Safe Bicycling in Maryland is now a joke
Once upon a time we had a fairly decent bike safety booklet called "Safe Bicycling in Maryland". I loved this booklet! I would drop off copies to local bike shops, bring copies to bike events, it was worth promoting and to me showed Maryland cared about cyclists. Then one day they ran out, I was told something to the effect that they were trying to negotiate with the publisher to get an on-line version as well. This was a very nice effort and appreciated but it looks like negotiations failed and even worse it seems there is no info on-line on how to request this book. Is it out of print all together? I don't know yet but it seems that State Highways thinks that a "good" safety booklet is a kiddie booklet which has such sage advice as:
So it is very important for those that can't read to read that carefully. :/ And there is this bike from the 70's saying you should have a bell or horn. Like this is going to work: "Ding, ding, watch out big truck, I've got a bell on my bike." :/
In short this is not a booklet geared for adults. It is nowhere near as thorough nor as complete as what we used to be able to get through this now broken link http://www.sha.state.md.us/exploremd/bicyclists/oppe/Pamphlets/Bicyclists1.asp
So on this page http://www.sha.maryland.gov/index.aspx?PageId=598 we have links to the bike map (cool) two links for kiddie cyclists (the "What every parent should know" is really good for that age level) and two links about helmets but next to nothing about defensive cycling. Helmets do not prevent crashes, defensive cycling does!
So I would like to point out what Arizona has on-line: Arizona Bicycling Street Smarts: Riding Confidently, Legally and Safely by John S. Allen. This is a really good book and available to customize for Maryland!
Custom editions, too! |
State transportation department? Bicycle manufacturer? Advocacy group? University safety program? inquire of the publisher! |
So could I ask that we get this here as well? Please.
Just to note I got this error when trying to submit feedback:
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