Yet another friend was recently hospitalized after a truck failed to give her adequate space and struck her on South 27th Street. This terrifying incident highlights a glaring safety crisis on Lincoln’s roads. Next year, my son starts at Lincoln Standing Bear High School. He was thrilled about the freedom of biking to campus, but from our southeast Lincoln home, routes like South 70th, South 84th, and Saltillo Road completely lack safe cycling infrastructure. Instead of fostering his independence, we will have to take time off work daily to drop him off and pick him up. In two years, he’ll get his license and drive himself adding an entirely unnecessary car to traffic and increasing the demand for school parking. The problem stems from both infrastructure and driver behavior. During my morning runs and rides on the newly paved 98th Street, it is obvious from my daily close calls that many drivers are unaware of Nebraska’s updated Move-Over Law (LB530). This law requires drivers to move into the opposite lane when passing vulnerable road users like walkers, runners and cyclists, or to slow down and drive with care if moving over isn't safe. We proudly tout “The Good Life” here, so let’s live up to it and prioritize safe infrastructure and widespread driver education before yet another tragedy occurs.
