RALEIGH – Kids and parents across North Carolina walked and biked to school Wednesday to celebrate National Bike & Roll to School Day.
National Bike and Roll to School Day is an annual celebration that brings awareness to safe biking, walking, and driving practices near schools and encourages families to consider healthier alternatives to traveling in a vehicle. This year’s event was the 12th year of the nationwide celebration and there were 67 registered events in NC.
This year, NCDOT’s feature event was in Raleigh. Students, parents, teachers, state, and local officials started their trek at the Food Lion grocery store on Raleigh Blvd. and made their way about a half-mile to the Powell Center for Play and Ingenuity Magnet School on Marlborough Road.
“Events like this are always a great reminder of the importance of safe walking and biking practices, especially for our children,” said Ryan Brumfield, director of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Integrated Mobility Division, which oversees the state’s bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation programs. “We’re also excited this week to release an updated Motorists & Bicyclists: Best Practices for Road Safety guide to continue providing resources and education for cyclists of all ages to interact as safely as possible with vehicles and drivers.”
The Motorists & Bicyclists: Best Practices for Road Safety is intended to educate all roadway users on state laws and best practices for how motorists and bicyclists can safely share the roadway. The report provides multiple scenarios on bicyclist and motorist interactions, such as communicating lane changes, proper lane positioning, passing safely, traveling at safe speeds, and signaling turning movements.
For more information, visit Integrated Mobility Division’s Safety page.