
DATE: Tuesday, June 10, 1997                TAG: 9706090117

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Public Safety 

SOURCE: BY NAOMI AOKI, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  118 lines

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT CYCLING REGION'S BICYCLE FATALITY RATE IS JUST ABOVE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.

Steve Shils was 12 when he made his first long bike ride.

He hopped onto his three-speed to cruise his Philadelphia neighborhood and just kept going all the way to Atlantic City, N.J.

``I wound up pedaling 65 miles to my aunt's house,'' Shils said. ``Of course, I caught hell for that.''

The 52-year-old former merchant seaman hasn't stopped pedaling since.

He's biked coast-to-coast several times. He's even biked from Long Island, N.Y., to Newfoundland. These days, Shils, who has lived in Chesapeake for about 13 years, does almost all his riding around Hampton Roads.

And how safe is Hampton Roads for cyclists? ``Passable,'' Shils said.

He's right, if you compare this area to a place like Tampa, Fla., where the bicycle fatality rate is 9.3 per million people. Hampton Roads has a rate of 3.9 per million. The national rate is 3.4 per million.

But the region's rate is high compared to the state average of 2.9 cyclists killed per million people. And it is the 14th most dangerous region in the nation among the 49 areas with a million or more people, according to a group of researchers who ranked metropolitan areas on bicycle safety.

The study, done by The Environmental Working Group, the Surface Transportation Policy Project and the Bicycle Federation of America, looked at bicycle injuries and fatalities from 1986 to 1995.

During that period, 54 bicyclists were killed in Hampton Roads and 4,750 more were injured, the report stated.

Shils said there are many pros to cycling in Hampton Roads: Drivers are fairly nice, the weather is good, and there are plenty of country roads. The biggest con, he said, is the lack of bike lanes and paths.

``I heard at a meeting recently that only 3 percent of cyclists ride on busy streets like I do,'' said Shils, who logs about 1,000 miles a month on his bike. ``If you put in more paths and lanes, who knows how many cyclists you'd get.''

Look at Northern Virginia, said Carole Taylor, president of the Tidewater Bicycle Association.

Northern Virginia has many bikeways for cyclists to ride on major streets so people can commute or bike recreationally, and localities in Northern Virginia are considering putting bike carriers on their city buses, Taylor said.

The Washington metropolitan area, which includes Northern Virginia, is among the nation's safest urban areas for cyclists, according to the study.

``Anywhere there are bike paths, people benefit,'' Taylor said. ``It's good for air quality, for commuters, traffic. And it would be safer. I, as a driver, worry when I come up on a biker on a two-lane road.''

Taylor said members of the bicycle association are working with city councils and the state Department of Transportation to get more bike paths and more lanes.

It's illegal to bicycle on interstates. Other roads are fair game. Some local roadways, such as Northampton Boulevard, Shore Drive and the Campostella Bridge, have designated bike lanes.

The expansion plans for Kempsville Road in Chesapeake call for a bike lane, Taylor said. Bike club members are also lobbying for a bike lane when U.S. Route 17 through the Dismal Swamp is expanded, she said.

If cities can't afford to build separate 4-foot-wide paths, Taylor suggests paved shoulders that are wide enough for cyclists to ride safely.

Nationally, 90 percent of bicycle fatalities are the result of crashes with cars. Children under 14 riding in urban areas are most likely to die in bike accidents.

Last year in Virginia, 938 people were injured in bicycle accidents. Most were male, and two of three were 14 or younger, according to a Department of Motor Vehicles report. Ten people were killed in bike crashes last year.

Safety is the top priority for the 500-member club, Taylor said.

Taylor's top two safety rules:

Wear a bike helmet. They prevent serious injuries and fatalities, she said. Locally, only Virginia Beach has a bike helmet law. It requires children 14 and under to wear helmets.

Follow the rules of the road. ``If you're going against traffic, by the time cars see you, they can't do anything about it,'' Taylor said. ``If you ride with traffic, you're going with the flow. It's also the law.''

Shils add this advice: Put yourself in the driver's place.

Shils attaches a small, round rear-view mirror, similar to a dental mirror, to his glasses so he can keep an eye on the traffic behind him.

He said he tries to let drivers know what he's up to by signaling turns and coming to a stop gradually. And he does his best not to be a nuisance.

``I've seen other bicycle riders do things that scare the hell out of me,'' Shils said. ``Mostly, they aren't paying attention and they just aren't putting themselves in the driver's seat.''

Shils is careful to be a considerate cyclist, he said. After all, what comes around goes around, and he doesn't want a driver to run him off the road.

He also avoids cycling in bad weather or at night on dark streets, he said. Otherwise, he rides as much as he can. He rides to visit friends, run errands and just for the joy of it.

There's only one stretch of road in Hampton Roads Shils won't ride on: Route 17 from Deep Creek to the North Carolina line.

``The lanes are just barely wide enough for trucks, and the traffic is going 60 or 65 mph,'' Shils said. ``I don't mind riding on roads where traffic's going 65, but only when I've got my 2 feet'' of road. MEMO: Staff writer Pat Dooley contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

At 52, Steve Shills of Chesapeke...

Safety Tips

For complete copy, see microfilm

Graphic

The Death Toll

Bicyclists killed by cars, 1986-1995

United States

Virginia

Hampton Roads

Yearly Average

Localities in Virginia where the most bicyclists were killed by

cars, 1996-1995