Stanford Trauma Bike Safety Summit review

Discussion panel at STBSS

Photo credit Patt Baenen, Scaled-Up Productions.

The Stanford Trauma Bike Safety Summit was held in the Li Ka Shing Center at Stanford University on November 9, 2011. The purpose of the Summit was to bring together community leaders to identify and address the causes of preventable bicycle crashes and plan for solutions to reduce them. The event was motivated by an unacceptable number of cyclists being admitted by Stanford Trauma as a result of crashes and collisions on the roads of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

Speakers at the event included:

• David Gregg, MD

• Clinical Associate Professor

• Stanford University Medical Center

• Sheriff Greg Munks

• San Mateo County Sheriff Department

• Deputy Allen James

• Stanford University Department of Public Safety

• Ted Huang

• Webcor Cycling

The speakers each delivered concise presentations that discussed bicycle riding from a medical, law enforcement, and participatory point of view. Dr. Gregg discussed the fact that bicycle injuries are far more prevalent in the Trauma Center than gun or knife wounds; Sheriff Munks talked about the challenges of policing bikes and cars around Woodside and Portola Valley; Deputy Allen James ("A.J.") described Stanford's innovative Bicycle Diversion Program; and Ted Huang talked about sharing the road from a racer's point of view. The points raised by the speakers sparked some lively conversation during the panel discussion. The panel included:

• Andy Ball, CEO, Webcor, Team Sponsor

• Chief Dan Ghiorso, Woodside Fire

• David Gregg, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Stanford University

• Steve Heminger, Director, Metropolitan Transit Commission

• Bruce Hildenbrand, Cycling Journalist and Recent Crash Survivor

• Deputy Allen James, Stanford University Department of Public Safety

• Captain Mike Maskarich, California Highway Patrol

• Sheriff Greg Munks, San Mateo County Sheriff Department

• Ernesha Ndekwe, Senior Motor Vehicle Technician, CA Department of Motor Vehicles

• Bijan Sartipi, District 4 Director, Caltrans

Some thoughts on the panel discussion:

As good as the discussion was, even more significant is the fact that the attendees were encouraged to follow up on the Summit by discussing solutions and strategies internally and committing to be part of the solution by December 15. To truly address this problem, all parties must be actively involved: riders, government agencies, and law enforcement.

You, too, can be part of the solution. Take our Bike Safety Pledge to help us show that cyclists want to step up and prevent further injuries or deaths. Keep an eye on the SVBC Calendar to know when to save the date for our April 2012 follow-up Bike Advocacy Summit.