My goal is to get in-depth bicycle safety education into the hands of one million people within five years.

A study conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission stated:

Many of the bicycle-related injuries and deaths every year are related to what the rider does and how the rider interacts with environmental factors. Riding practices that are risky, that reflect poor riding judgment, or that fail to account for environmental conditions play a major role in injury and fatality scenarios.

Why Do I Want to Do This?

Essentially, it is because I've been in the bicycle safety business  since 1984 and I'm tired. I'm tired of seeing time and money wasted on adult bicycle safety efforts that are not getting enough of the right information into the hands of the people who need it in a form they will utilize. In a nutshell the current methods of bike safety education for adults is not working. Here is what the numbers tell us. Since I live in Florida I'm going to use Florida for crash and hospital statitics but I am pretty confident similar statistics apply elsewhere.

For the years 2003 - 2006 in the State of Florida, bicyclists above the age of fifteen on average experienced approximately 4,114 bicycle/motor vehicle crashes. This accounts for over eighty-six percent of the reported bicycle/motor vehicles. In 2005 and 2006 respectively this demographic visited the emergency room for bicycle related injuries 17,361 times and 872 hospitalizations. This indicates that the motor vehicle crashes are not the primary cause of bicycle injuries even though it is the primary concern of the average bicyclist and the primary focus of information given to adult bicyclists.

As noted in the Consumer product Safety Commission's (CPSC) report, "Bicycle Use and Hazard Patterns in the United States", found that adult cyclists need more in-depth information than is provided in safety tips. They ride in complex traffic situations and frequently do not recognize the hazards they are confronted with or create. They need to know how to avoid crashes of all types, how to maintain their bicycles and evaluate their environment. According to the CPSC study, many of the bicycle-related injuries and deaths every year are related to what the rider does and how the rider interacts with environmental factors. Riding practices that are risky, that reflect poor riding judgment, or that fail to account for environmental conditions, play a major role in injury and fatality scenarios… ". The study encourages in-depth adult bicyclist education that includes bicycle maintenance. Bicycling is More than Balance" addresses these concerns and more.

What About Face to Face Courses?

Presently, the The League of American Bicyclists has an in-depth course for the general population. The problem with the course is the delivery system. In the summer of 2008, the League had trained over 1300 instructors and in July of 2008, nationwide, less than seventy-five classes were being promoted on the Leagues web site. However, instructors not teaching the course is only one the problems with the delivery system. Another major stumbling block of this system is it relies primarily on the bicyclist to recognize they are deficient in bicycling skills. Essentially, they need to know what they don't know. If they do acquire this understanding and decide to take a course, they must take the initiative to find out if one is available, set aside the time to take the course and be willing and able to pay for it. Perhaps even arrange for child care. Without some intervening event like a bicycle/motor vehicle crash or pressure from a family member this is an unlikely series of events.

Other problems with this model are listed below:

1. The course requires on-road practice and testing to "pass" the course. Instructors can only safely teach ten students/class safely. At most an instructor will only be able to teach 100 students per year. To market the class, some instructors have split the class into a classroom session and an on-bike session. The classroom session is a prerequisite for the on-bike session
2. Instructors are faced with tasks of marketing the course and finding places to teach it. This is very time consuming task for most instructors who teach the course on a part-time basis. Additionally many instructors just want to teach and are unwilling to market thecourse.
3. Ultimately, the problem of teaching bicycling to adults comes down to the question " How do you get the information derived from an in-depth class to the masses in a form they are likely to view?"
   

What is the solution?

The solution is mass distribution of an in-depth course on bicycling on DVD that the recipient can view at their own pace and leisure. This model removes the hurdles the bicyclist must overcome to get this vital education. It also eliminates the need for the instructor to find a location and market a course that can only reach ten people at a time.

We are in a digitial age and people are more likely to sit down and view a video than read a book on bicycle safety.

About the Instructor

I have been bicycling in traffic for over thirty five years and working in the bicyce safety filed for over twenty-two years.

1. In 1984 I was certifed by the League of American Wheelman as an "Effective Cyclist".
   
2. In 1986 I became involved in bicycling education when I was utilized as cycling talent in The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) video production "the Bicyclist and the Professional Driver.
   
3. In 1987 I became the bicycle/pedestrian program manager for Broward County, Florida and was part of the team charged with developing FDOT's first elementary school bicycle safety program. and have been a peer reviewer of subsequent revisions.
   
4. In 1989 he received instructor training for the Effective Cycling Leagues "Effective Cycling" course.
5. In 1990's I became a regional trainer for the FDOT's Traffic Safety Education program, as well as being certified as an instructor for the League of American Bicyclist's bicycle education program.
   
6. I have provided on-road bicycling training for the Deerfield Beach Fire-Rescue, Boca Raton Bicycle Club, Broward County Code Compliance, Broward County Park Rangers, the National Safety Council South Florida Chapter, as well as, police departments for the cities of Juno Beach, Delray Beach, Greenacres, Coral Springs, North Lauderdale, and the Broward Sheriffs Office
7. In 2001 I wrote the award winning video "Everyone has a Story:Road Sharing Tips for Bicyclists and Motorists"

Programs for Health and Safety Professionals

While health and safety professionals and bicycle safety advocates have the same goal; reduce bicycle crashes, injuries and fatalities, their methods for attacking this problem are quite different. However, both can effectivley use the course "Bicycling is More than Balance" to reach these goals.

The bicycle advocate is convinced the best way to get in-depth adult bicycle safety education is face to face, on-bike classes and the health and safety professionals need to reach a large number of people forces them to rely on handouts that merely safety tips and media  campaigns.  The safety advocate measures their success in the number of students they teach and the safety professional looks at the number of outreach events they participate in, the amount of literature distributed and trends over time. 

As a certified bicycling instructor I tried marketing the face to face course and as a safety professional I have spent many hours handing out brochures that may be read, almost certainly not shared and most likely discarded within days of bringing it home. I did not find either method to be an effective way to get in-depth adult bicycle safety training in the hands of those who need it.

   a) Viral Marketing Adult Bicycle Education

The terms "Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives.....   Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily."  - Wikipedia -

Currently, there is only one source for an in-depth bicycling course on DVD that was developed for mass distribution to the general public. Produced by Learn to Bicycle, "Bicycling is More Than Balance" is a two and half hour course geared for the novice and intermediate bicyclist.

The course has a video component and a companion text and to increase the likelihood people will share their DVD; each student that sends an e-mail to Learn to Bicycle requesting the fifty page companion book "Bicycling is More than Balance."  The student is sent the PDF file for the book by e-mail. This assures the course recipient will still have bicycling information if they give away or throw out their DVD. 

Risk Management for Bicycle Tour Operators and Bicycle Club Events

Getting  Started

If you are bicycle tour operator, running a bicycling event or  ahelath or safety advocate call me at 954-695-7292 or e-mail me at mark@learntobicycle.com to discuss your needs and place your order.

If you are interested in mass distribtution to the general public click here to receive a draft distribution plan to help you develop your program. In this plan you will find a sample hospital statistics, how to estimate the number of bicyclists in your area and a distibution plan. 

With orders over of 500 or more I will add your company or  agency and the logos of your partners in distributing to the front cover of the DVD case. If needed an on-line test can be created to reinforce the course lessons and track the distribution efforts.

While this approach is innovative and untested I can tell what we have been using to reach adult bicyclists is not making the changes we would like to see. If you are like me and want to make a difference in reducing bicycle crashes then contact me at 954-695-7292 or by e-mail at mark@learntobicycle.com

Click here to have the draft plan sent to you .