Knowledge helps make city streets safer

It’s difficult to fix what isn’t working without adequate knowledge. That’s why it is heartening to see the Santa Fe Police Department study of bicycle crashes in the city. With three years of data, police officials now can start to identify what makes cyclists less safe and find patterns in where and when the crashes occur.

The report, covering from March 2015 until February of this year, is just the beginning. More updates are coming, and the more data that comes in, the more solid safety improvements can be.

Right now, what we know is that for whatever reason, bicycle crashes rose 67 percent between 2016 -17. Then from 2017-18, the number of crashes dropped 16 percent. Of the 110 crashes identified over the period, all but two involved a collision with a vehicle.

Some 27 crashes were reported in the 12-month period that ended February 2016, another 45 crashes through February 2017 and 38 crashes through February 2018.

Obviously, all drivers — on bikes or in motor vehicles — are not always paying adequate attention.

The report showed that crashes tend to happen in the center of the city, roughly in a triangle around Santa Fe’s busiest roads — think the area bordered by St. Francis Drive, Agua Fría Street and Siringo Road. That is logical, considering that’s where the most traffic can be found. About two-thirds of accidents occurred at an intersection. The leading factor contributing to a crash was the failure to yield the right of way — and that could be by a driver or a cyclist.

Interestingly, fault in crashes is fairly even, with cyclists at fault 44 percent of the time and drivers 40 percent. Sixteen percent of the time, both parties were to blame, an analysis found. Another interesting factoid: Male cyclists were involved in 81 percent of crashes.

That could mean that the majority of cyclists are male, or that for whatever reason, men have more accidents. Obviously, further study is needed.

Sgt. Chris McCord of the bicycle patrol team for Santa Fe police believes the study was overdue — and we agree.

We also don’t dispute that more work will be needed to make streets safer, but also to understand what the city should do to reach that conclusion. However, some fixes are readily apparent.

Marking lanes consistently across the city will make it clear where bikes and cars should be, as well as making it easier to cite an offender should a crash occur. More signs — clearly identifying bike lanes, for example — will make it possible for police to cite drivers who infringe on bike lanes.

McCord is correct, too, to advocate for more education for cyclists about following traffic laws and commonsense safety guidelines.

He thinks the city could work with bike shops on education pamphlets or to produce a video with safety tips.

After all, if cyclists want to claim their share of the road — and they do — they need to follow the rules of the road. That means using signals, stopping at traffic lights or stop signs and staying off sidewalks.

In return, motorists must be more alert and share the road.

Human behavior, as Councilor Mike Harris said, is difficult to control.

But the more information the city gathers, the better it can improve safety conditions for all who take to the streets.