Today KC’s Share the Road Safety Task Force is organizing a traffic safety enforcement operation at 39th Street and State Line Road.  Law enforcement will be targeting all road users alike - motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  So make sure to pay extra attention to those stop signs and your hand signals, and keep your bike off of the sidewalk!

Same Rights. Same Rules. Same Roads. Enforcement Safety Campaign
12 pedestrians and 4 bicyclists killed in 2007

Kansas City, MO – Share the Road Safety Task Force partners will be on hand to distribute flyers while the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office hands out tickets. Today at 11:00 AM, near 39th Street and State Line Road, officers and members of the Task Force will be on hand to distribute information and tickets. There will also be an opportunity to interview a bicyclist and a motorist who were involved in separate crashes.

Sponsored by the Share the Road Safety Task Force, the “Same Rights. Same Rules. Same Roads” campaign is a comprehensive approach to promote pedestrian and bicyclist safety and educate the public about important rules of the road. The campaign targets motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Many are unaware that bicyclists are to act and drive the same as if driving a car. Many are unaware that you are to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. By following simple rules of the road, driving alert, watching out for bicyclists and pedestrians, most crashes could be avoided.

According to Michael Briggs, Transportation Planner with Mid-America Regional Council, “On a national basis over 5,000 pedestrians are killed, and 85,000 are injured in roadway crashes every year, resulting in $20 billion societal costs. That’s 200 pedestrians killed or injured every day. Locally, the Kansas City region has experienced 12 pedestrian fatalities on our streets so far this year, costing the region $39 million. Pedestrian safety is a concern everywhere. This campaign is timely and much needed.”

“Pedestrian and bicyclist safety is a two-way street that requires awareness for all modes of travel,” says Deb Ridgway, Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator with Kansas City, Missouri. “This campaign addresses all audiences,” she added. Materials were developed by the Federal Highway Administration and adopted for Kansas City.

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Share the Road Safety Task Force partners include:
* American Red Cross – Wyandotte County Chapter
* Brain Injury Association
* City of Lee’s Summit, Missouri
* City of Raytown, Missouri
* City of Parkville, Missouri
* City of Kansas City, Missouri
* City of Shawnee, Kansas
* City of Kansas City, Kansas
* Destination Safe
* Federal Highway Adminstration – Kansas Division
* Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation
* Johnson County Bicycle Club
* Kansas City Bicycle Club
* Kansas City Department of Parks and Recreation
* Kansas Department of Transportation
* Leawood Police Department
* Let’s Go KC
* Localcycling.com
* Major Taylor Foundation of Greater Kansas City
* Mid-America Regional Council
* Missouri Bicycle Federation
* Missouri Department of Transportation – Kansas City Region
* National MS Society – Kansas City Chapter
* National Highway Transportation Safety Administration – Central Region
* Platte County
* Rosedale Development Association
* Safe Kids Johnson County
* Safe Kids Metro KC
* TREK Store of Kansas City
* Unified Government of Wyandotte County – Public Health Department
* University of Kansas - Medical Center
* University of Missouri – Kansas City

For more information, please contact Deb Ridgway, Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator, Kansas City, MO at (816) 513-2592 office, (816) 588-4092 cell, or deb_ridgway@kcmo.org.