Letter: Safety is our responsibility

Hilton Head Island recently hosted a biking symposium that brought experts from throughout the Southeast to discuss bicycling tourism, economic development and safety. They verified that Hilton Head has the safest and most interconnected multi-use pathway network in the Southeast.

But it is not perfect. Our pathways take the vast majority of cyclists and pedestrians off our roads. However, these pathways cross our roadways, intersections and driveways and create potential conflict.

Sadly, recent tragedies have pinpointed a specific traffic safety and connectivity challenge in the mid-island William Hilton Parkway corridor where motor vehicles, and especially bicycles and pedestrians, are at risk. Town staff and community leaders have taken steps to correct this, and further changes are under consideration.

At the end of the day, motor vehicle, bike and pedestrian safety is about individual responsibility. Those drivers, people on foot and on bicycles are human beings, like us. They deserve our attention and respect, not scorn and anger.

So as you are driving and come to an intersection with a crossing pathway, stop at the stop sign and look for pathway users right and left twice before entering traffic.

At signalized crossings with a green light, you must yield to bicyclists or pedestrians using the crosswalk.

And if you are a cyclist, make eye contact with the driver of the waiting vehicle.

Give our visitors the benefit of doubt. We want them to be happy, safe and to come back to our special island.

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Letter: Safety is our responsibility."