Eye campaign launch in August. Mayor-elect Adams
and PDOT director Sue Keil look on.
(Photos © J. Maus)
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is calling their three-month “Eye to Eye” campaign a success after a ride-along with the Portland Police Bureau in search of unlit bike riders turned up nearly empty.
One of the key goals of the campaign, which launched back in August, was to increase awareness for bike light usage. The BTA worked with the Police Bureau to re-instate a month-long, free bike light program (accompanied by warnings), that was followed up by citations given out to unlit riders.
On Sunday night, BTA advocate Michelle Poyourow hopped in a patrol car with Officer Robert Pickett, and the pair hit the streets to see how well Portlanders had gotten the message.
In a post on the BTA blog yesterday, Poyourow wrote that all signs point to the campaign being a success:
On three hours and three different locations we nabbed a whopping FOUR unlit bicyclists, all of them at our first stop on N Williams north of Knott.
After her ride-along, Poyourow reflected on the campaign:
I believe the Eye to Eye Bike Light Campaign did a good job of that this year – the threat of a few dozen tickets at the end lent urgency and seriousness to months worth of outreach and education on one of the BTA’s top safety concerns…
In our vision of Oregon bicycling, it should be very hard to find a bicyclist out without lights. And last Tuesday night, in Portland, it was. For the BTA, this was a successful end to a great campaign
Read the full story of Poyourow’s ride-along (including the guy who erected a “Police sting ahead” sign that was then confiscated by Pickett and is now in possession of the BTA) on the BTA Blog.
What has been your experience out on the streets? Have you, whether in a car or on a bike, noticed more people using bike lights at night?