Accomplishments

Bicycle Projects

In 2006, the OBF will have two important inputs into ODOT's selection of bicycle projects:

1. Participation in project selection (three board members on selection team).
2. The board will evaluate a draft of ODOT's ACCESS OHIO 2006-2030. ACCESS OHIO 2006-2030 contains what ODOT can, will, and historically has supported relative to trails. This includes:
• A profile of what trails exist, and what financial support ODOT has provided to them in the past;
• What cross-state trails are being supported and advanced by local groups such as your own—which ODOT says it will support;
• Estimated costs to complete these longer trails;
• The type, restrictions on, and level of funding criteria which ODOT uses to fund requests for trails;
• The trail design criteria ODOT requires, the conditions under which ODOT technically OK's bike trail designations.
• Other, similar policy level information
• The list of short term funding commitments and a strategy statement on what ODOT should continue to support.

"Share the Road" Auto License Plate

The OBF-sponsored "Share the Road" auto license plate is available now. On Wednesday, December 22, 2006 Governor Bob Taft signed our Share the Road license plate into law as part of House Bill 406. Thus, four years of effort by the OBF ended in success. The plate will act as a moving billboard to promote "sharing the roads" of Ohio, with proceeds funding the continued publication of Ohio Bicycling Street Smarts: Riding Confidently, Legally, and Safely. More

Ohio Street Smarts

The Ohio Bicycle Federation played a key role in the 2002 publication by the Ohio Department of Public Safety of Ohio Bicycling Street Smarts. The booklet incorporates Street Smarts: Riding Confidently, Legally, and Safely by John S. Allen plus sections of the Ohio Revised Code pertaining to cycling.

The booklet was suggested during our March, 2001 Bicycling Awareness Day, when the OBF asked Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor if the State of Ohio could publish an Ohio Bicycle Drivers Manual similar to one in Pennsylvania. The Ohio Department of Public Safety under Ms. O'Connor's leadership subsequently distributed over 100,000 copies of the booklet. (You can see the commercial version of Bicycling Street Smarts at Allen's web site.)

Helping Steve Selz win his "Impeding Traffic" case

On July 16, 1999 Steve Selz was pulled over by a Trotwood Police patrol car and issued a ticket for impeding traffic. The Montgomery County Court found Selz guilty and more

With the OBF's assistance and resources, the case went to appeal where it was favorably resolved.

There are two articles of interest written about the case. One, by Fred Oswald, is an insightful account and commentary taken from his article "Right to the Road" about similar cases around the nation.

The other was written by cycling Attorney Steven M. Magas named The Selz Case Revisited, which we are privileged to reproduce here.

Participating in revising the Uniform Vehicle Code

Chuck Smith represents the OBF on the Bicycle Task Force of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances (NCUTLO). He and others on the committee have been successful in making important changes favoring bicycling.

• The NCUTLO site which includes our OBF changes in the Uniform Vehicle Code (UVC).
• The approved changes from January 6, 2001.
• The approved changes from January 11, 2000.

Working to keep Ohio's roads open to cyclists

On November 11, 2000, the OBF made a formal inquiry to the State of Ohio regarding the prohibition of bicycles on ten specific Ohio roads. ODOT Director Gordon Proctor responded to our inquiry on December 7, 2000.

In Action!

Mike Abrams' Radio Interview

Mike Abrams' interview aired on Saturday, June 19, 2006 on station WCUE, 1150 AM, in Cuyahoga Falls. The station covers the Akron/Canton and Cleveland areas. Listen to a recording of the interview here.

NPR Interviews OBF Board Members

Bill Cohen of Ohio Public Radio interviewed three OBF Board Members and the RTA representative during the March 19, 2002, annual Bicycling Awareness Day at the Ohio State Capitol. (Web page no longer available.)

Photographs

See photographs of important OBF meetings with Ohio and national leaders.