Great to see national blog highlight the positive work by the News-Press "Share the Road Florida" team.
Streetsblog
USA, Jan. 6, 2016:
In too many cities, newspaper
coverage of bicycling has stoked some of the darker aspects of human
nature.Opinion pieces about bike lanes tend
to cater to the reactionary opposition,
goading the trolls of the comments section, where casual death threats are
standard fare.
But a newspaper in South Florida has taken a very different
approach over the last few years, unabashedly advocating for safer streets
for cycling. And it’s earning accolades in the process.
The News-Press in the Fort Myers,
Florida, region won praised from the Columbia Journalism Review and local safety advocates for
its “Share the Road” series, highlighting the danger faced by cyclists in
a deadly corner of the deadliest state for biking.
 |
| News-Press reporters Janine Zeitlin (center) and Laura Ruane (right) accept an award for their coverage of bike safety issues in South Florida. Photo: Florida Department of Health via News-Press |
Starting in the summer of 2014, News-Press reporters have
shed light on bicyclist fatalities on local roads, and what can be done to
stop the loss of life.
In the year the series launched,
eight cyclists were killed in Lee County (population 661,000), the News-Press reported.
By comparison, in Portland (population 609,000), one cyclist was killed in 2014 and zero in 2013.
The News-Press dug into the problem, running a feature on
each of the 12 people killed while biking in Lee and Collier counties, which
include the communities of Naples, Cape Coral, and Fort Myers. These areas
are both huge tourist destinations and home to lots of
low-income workers and immigrants. The roads are notoriously dangerous for people
walking or biking.
Led by reporter Janine Zeitlin, who
used to bike but stopped because it felt too risky, the News-Press combed
through data about what was causing the collisions. Among the factors they identified: “wide
and fast roadways,” “lagging infrastructure and laws,” “bad drivers,” and “lack
of safety education.”
The report found most collisions were caused by a driver’s
failure to yield — not red-light-running cyclists. But fines for drivers who
killed cyclists were often menial, usually capped at $1,000. Florida’s safety
laws are way behind other states. And almost a quarter of traffic collisions in
the state are hit-and-runs, the News-Press revealed.
News-Press reporters became advocates
for safe cycling conditions. Zeitlin started an online group called “Share the Road” to promote the stories and
share articles from other sources related to bike safety.
 |
| The News-Press mapped the most dangerous locations for cyclists |
Now, local advocates are saying the all the
attention might to be paying off. The News-Press series coincided
with multiple advances for cycling in southeast Florida. The Florida
DOT recently released its implementation
plan for a new
complete streets policy aimed at addressing the state’s position as the most
deadly for walking. Meanwhile, biking and walking advocates
working with local officials helped secure a $10.4
million federal TIGER grant
to build a network of safe bikeways throughout Lee County.
After a look at the 2015 data showed a decline in cycling
fatalities, the News-Press
wrote: “While it’s too soon to declare a road culture shift,
the climate is looking less grim for bicyclists.”
Darla LeTourneau of
the local advocacy group BikeWalkLee said the newspaper’s coverage, combined
with the state’s efforts, appears to be helping, although there’s still a
lack of leadership at the county level. In 2014, for example, 35 percent of the
region’s traffic fatalities were bicyclists and pedestrians. In 2015, that
number dropped to 20 percent. Of course that’s just one year of data
and not a trend, but it’s encouraging nonetheless, LeTourneau says.
“It just raises the
profile” of the issue, she said of the News-Press series. “When you’re
able to report, then elected officials think, ‘I need to be doing something
about this, and I’m going to get credit or blame.'”
“I think by having
comprehensive, in-depth really well-done coverage, which they’ve done for two
years now… there’s more attention paid to the problem, to solution, to the
impact on real people.”
