Georgetown, Del., May 16, 2006: Sussex County’s beaches attract millions of people each year. Many of those visitors and residents enjoy cycling as a way to relax and take in the sights. Others depend on their bikes as a critical means of transportation.

What many of those riders share in common is their lacking knowledge of the rules of the road. A local group has spent past summers trying to educate riders. Now Sussex County is helping in that effort.

County Council, at its Tuesday, May 16, 2006, meeting, unanimously approved a $5,000 grant to assist the non-profit Sussex Cyclists with its mission to better prepare bicyclists for riding on Delaware roads. The group has held seminars in previous years, aimed especially toward foreign student workers, and plans this season to hold voluntary checkpoints on Del. 1 in eastern Sussex.

At those checkpoints, cycling advocates will inspect bikes, hand out multi-lingual pamphlets explaining bicycle laws in Delaware, as well as give away helmets and other equipment to riders. Organizers said the effort is about preventing accidents among cyclists, especially on busy highways like Del. 1.

The grant from Sussex County will help cover the cost of buying helmets and lighting equipment. “What the council has recognized here is that there is a need to dial up safety on Route 1,” said Michael Tyler, advocacy director for Sussex Cyclists. “That’s encouraging.”

State Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, whose 14th district includes parts of the Del. 1 corridor, said Council’s action Tuesday shows how government can work for the betterment of the people it serves. “It’s very important that the county and state governments partner with local organizations like this to try to protect the citizens and guests of Delaware,” Rep. Schwartzkopf said.

County Administrator Robert L. Stickels said the county is pleased to participate in the program, and added that this will benefit riders like foreign students, who play an important part in the beach economy.