Five hundred surprised commuters at one of the Strand’s busiest intersections, Broadway and Broadlands roads, were over the moon on Friday when they received free reflective bibs, bicycle lights and helmets.
The hand-out was done by staff members of the Pedal Power Association, together with Ntombi Kulati (marketing manager, RAF Western Cape) who assisted on the day with her team; David Frost from the Western Cape Government Road Safety; as well as Inspector Karin Hendricks (Road Safety Education – Area East) from the City of Cape Town and her team .
The team also handed bibs to primary school children walking to school.
“Winter is notorious for lots of non-motorised fatalities on our roads,” said PPA CEO Robert Vogel. “Many commuters cycle in the dark, without adequate lights on their bicycles, or without wearing visible clothing.”
The PPA teamed up with the Road Accident Fund to have ten thousand luminous bibs made to hand out to commuters and pedestrians. “The RAF’s generous sponsorship of R200 000 will make a difference to so many lives,” Vogel added.
The Pedal Power Association is a public benefit organisation with close to 18 000 members. “Our mandate is to look after the interests of all cyclists, albeit utility or competitive cyclists,” Vogel said.
In 2011, the PPA launched its very successful ‘Cyclists Stay Alive at 1.5’ campaign which resulted in a law being promulgated in 2013 in the Western Cape stating that motorists must pass cyclists with a berth of 1m. The STAY WIDER OF THE RIDER campaign has since been going from strength to strength, expanding to a national footprint.
“We encourage road users to share the roads and to be considerate, respectful and tolerant of one another,” Vogel explained. “Statistics show that almost all cycling fatalities on our roads are caused by cyclists being hit by a motor vehicle from behind or when a vehicle underestimates the speed of a cyclist and turns in front of the cyclist. Visibility is a key factor, so it is important to wear bright clothing and have lights fitted to your bicycle,” Vogel said.
“We want to make a difference. We hope that the journeys of the commuters that we reached on Friday will be much safer now. We will be doing similar hand-outs in other parts of the country as well,” Vogel concluded.
