Bicycle Safety Is One Focus of Island Police
By Eric Fish

With helmets in check, Grand Rapids residents Joe and Carolyn Carr prepare for a day of cycling around Mackinac Island Tuesday, May 22. The Carrs are two of several thousand visitors who come to the Island in the spring and summer to ride bicycles.

If there's one thing that Police Chief William Lenaghan can't emphasize enough about bicycles on Mackinac Island, it's safety.

Each summer, thousands of tourists pour onto Mackinac Island for a getaway from bigcity life, renting bicycles from Island shops and taking to the streets to enjoy the scenery. Sometimes, the bicycles interfere with horse and pedestrian traffic, a dangerous situation here.

"I think the biggest assumption people make is, because it's an island and there's no vehicles, that they aren't going to have an accident, or you don't have to be as careful aiming your bike as you do a car," Chief Lenaghan said.

But accidents do happen, even in a unique place like Mackinac Island, where cars and trucks are replaced by horse-drawn wagons and bicycles.

The Island plateau drops nearly 200 feet to the shoreline, a feature showcased by dangerous roads like the Grand Hill on Cadotte Avenue, Mission Hill, Fort Hill, and Turkey Hill. These dangerous streets are marked with cautionary signs, but serious accidents, and even fatalities, occur.

Two summers ago, a cyclist riding down Grand Hill attempted to turn the bike into the park area, but collided with a tree and died, said Chief Lenaghan.

He stresses that cyclists also be aware of pedestrians and horses when riding.

"If you feel there's going to be a problem, stop your bike and don't let there be a problem," Chief Lenaghan said. "Just like a car, you wouldn't go to a place that you weren't sure of until you checked it out. It's the same on a bike."

The Mackinac Island Police Department enforces a 25- miles-per-hour speed limit, with a 15 mph limit in the downtown area to help prevent injury to cyclists and pedestrians. As a preventive measure, the department will occasionally use radar guns to warn bikers of their speeds.

"It's a safety feature," Chief Lenaghan said. "We're not there to write tickets, we're there to protect the people from becoming one of the fatalities."

Stressing bicycle safety on the Island doesn't stop at the police department. Bicycle rental businesses also warn customers of the hazards while riding and determine if renters are physically able to ride safely. They also offer helmets and brief customers on dangers.

"If they're going up in the center, we always ask them to watch out for the Grand Hill and, basically, the hills headed out into the center of the Island," said David Simpson, the lot manager of Ryba's Bicycle Rental.

Like most bike rental shops, the business offers route maps, which also warn renters of hazardous areas.

The city's Bicycle Guide suggests keeping to the right of the road, giving way to horsedrawn carriages and pedestrians, not to ride on sidewalks, and not to ride recklessly. It also warns cyclists of the island's steep hills.

"We like to keep the Island as safe as possible," Chief Lenaghan said. "We ask them to be very conscious of other people in the area."

In addition to bicycle safety, the police department also encourages residents to purchase licenses for their bicycles. Licenses are available at the Mackinac Island Police Department for $3.50 and are valid until May 1, 2008.