Team Sharing the Road – GCI Relay Photo Album

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As promised the full Sharing the Road photo album is up. I wanted to publish our full album from the 2013 Gulf Coast Interstate (GCI) Relay before our next event in New Orleans, LA on Sunday.

I will be blogging about the 2013 Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans Triathlon on April 21st. During this event, participants will be Sharing the Road along Highways 47, 90, and 11, and running through New Orleans to finish in the French Quarter’s Armstrong Park. School Training Solutions (STS) is offering our defensive driving course “Sharing the Road” for $20.00 April 18th through April 23rd the with the promo code: SHARING.

Our Sharing the Road campaign is a chance to start a conversation and improve road safety. Get involved on our Facebook, Twitter, or Linked-In pages or email me.

Thank you for reading/watching and continue safely Sharing the Road!

Do you know why school buses are equipped with STOP signs?

What do you do when you see an activated STOP sign on a school bus?

Lights and signs activate every time school buses stop to load or unload

Today, April 18, 2013, Rockland County Police are monitoring school buses as part of Operation Safe Stop. The annual event promotes safety and increases awareness to the dangers of illegally passing stopped school buses. Drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses will be ticketed and fined. A person found guilty can get five points imposed on his or her license and possible imprisonment of up to 30 days for a first offense and up to 180 days for a third conviction in three years. Passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing and the stop sign deployed puts children in danger.

Motorists illegally passing school buses are not isolated occurrences. Each year the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) conducts a National Stop Arm Violation Count. In 2012 NASDPTS found that nearly 100,000 bus drivers reported 39,760 total stop arm passing incidents, often involving several cars in each incident during the one-day survey.

It is impossible to know why a person decides to run this particular stop sign. Does the driver not see it? Does the driver not know they are supposed to stop? Are these drivers just in a hurry? Some people think most of these drivers simply do not know the law.

When was the last time you read the laws related to stopping for a school bus in your state?

This Ohio woman was caught driving on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus that was loading special needs children. She was caught on video because she did it multiple times!

If you would like to read the entire Rockland County article on lohud.com, the link is: http://www.lohud.com/article/20130417/NEWS03/304170141/Police-ensure-Rockland-motorists-stop-school-buses

If you would like to learn more about NASDPTS, visit: http://www.nasdpts.org/

If you would like to read the laws for your state, visit: https://www.schooltrainingsolutions.com/wp-content/themes/STS_WP_Theme/marketing/pdf/State_Laws_Regarding_Passing_School_Buses.pdf

I got some preliminary photos prepped for the website. I will post a full album later. Thanks for reading! Continue SHARING THE ROAD!

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The “Sharing the Road” campaign was created to encourage road safety.

I want to take a moment to say, “Thank you!”

Thank you to everyone who supported us during our first event. Thank you to everyone who signed up for the discounted Sharing the Road online training course. We will continue blogging about events and what we experience while sharing the road with motor vehicles. We will continue offering discounts on our defensive driving courses as we participate in cycling, running, and triathlon events this spring and summer. I will also periodically offer video tips for Sharing the Road with pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, school buses, and other motor vehicles. Our Sharing the Road campaign is a chance to start a conversation and improve road safety. Get involved on our Facebook, Twitter, or Linked-In pages or email me.

When sharing the road and encouraging road safely, slow down and give a person room. Always obey the traffic laws and signals.

Thank you for reading/watching and continue safely Sharing the Road!

An SUV actively engages in road safety

Blogging about road safety was the easy part. Cycling from New Orleans, LA to Pensacola Beach, FL was not. The Sharing the Road cycling team made it 145 miles before stopping for road safety concerns. Motorists were getting more aggressive after dark. It was a great experience. We saw new parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and we made new friends during the Gulf Coast Interstate Relay. We only heard about one serious injury and there was no automobile involved in that accident.

Other observations from the ride:

– It is always windy around Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.
– Louisiana had the coolest bridges.
– Gulf Port and Biloxi, MS had the most inconsiderate and dangerous drivers.
– Pascagoula, MS had the best “Welcome” sign.
– Bay Saint Louis, MS is a quaint community.
– I passed three racetracks within 10 miles, in Alabama.
– It is possible to ride a bicycle from New Orleans to Pensacola Beach.
– All bridges in Mississippi are steep to pedal up.
– On April 5, 2013 the wind refused to be at our backs.
– Photos from the event are published on our Facebook page: Smart Horizons Sts

My goal was to create awareness about road safety by blogging during the event. We rode a long distance and for the most part, driver’s were courteous, patient, and accommodating. There were other times when we were yelled at, swerved toward, and honked at. Those times were scary.  It is unfortunate that many people believe that cycling is a “fad” and that bicyclists should have no right to use roads. Legally, cyclists have the same privileges to use the roadways and should obey the same traffic laws as automobiles.

Road safety is a real concern for cyclists. Sadly, the same day we participated in this event, a man was killed while riding his bicycle about 10 miles north of my office in Pensacola (http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013304070035&nclick_check=1).

We will continue to spread our “Sharing the Road” message when we participate in cycling and running events this spring/summer and throughout the year. Our next event is the Half Iron Man in New Orleans, LA on April 21st. As with the GCI Relay, I will blog the team’s observations and progress, and we will offer select online defensive driving courses at a discounted price.

Our Sharing the Road Campaign can be followed here.

Thank you for reading.

Stay safe and continue Sharing the Road!