During National Bike Month, cycling advocates try to illustrate all the benefits of bicycling (from your health, to the health of the planet, they are almost infinite). But let’s face it: Florida roads aren’t exactly the best place to be on a bike. The state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles counted 6,398 bicycle crashes, including 182 fatalities, in 2021.
This weekend, Walk Bike Tampa—WBT, a citizens-based advocacy group that promotes connected routes for Tampa's cyclists and pedestrians and safe streets for everyone—will spend the morning on Bay to Bay Boulevard where riders will travel from Dale Mabry Highway to Bayshore and back to help both bikers and motorists practice how to use roads with shared lane markings (aka “sharrow” lanes).
A sharrow is a street marking that features a bicycle and two chevrons—a symbol indicating that drivers should expect people on bicycles to be using the lane with them. WBT would love to see more protected bike lanes, but points out that sharrows remind road users of the safest positioning for bicyclists.
“Bicycles are considered vehicles and the people riding them are entitled to use the full lane, just as people driving cars are,” organizers wrote in a press release.
Walkers are also welcome to join the event using the sidewalks.
Meet at the southeast corner of Dale Mabry and Bay to Bay if you want to join in.
Walk Bike Tampa: Share the Road Ride. Saturday, May 14, 10 a.m. Free to join. Corner of Dale Mabry Highway and Bay to Bay Boulevard, Tampa. walkbiketampa.org
