Education campaign targets cyclists who 'are just unaware'

Cycling PEI is launching an education campaign in an effort to reach an increasing number of cyclists who appear to have a serious, and dangerous, lack of knowledge of the rules of the road.

Executive director Mike Connolly said while infrastructure like physical barriers or bike lanes are helpful, if people don't know how to navigate them they're not valuable.

"We find that most young cyclists and people in general, and cyclists are just unaware of what cycling statutes are in the highway safety act," said Connolly.

"There's some good cyclists out there, but there's a lot of people that are not following the statutes riding the wrong way against traffic, no helmet, zigzagging across the road creating, you know, bad feelings between drivers and cyclists, and we want to avoid that at all costs."

The organization is hoping to get cycling education into the school curriculum. The City of Charlottetown has launched a series of pop-up sessions to gather feedback from cyclists about what could be improved.

There have been several incidents lately involving cyclists in the province, including one recent death.

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With files from Island Morning