Orange County NC Website
97:7_\aI <br />Abigaile Pittman: How can you tell how fast you are going? <br />Jeff Charles: Most serious cyclists have odometers but if you not, you learn pretty quickly. <br />Paul Guthrie: The mixed use trails in this country have wide rights -of way and the track is wide. <br />Jeff Charles: Mountain biking, etc., if we don't improve our rural roads, they will look for other options and as you <br />develop these trails, you will see them go where you did not expect them to. <br />Abigaile Pittman: Other than these comments, I would like the Board to consider supporting the goal and objectives <br />developed by DEAPR staff. <br />Paul Guthrie: This recommendation is pretty good. The comments on emergency needs to be better defined. It is <br />not just what the Parks department can do but what the potential responders may need to modify with how they <br />respond and what kind of equipment but both sides need to inform the others. <br />Rich Shaw: The Emergency Response staff has not reviewed this draft yet. If you think of anything or have any <br />questions, let me know. <br />Jeff Charles: In your packet, there is an N &O news article about the June 251h alleged road incident in the court <br />system where a gentleman has been cited for misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon associated with this <br />alleged road rage incident. I ride 5,000 plus miles per year and the vast majority is in Orange County and I have <br />been seeing an increase in friction between motorists and cyclist which is why we came up with the road safety <br />guidelines which will support now. I ride with about 100 people a year and of those 100, three of those have been hit <br />by a car or had car interactions in the last two months. In this case, it was road rage involved. Presented videos of <br />ride. You can make a legal pass if you have 500 foot visible with a double lane. If there are 20 plus cyclist riding in <br />the same lane, it is frustrating for motorists. How do you convince cyclists to break into smaller groups? This is part <br />of an education process. The League of American Bicyclists listed the top ten states, each one has the following <br />statement in their vehicular law, and bicyclists cannot ride more than two abreast and cannot impede traffic. North <br />Carolina is ranked 23rd because we don't have very good bicyclist rules. There are two groups of Orange County <br />trying to work on this problem. There is a motorist group working on this also and I am sitting on that group. <br />Commissioner Price has agreed to head a working group to get law enforcement involved. Gail Alberti is the <br />motorist's representative in our group. We do not want to get legislature involved in this. We also need to be <br />concerned about mopeds and the elf vehicle. <br />Alex Castro: As the population increases, more and more people will want to get out. I would recommend you make <br />contact with the Grange in Schley. <br />Jeff Charles: Bonner Hauser is heading up the motorist group and Renee and I are heading up the cyclists. <br />Paul Guthrie: It has been my observation of the last 10 years, how much cruder the driving is. <br />Jeff Charles: This is also an enforcement issue. The law is that you have to stop if anyone is walking across the <br />cross walk. We don't want to get legislature involved. <br />Alex Castro: We need to raise awareness and have a good publicity campaign. What is the law? Having a public <br />awareness campaign to highlight these points tonight would be very helpful. <br />Jeff Charles: Enforcement and education are the way I go. We are bringing ideas from Europe for education. I hope <br />these videos have a role in enforcement for laws. <br />Alex Castro: What about getting the bicycle shops to help get some of those videos on the air. <br />Jeff Charles: I want to make sure law enforcement can use the videos. <br />