03 Jul 2018 STAY WIDER OF THE RIDER CAMPAIGN TAKES TO THE GARDEN ROUTE
Winter in the Western Cape is rainy, cold and dark, which all spell danger to cyclists on the roads. The PPA encourages high visibility to cyclists, it is essential to wear bright clothing and have your lights on at all times.
The Stay Wider of the Rider campaign has been fortunate to receive sponsorship from the Road Accident Fund to kit out commuters across South Africa with reflective bibs and lights to be more visible on the roads. In June, we set out to visit George and Knysna and collaborated with the Eden Lions Club in George as well as the Lions Club in Knysna for handouts.
In George, we handed out more than 200 reflective bibs close to Thembalethu and appreciative commuters could not believe their luck. The local traffic authorities assisted with slowing traffic down in order for us to hand out stickers to the motorists as part of our ongoing ‘Space Saves Lives’ campaign. Motorists we asked to please give cyclists more space when passing and some thanked us for making them aware of the one-metre passing law in the Western Cape.
From George, we partnered with several petrol stations along the N2 to put up our ‘Space Saves Lives’ banners whilst also handing out stickers and pamphlets to motorists all the way to Plettenberg Bay. A huge thank you to Sasol George, Total Sedgefield, Caltex Knysna, Sasol Harkerville and Shell Ultra City Plettenberg Bay for participating in our campaign. The message was simply to give cyclists at least a metre when passing.
At Knysna Cycle Works, we handed out reflective bibs and lights to local community members who needed bibs and lights to be more visible in the winter months whilst out cycling in and around Knysna. We want to thank the local community for coming out to support us.
The Knysna Cycle Tour supports our campaign and officials and volunteers at the expo and at the races wore Stay Wider of the Rider bibs. Our jerseys were on sale and it was great to see so many riders at the event wearing our brand. Thank you to the cyclists for the support and for believing in our campaign.
A huge thank you to everyone along the beautiful Garden Route for your support to keep our cyclists safe on the roads!