University of Wisconsin Police Department ran their third annual “Be Bright” initiative this fall Wednesday, which provides the appropriate front and rear bike lighting to student cyclists for free.
UWPD and Safe Communities combined their efforts and received a grant from the Dane County Bike Association. This grant enabled UWPD to purchase 115 front and rear bike lights for student cyclists that do not have the appropriate lighting for their bike at night, Kristen Radtke, central campus community officer, said.
“We worry about crashes,” Radtke said. “We want bicyclists to see and be seen. Providing appropriate lighting is the most effective way for cyclists to be seen at night.”
The “Be Bright” initiative also works to spread information and educate student cyclists about the bicycle laws of Wisconsin. It is state statute that bicycling at night requires at least a white front headlight and a red rear reflector, Radtke said.
The initiative took place later this year than it has in the past. UWPD has campaigned in late September during the previous two years when the weather has been more cooperative with cyclists.
“I think the campaign helps get the word out and educates people to have positive interactions with the cyclist community,” Radtke said. “Sometimes we’ve campaigned in late September and early October, when we were not getting bad weather yet. Madison is very bike-friendly so we are still impacting and educating the cyclists who are out in the rain.”
Madison is a bike-friendly city which can provide a safe cyclist community to experienced riders, Radtke said. However, varying experience levels of cyclists can be challenging for the UWPD to account for, she said.
Inexperienced cyclists are not as familiar with bike laws and are not used to riding in a bike-friendly city such as Madison, Radtke said. Bike lanes can cause confusion because in Madison it is encouraged and expected that cyclists are going to be in the street, she said.
“We have found that there [are] different levels of bicyclists,” Radtke said. “There are people who are familiar with biking in Madison regularly and then you also get the students who are new to campus and probably have not been on their bike in several years.”
One problem with cyclist education is simply the number of cyclists, Matt Shaw, first year “Be Bright” initiative officer, said. There are so many bikes that it is hard to reach everybody, he said.
UWPD observes cyclists at night that are riding without lights, stops them and provides them with the free lights provided by the grant.
“This is a good opportunity to reach people that are biking at night that might not be aware of some of the laws that require them [to] have lights on the front and on the rear of their bikes,” Shaw said. “It’s a safety concern with all the bikes, traffic and pedestrians downtown.”
One way UWPD reaches out to students is through social media. During the day they make contact with students and inform them they will be providing cyclists with appropriate lighting and educating them about the state statute.
“I still see a lot of bikes downtown that are not properly lit at night and it is a safety concern,” Shaw said. “So my hope is that we are able to educate people, provide them with some good quality lights that they can use for their own safety and, hopefully, we are making an impact in the future.”
