Orange County NC Website
14 <br /> 1 founding member of the Carrboro Bicycle Coalition, and a cycling advocate for over 30 years. <br /> 2 She is here just representing herself tonight. She said a year ago the Board of County <br /> 3 Commissioners tasked the OUTBoard to review this issue and the Board responded with a <br /> 4 report outlining how much time it would take to implement their recommendations. She said <br /> 5 she is pleased to see this resolution could be easily passed and then put on a shelf. She <br /> 6 requested to add the following amendments to the resolution: <br /> 7 f. To have a specific action plan that could address 10 goals to address cycle safety and <br /> 8 pedestrian safety. <br /> 9 g. Budget line item for bicycle safety for education. <br /> 10 Heidi Perry said she has rules of the road translated into several languages, which she is <br /> 11 happy to share with the Highway Patrol. She said there is a lot of room to work on safety <br /> 12 through education. <br /> 13 John Rees said he is an Orange County resident and today he represents the Carolina <br /> 14 Tar Heel Bicycle Club, which promotes the use of cycling and recreational cycling. He said <br /> 15 funding is important, and he reiterated that the road rules are for bicyclists too. He said the club <br /> 16 would like to work with Orange County on education. He said he is a cyclist himself and he and <br /> 17 the club follow the rules of the road. He said they are law-abiding residents and they like to <br /> 18 frequent local businesses in the County as they ride in Orange County. <br /> 19 Bonnie Hauser is speaking on behalf of Orange County Voice which has been working <br /> 20 on bike safety for years. She said Orange County Voice does not see education as the issue <br /> 21 but rather a small number of cyclists and motorists that are causing the problems, in addition to <br /> 22 roads that are not built for sharing. She said there are no consequences for cyclists that break <br /> 23 the rules of the roads. She said Orange County Voice supports the resolution from the Grange. <br /> 24 She asked the Board to consider a similar resolution on Orange County's legislative agenda. <br /> 25 Bonnie Hauser said off road cycling options are needed, such as the American Tobacco <br /> 26 Trail in Durham, and the Greenway in Wake County. She recommended the convening of a <br /> 27 task force to plan off road bikeways in Orange County in partnership with the Towns. She said <br /> 28 the task force must include residents from the rural communities. <br /> 29 Bryant Dodson said education does not seem to help a lot. He said he lives out near <br /> 30 Maple View Farms, which is a destination place. He said he has been working on this issue for <br /> 31 a long time and finds many cyclists do follow the rules. He said the ones that do not follow the <br /> 32 rules cause the real problems. He said he has been advocating for bicycle licenses and <br /> 33 suggested the County do this instead of the State. He said the only way to penalize cyclists is <br /> 34 to give them consequences. <br /> 35 Kim Dodson said there is a huge need on this issue in their community. She said when <br /> 36 a vehicular law is broken people call 911 but if a bike law is broken there is no one to call. She <br /> 37 said there is no form of identification. She said tickets are given out to bike riders on campus, <br /> 38 but in the rural community this protection does not exist. She asked if the BOCC could please <br /> 39 help in the Orange Grove community. <br /> 40 Stanley Ray Hoffman lives in Chapel Hill and has been a cyclist for over 50 years. He <br /> 41 said he uses the highways and roads. He said he appreciated the discussion but suggested if <br /> 42 the topic could be seen from his perspective it would be different. He said motorists are the <br /> 43 dangerous ones and laws should be enforced as they apply to both motorists and cyclists. He <br /> 44 said he is happy to see a Sheriff's car anytime. He said cyclists are traffic on the road and most <br /> 45 obey the law. He said they want law enforcement to enforce the law anywhere and anytime. <br /> 46 Commissioner Price said she wanted to re-visit the idea of a sub-committee and is open <br /> 47 to suggestions. <br /> 48 John Roberts said the BOCC could direct the OUTBoard to create a sub-committee <br /> 49 without staff support. <br />