Working Together for Nighttime Bicycle Safety
Ocean City, MD- (July 23, 2024): On July 19, 2024, during the evening hours, members of the Ocean City Police Department teamed up with a local restaurant near 32nd Street to help equip their J-1 seasonal workers with bicycle lights. This initiative aimed to enhance public safety and employee well-being and saw the distribution of over fifteen LED bicycle lights. These lights, now in use, significantly increase bicycle visibility at night, thereby promoting highway safety and ensuring a safer environment for all.
The Town of Ocean City is fortunate to have a community that actively participates in ensuring our town, residents, and visitors are safe. The Town of Ocean City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, known as BPAC, has been a driving force in uniting the community to promote highway safety. The BPAC’s coordination with community members, Town officials and Departments, Public Safety employees, and the Maryland Department of Transportation is a testament to the power of community involvement in developing safer and more accessible biking and pedestrian infrastructure and initiatives. This committee coordinates the Town’s bicycle light program.
Sergeant Nathan Kutz, Vice President of the BPAC and supervisor of the Ocean City Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit, encourages Patrol Officers to conduct regular bicycle, scooter, and pedestrian enforcement. “The Police Department is perfectly positioned to work in unison with the BPAC to promote highway safety,” says Sergeant Kutz. “Patrol Division Officers have the ability to enforce violations of the motor vehicle law to address unsafe pedestrian, scooter, and bicycle violations. The primary way to do this is through the issuance of a traffic warning coupled with education about the law. Placing a bike light on a bicycle at night is an added bonus. The BPAC and its supporters have been instrumental in making all of this a success.”
From January 1 to July 19, 2024, the Ocean City Police Department distributed over 370 bicycle lights. This has been made possible by the monetary donations received by the BPAC in 2024 to purchase bike lights. We are deeply grateful to the Surf Inn of Ocean City, the American Legion, the American Legion Leathernecks, Walmart, the First State Marine Corps League, Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC), and Preferred Property Inspections for their generous support and donations. In addition to these monetary donations, the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce donated many bicycle lights for distribution. Together, we can work to light up Ocean City and make it somewhere to smile about.
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