Fort Collins launches Bicycle Friendly Driver program

FC Bikes launched its new Bicycle Friendly Driver program this week, providing a 90-minute interactive course to educate drivers on the safest ways to share the road with bicyclists and certify participants as “Bicycle Friendly Drivers” upon completion, according to a news release.

Taught by Bicycle Ambassadors, the course will address driver specific bicycle safety topics, including: common crashes and how to avoid them; the safest way to share the road with people on bicycles; what’s legal for drivers and bicyclists; and navigating features like sharrows, bike boxes and green lanes

Organizations or companies interested in certifying their employees as Bicycle Friendly Drivers can request individual courses. In addition, the course will be offered to the public for free starting in early 2016.

BIKE SAFETY WEEK: Making cycling safer in Fort Collins

The Bicycle Friendly Driver program is one of many FC Bikes initiatives to make Fort Collins a nation-wide leader in bicycling. As a Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Community designated by the League of American Bicyclists, Fort Collins promotes a bike friendly culture through education, encouragement, enforcement, engineering and evaluation efforts. FC Bikes believes this certification is the first of its kind, nationwide.

The Bicycle Ambassador Program offers a wide range of bicycle related classes in addition to the Bicycle Friendly Driver course. To learn more about other bicycle classes visit www.bicycleambassadorprogram.org.