedestrian safety tips for walkers and drivers.

Click here for important bicycle safety tips and resources for cyclists and motorists.

Traffic Safety for Children

Posted on 05/10/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

Safety rules at home, school and around the neighborhood. The Northeast Florida Department of Transportation District Two Community Traffic Safety Program has developed special educational content highlighting traffic safety for children. It is never too early to educate kids on safety rules – at home, at school, and around the neighborhood.

Materials include the “Safety Town” activity booklet, coloring pages, social media graphics, and videos. Please share these free resources with children in your family, classroom, or neighborhood!

Free Traffic Safety Coloring Sheets & Activity Book for Children:

Traffic Safety Videos for Kids:

Great Safety Tips for Kids:

Stroll and Roll the Right Way!

Walk & ride during the day when it is light out.
Have a buddy with you.
Don’t enter the road between parked cars.
Cross the street at a corner or crosswalk.
Look left, right, & left again before crossing a street.
Sidewalks are the safest place to walk or ride.
Wear a helmet every time you bike or skate.
Ride your bike with the flow of traffic.
Obey traffic signs & signals.

Children Must Wear a Bike Helmet… It’s the Law!

Florida state law requires all riders under 16 years of age to wear a helmet when on a bicycle. Additionally, any bicycle passenger aged 16 or younger, like small children riding in a bike seat or trailer, must also wear a helmet. This applies if they are on the sidewalk, road or other public roadway. The helmet must meet federal guidelines. All bike helmets should be properly fitted and securely fastened on the head with a strap.

Stranger Danger!

Never go up to a car or to someone you don’t know.
Have a safe place and people you can go to in an emergency.

Traffic Safety Storytime Videos for Children:

Educating children on traffic safety is vital, so we made traffic safety storytime videos. Two of the videos were read by kids, for kids! The books include “Watch Out On the Road,” “Learn About Road Safety,” “Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again,” “Be Careful and Stay Safe,” and “Franklin Rides a Bike.”

More traffic safety resources and activity sheets for children can be found by visiting the link below:

Safety for Kids

Bike Safe Activity Card

Posted on 03/12/2021 by Traffic Safety Team

Pick up a free Bike Safe Activity Card at your local Northeast Florida library. The Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP) distributed 15,000 Bike Safe activity cards this month to public libraries in all 18 counties of FDOT District Two.

Be a Roll Model artwork — *Bike Safe Activity Card with Traffic Safety Tips for Cyclists and Motorists*

This Bike Safe Activity Card is double-sided with a helmet coloring page and a word search puzzle for kids or adults. There are bicycle safety messages for drivers and cyclists. The helmet safety rules are great for parents, caregivers and educators to discuss with children.

About the Bike Safety Activity Card Series

These free educational resources are part of a series that will be distributed quarterly this year. First, Drive Safe became available in January. Now, Bike Safe, launched in spring, which will be followed by Ride Safe this summer. Finally, Walk Safe in the fall. Each has a different activity or puzzle with important traffic safety tips and reminders.

The Northeast Florida CTSP has long since partnered with local, county public library systems. The FDOT District Two covers 18 counties, from rural to urban communities. Libraries are a wonderful venue for the public to access educational and informational resources. The are also a wonderful place for our Community Traffic Safety Teams to promote key traffic safety messages, like biking safe (wear a helmet) and driving safe (share the road).

We created this free digital, one-sided 8.5×11 Bike Safe sheet available here for downloading, printing and sharing with your community.

Our goal is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities on our Northeast Florida roadways and protect all road users. Together, we can make traffic safety a top priority. Check out the other three safety and educational activity cards in this series below:

Drive Safe Activity Card

Ride Safe Activity Cards

Walk Safe Activity Card

The Northeast Florida CTSP website has many tips and resources available. For more Bicycle Safety Tips, click here.

Bicycle Safety

Posted on 03/05/2018 by Traffic Safety Team

The Adventures in Biking Safely – March is Florida Bicycle Month!

Florida’s weather in March is perfect for biking, so get out and ride. With many drivers and cyclists on the road this month, let’s gear up with some bicycle safety reminders.

Drivers: Share the road with bicyclists and always pass or follow cyclists with at least a 3 foot barrier.

Bicyclists: Wear a helmet, ride on the right and make sure drivers can see you with bright clothing and reflectors or lights on your bike.

For more important bicycle safety tips, crash facts and resources, go to our traffic safety bike page here.

UNF Gets New Bike Fix-It Stations

What a perfect way to kick off bicycle month! We are excited to share the new bike stations provided by the FDOT Northeast Florida, and located at the University of North Florida. Your Traffic Safety Team worked with UNF Police Department to coordinate the installation and identification of locations for students – great for quick and easy bicycle repairs to help bike safe!

The self-serve bike repair stations are free to use. They contain air pumps along with a variety of tools to help riders work on their bikes. Located around the UNF campus at: Crossings Bike Station Q Building, Fountains Bike Station, Hall Landing Bike Station, and Village A Building Bike Station.

Traffic Safety Team

Bringing you home safely

Tag Archives: bike