MYRTLE BEACH, SC – (WBTW) This morning Myrtle Beach City Council will discuss a motion to sign a letter of support to join the South Carolina Livable Communities Alliance.
The Alliance works to make roadways safer, healthier and more accessible for people in various forms of transportation.
According to the South Carolina Livable Communities Alliance, South Carolina had the highest traffic fatality rate in the country in 2017.
The State also ranked third and fifth in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities respectively.
News13 spoke to Mike Miller, the manager of Beach Bike Shop who says, safety conditions for people who bike in the area have greatly improved in the past decade.
He says much of this is because of the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, more bike lanes, education and an emphasis on sharing the road.
“The downtown area you know used to be a pretty bad spot as far as traffic and you have the traffic influx during the summer, that can get a little tough sometimes, but even that has gotten much better,” Miller said.
Miller tells News13, although conditions are safer, there is still one large misconception about cyclists.
“The mentality of, “Get off the road get on the sidewalk,”” Miller said. “Cyclists aren’t supposed to be on the sidewalk, it’s ordinance that cyclists stay on the road. We’re looked at as vehicles so we have as much right to that road as a driver would.”
City Council will meet this morning at 10 A.M. at the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center.
