Cyclists try to break a deadly chain

Concerned regional bicycle groups work to put a human face on road safety

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 20, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (16 Reader comments)

Jonathan House / Times Newspapers

Cynthia Chilton waves to motorists during rush-hour traffic Tuesday evening at the Scholls Ferry Road, Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and Oleson intersection as part of an education campaign to raise awareness that the cyclists drivers pass may be people they know.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Cynthia Chilton held a sign in one hand identifying herself as a friend.

She used her other hand to wave to passing motorists zipping through the tricky Scholls Ferry Road, Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and Oleson Road intersection during rush-hour traffic Tuesday evening.

Her trusty bicycle was propped against her hip.

Chilton was part of a chain of area residents promoting road safety for bicyclists across Washington County.

A few feet back stood Aaron Tarfman holding a poster reading “Husband,” and beyond him Peter Welte displayed a “Neighbor” sign.

At the end of the line of cyclists was Terry Nobble with a sign stating, “And we bike.”

“We want motorists to really see us and think of people they know who ride,” Chilton explained. “We want to educate motorists about the need to share the road and recognize that many of the cyclists they are passing may be people they know — friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives.

“We’re not just a machine that is in the way. If they wait just a little bit, they can get around a cyclist safely.”

Similar groups of concerned cyclists stood along busy roadways in Beaverton, Forest Grove and Washington County Tuesday as part of an education campaign to put faces with the issue of motorists sharing roads with cyclists.

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance in partnership with the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition formed a committee to develop a program to raise motorists’ awareness about the increased use of Washington County roadways by cyclists.

As part of the campaign, the group created life-sized cutouts of local cyclists with their bikes to remind motorists that bicyclists are “your neighbors and friends, sons and daughters, husbands and wives.”

The cutout displays will be placed in various locations across the county in front of businesses and at community gatherings

In the next few weeks, volunteers also will line county streets to remind motorists of the need to be aware of bicyclists and take greater care around the vulnerable road users, said Hal Ballard, director of the coalition.

“Through it all, we expect bicyclists to obey traffic laws, be predictable and visible and courteous to other road users,” Ballard said. “We also expect motorists to be aware of the vulnerability of bicyclists, and that it takes relatively little time to get around any cycling group if we’ll just be patient.”