BENGALURU: Cyclists facing harassment by motorists and bikers on roads may get some respite, thanks to a soon-to-be-launched campaign that aims to raise awareness in the city around the issue.
The year-long campaign, titled Keep Me Safe, will be started with a cycle ride on June 2, a day ahead of the World Bicycle Day on June 3. Organised by the NGO, Citizens for Sustainability (CiFOS), the event is supported by Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Urban Development department, Swissnex India consulate general of Switzerland and the Netherlands consulate general.
“When I ride my bicycle on the street, I find cars and bikes honking for no reason. It even reaches a point where they abuse us verbally, asking us to move to the side, when the road is ours to use as well,” Sathya Sankaran, the co-founder of CiFOS who became the city’s ‘bicycle mayor’ last year, said. “This attitude and harassment towards cyclists on the streets is one of the reasons often cited by fence-sitters when we encourage them to take to cycling,” he added, talking about how infrastructure like public bicycle-sharing system and cycle lanes are only a part of the measures needed to encourage more people to take up cycling.
The event will involve a 5- and 10-km ride in Cubbon Park. “We are looking for sponsors who can provide us with merchandise to popularise #keepmesafe. This will be the start of a year-long campaign, during which we will speak to corporate firms, tech parks, schools and others on the issue of cyclists’ safety,” Sankaran added. The organisers will also open a registration link for the event on the cycleto.work website to enable participation.
“We are charting out the route map for the event at Cubbon Park. Government representatives, including those from the road safety cell, will address the participants on giving preference to cyclists,” a DULT official said. “Apart from the 50 cycles already arranged by DULT, we are looking to arrange more cycles so that we can have at least 200 of them at the venue,” the official added.
Cycle rental firms are likely to be brought on board as well to provide cycles.