Bicycle group plans education event

Published September 1, 2006 by The Oregonian
By Holly Danks

BEAVERTON — Bicyclists and motorists beware: The street
goes both ways.

To drive home the point, the Washington County Bicycle
Transportation Coalition is holding a traffic safety event
today at Southwest Fifth Street and Washington Avenue in
Beaverton.

Four weeks ago, an Intel engineer riding home from his job
was fatally injured at the corner by a car turning left. The
driver told police he did not see Michael J. Wilberding, 58,
of Tigard because he was blinded by the sun.

“That’s no excuse,” says Barbara Chapnick,
60, of Beaverton, who routinely rides more than 16 miles
round-trip to and from her Lake Oswego workplace. The
longtime member of the county bike group doesn’t want
anyone to be the next Wilberding or Darrel and Sheryl
McDaniel. The McDaniels of Hillsboro died when a car drifted
over the fog line on Oregon 47 south of Forest Grove and hit
their bicycles on Memorial Day.

No charges have been filed in either incident.

“I was angry that it was happening, I was angry at
motorists,” Chapnick said. “The natural thing to
channel my anger is to be proactive.”

Chapnick and as many as two dozen bicycle advocates will
hold signs; pass out information, bicycle-safety manuals and
bumper stickers; and talk to anyone who stops. She said they
will not impede traffic or get into shouting matches with
motorists.

“We want drivers to be educated so they know we belong,
and we want bicyclists to ride more safely,” Chapnick
said.

So far this year in Beaverton, five bicyclists have been
injured in collisions with motor vehicles; Wilberding was
the only one to die.

Officer Mark Hyde, Beaverton Police Department spokesman,
said there were eight reported collisions — with no
fatalities — between bicyclists and vehicles in 2005 and
six in 2004.

The numbers also are holding steady in the unincorporated
area of Washington County, with the sheriff’s office
receiving 12 reports of auto/bicycle crashes in 2004 and 10
last year.

“What people on both sides of the fence forget,”
Hyde said, “is that bicyclists have got to watch out
for what they think a motorist is going to do or what a
motorist is doing.

“And motorists have to accept the fact that in many
instances, the bicyclist has the right of way, even if they
think they shouldn’t.”

The League of American Bicyclists reported fatalities
nationally have increased more than 20 percent since 2003.

“There are more of each of us,” said Hal Ballard,
who founded the Washington County chapter of the Bicycle
Transportation Alliance in 1998. “More bicyclists and
more motorists.”

At the same time, he said, people are driving faster and
roads “are not keeping pace with how the place is
developing.”

Holly Danks: 503-221-4377; hollydanks@news.oregonian.com