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Bicycle riding has become increasingly popular in recent years as a means of dealing with high traffic in urban areas and as an alternative to cars as gas prices have gone up and concerns about pollution have persisted. Many cities are adopting bicycle sharing programs in order to make biking easier. Recently, YNN Austin announced that the city of Austin, Texas will be moving forward with a bicycle sharing program.

Source: http://www.belolaw.com/posts/focus-on-bike-safety-essential-as-austin-moves-forward-with-bike-sharing-programs/

Our Austin family lawyers know that a bike sharing program could encourage more people to take up riding and could increase the number of bicyclists on the roads. In New York City, a bike-sharing program led to riders traveling more than 1.5 million miles in just the first month of the program. While it is great that bike sharing can increase convenience and making riding a more popular option, more bicyclists on the road also means a greater chance of bike accidents happening. As a result, cyclists and drivers need to be aware of the risks of crashes and need to take safety precautions to prevent accidents.

Austin Moving Forward with Bike Sharing Plan

The new bike-sharing program approved by the Austin City Council will result in hundreds of bicycles being made available for public use around town. An agreement has been entered into with B-Cycle to purchase an estimated $2 million worth of bicycles, kiosks and computer software to manage the new sharing program.

The program will allow riders to have an annual or monthly membership or to rent a bike on a daily basis. Estimates indicate that there will be about 10 different stations around town where bicyclists can rent and return bikes. The program will start with 100 bicycles and will continue to expand. By the spring of 2014, the next phase of the project will result in a total of 40 kiosk locations and 400 available bicycles.

Bike Safety is Key injuries and deaths have resulted in family Divorce See: Divorce Lawyer Austin Texas
Cyclists are excited about the new bike-sharing program, but it is important that both bike riders and drivers do everything possible to avoid the risk of bike accidents with more riders on the road.

For drivers, this means:
Checking for bike riders and yielding the right-of-way as required.
Refraining from dangerous behaviors such as speeding, drunk or drowsy driving, and driving while distracted. All of these behaviors could lead to an accident with a bike rider.
Leaving enough space between yourself and cyclists. Aggressive driving causes accidents.

For bicycle riders, safety efforts can include:
Wearing bright colors to be seen more easily and using reflective material when riding after dark.
Obeying lane markings and all rules of the road.
Riding in bicycle lanes whenever possible and always riding with traffic.
Communicating with drivers by using hand signals and ensuring that you make eye contact so drivers can see you on the roads.

Read The Full Story

Source : http://www.belolaw.com/car-accident-lawyer/tx-dot-campaign-puts-personal-face-on-dui-accident-risks/
Drunk driving continues to be a major problem, causing thousands of car accident deaths and injuries in Texas each year. The Texas Department of Transportation has tried numerous public education and enforcement programs to try to curb drunk driving dangers. Their latest campaign involves putting a human face on the dangers associated with drunk driving.

Our Austin, TX injury lawyers know that driving while intoxicated can more than double the risk of a car wreck occurring. Unfortunately, drunk drivers don’t just endanger themselves when they make the choice to drive drunk – their actions can also affect the lives of other innocent victims. The DOT’s “Faces of Drunk Driving Campaign,” highlights some of those victims and draws attention to how devastating drunk driving crashes can be to individuals and families.

The Faces of Drunk Driving Campaign

According to WFAA , there were more than 25,000 alcohol-related crashes in Texas last year. On just one day – the Fourth of July – more than 133 crashes occurred due to drunk drivers. Many of those involved in these accidents – including innocent victims – suffered life threatening injuries. Far too many others lost their lives.

The Texas DOT is now telling the stories of some of the drunk driving victims in the hope that putting a face to the dangers of drunk driving will help to discourage people from getting behind the wheel when they have had too much to drink.

One of the Faces of Drunk Driving, as reported by WFAA, was a young girl who was in the car on the way home from getting her haircut. Her accident occurred at around 3:30 in the afternoon on the corner of 28th Street and Sylvania in Fort Worth. See: Car Accident Lawyer Austin TxThe car she was riding in was hit by a drunk driver, causing the young girl to sustain very serious injuries.

The little girl hurt by the drunk driver was three days shy of her eighth birthday. The accident rendered her paralyzed for life. Now aged nine, she indicates that not a day goes by that she does not pray to walk again. Her deep desire to walk again comes from the fact that she can no longer do the things she used to, like play games with her little brother. She also expressed sadness that kids stare at her when she is in her wheelchair.

The driver who hit the young girl received 10 years in prison, but nothing can bring back what the accident victim lost. The Texas DOT hopes that stories such as this will help to prevent future car accidents from occurring as a result of intoxicated drivers.

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