Bicyclists concerned about safety of riding in Sussex County

It's hard to miss the number of bicyclists pedaling along Delaware Route 1 or on one of Sussex County's many back roads during the summer season.

But many of these bicyclists are concerned about their safety, even when riding on the back roads that twist through the county.

"There are very few roads with decent shoulders to ride on, so we ride mostly on back roads," said Bobbi Dunham, a member of the Sussex Cyclists, who has been biking on Sussex County roads for 12 years. "And when the roads are being redone now, most of them are grandfathered in so they don’t have to put wider shoulders and they don’t have to accommodate bicyclists."

Three cycling awareness events were planned this week in Sussex before the weather dampened the 14th Annual Ride of Silence and Bike to Work Day in Lewes. The National EMS Memorial Bike Ride rode through Sussex on Thursday, raising awareness of the dangers faced by emergency providers. 

The Ride of Silence is a silent ride in memory of those who have been killed or injured on the road, while the Bike to Work Day in Lewes on Friday was focused on clean energy. 

There were 42 crashes involving bicyclists in Sussex County in 2016, according to the most recent Delaware State Police Annual Traffic Statistical Report. One of those was fatal — Anastasia Cioplan, an international student from Moldova, died after she was struck riding her bicycle on Kent Avenue in Bethany Beach on June 29.

There were nine more incidents in 2016 than 2015, which included two deaths. 

Statistics for 2017 aren not available, but at least two bicycle crashes in Sussex County resulted in fatalities. 

Thomas Draper, the owner of WBOC, was killed riding his bicycle on Sept. 7 when he was struck by a truck near Milford.

On Oct. 21, two bicyclists from Washington, D.C., were killed in a crash when they were struck by a 61-year-old New York man, who suffered a medical incident and blacked out at the wheel, on Route 1 in Dewey Beach.

Cyclists bike for many reasons in Sussex, exercise, pleasure and transportation. 

Many bike accidents involve students from Europe working high volume areas during the summer, said Glenn Marshall, public information officer for Sussex County EMS.

A big trouble spot for bikers is Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach, especially for drivers who come down to the area and aren't used to dealing with bicyclists.

"That is when you look at the volume of vehicles, bikes and pedestrians, and when people come down they are on vacation and they lose track of where bikers are," Marshall said. "They aren’t tuned into if someone is crossing at the light at an unmarked crossing zone."

A problem with Route 1 is drivers using the bicycle and bus lane as an extra lane, an issue identified by both Marshall and Tony Pezone, a member of Sussex Cyclists.

More:Ocean City offers free bicycle lights to increase road safety

Pezone has been riding on Sussex County roads since 1988, and he said even the back roads have become dangerous for bikers due to the increase in housing developments.

"Some of those roads had nothing but farms on them. Occasionally you would come across a tractor, but that is not the case now," he said. "Most don’t have a bike lane or will have one for a short distance, but it might only go for a quarter of a mile and then disappear. Sussex County is certainly, especially during the summer, not the best place to ride a bike."

Delaware's efforts making roads safe for bikers has done "a lot" to improve safety throughout the state, Pezone said, but he would like to see more done in Sussex.

In April, the Route One Stencil Project spray painted "slow down look for traffic" on 40 high traffic entrances and exits on sidewalks where bikers ride along the busy road. Cycling on sidewalks is normally not permitted, but the state made an exception to create a margin of safety between cyclists and motorists.

Rehoboth Beach along Route 1 has become overdeveloped, Pezone said, making it hard for bikers to navigate the congested streets.

More:Bike share program brings new rides to Salisbury

"People just feel like bike shouldn’t be on those roads because it is dangerous and they don’t like having us there," he added.

While biking in Delaware can be dangerous, for Rich Beachley, manager at Ocean Cycles in Bethany Beach, the state has done a good job enforcing bike laws.

One area he pointed out was enforcing headlight use on bicycles.

"A lot of towns are cracking down on people riding without headlights on or rear blinking lights, rear headlights," he said. "And nighttime, it is pretty dark on these back roads so you need headlights for safety."

Everyone is worried about riding on the roads, he added, which is why he advises using one of the many off road bicycle trails in the area.

Plus, he said, the back roads are always safer than the main roads.

"But Bethany and Delaware in general is a lot more bike friendly than Ocean City and stuff like that," he said. "They have put in a lot of bike trails, especially in Bethany Beach and north of Bethany, where there are some off road trails."

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