Efforts to Improve Bicycle & Wheel Sport Safety

The GTSC awards funds to community partners and other safety organizations across New York State to conduct bicycle safety clinics. These events typically involve a skills course (“bike rodeo”), helmet fitting and/or distribution of bike helmets and an educational program which teaches riders about the laws that apply to bicyclists. Bicyclists age 14 and under are required to wear a safety helmet in New York.

May is National Bicycle Safety Month. During the first week of the month, national Bike to School Day is celebrated. The GTSC promotes and participates in these events and encourages its bike safety partners statewide to consider supporting a bike safety program at a school in their region. In New York in 2018, a total of 43 events were held. For more information and to access campaign materials, please visit Walk and Bike to School.

A critical component of New York’s pedestrian and bicycle safety program continues to be the Walk-Bike New York symposium. Organized through the joint sponsorship of The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NYS Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research and other safety partners, the symposium attracts more than 150 local, state, federal and private agency professionals devoted to building strong communities where people of all ages and abilities can safely and comfortably walk and bike.

The next Walk-Bike New York Symposium is to be held in Binghamton, September 16-18, 2024. More information is available at The Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research. 

The GTSC is working with groups like the New York Bicycling Coalition (NYBC) to educate law enforcement about New York’s bicycle safety laws. A two-part video was created by the NYBC entitled Sharing the Road which examines these laws from the bicyclists’ and the drivers’ perspectives. To view the videos, see Sharing the Road part 1 and Sharing the Road part 2.

Bicyclists are required to follow the same laws and rules of the road as motorists. This includes riding on the right side of the road as well as obeying traffic signs and signals. Riding on the left side of the road, facing traffic is a common action on the part of the bicyclist that can cause a crash. Other actions or "missing actions" on the part of the bicyclist that can cause crashes are:

• entering a road from a driveway or other entrance point without slowing or stopping for traffic,
• riding into an intersection without obeying stop or yield signs or traffic signals,
• riding on sidewalks where this is prohibited,
• weaving in and out of the street,
• crossing driveways without observing traffic,
• riding at night without lights,
• turning without signaling or looking for traffic, and
• attempting to pass a motorist at a roadway junction.