Jay Prensky was bicycling east on Trindle Road in January when a car passed him, then cut in front of him to turn onto Sheely Lane.

“I was going 19, 20 miles-per-hour. I had four feet to react. I ended up in the trauma unit at Hershey (Medical Center) with a broken neck,” said Prensky,

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His injuries healed and Prensky’s back on his bike, riding from his Camp Hill home to his offices in East Pennsboro and Derry townships.

Some bicyclists might steer clear of traffic. Not Prensky.

It’s made him an advocate for cyclists’ rights.

Bikes have the same legal rights and obligations as cars, but bike commuters know they can’t take that for granted. Prensky and others said their safety has been overlooked for too long by planners and lawmakers. They saaid the only way motorists — most of whom are courteous — will make room for them is if bikes become more common on midstate roads.

When Commuter Services of Central Pennsylvania promoted a Bike To Work week in May, it issued advice along with how-tos.

“When we’re advising for this, one of the first things we do is ask (bicyclists), ‘What is the safety situation? Are there trails, ample shoulders on the road that you would be taking?’” said Brandy Heilman, Commuter’s executive director.

Not even close, according to Prensky and others.

Bike commuters said they get more exercise, save money on gas and car repair and delight in being outdoors. Their rides benefit the rest of us by cutting gas-powered traffic that pollutes the air.

Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon region was ranked 22nd worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution in the American Lung Association’s 2010 State of the Air report.

More than 60 area riders took part in the regional Bike to Work week and logged 4,423 miles.

Lucinda Gish was among them.

She pedaled the 4.5 miles from her Palmyra home to her job as a financial analyst at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s academic support building.

“I like the exercise,” Gish said. “I like just being outside. The route itself is on the easy side. It’s mostly level and I (use) a lot of bike paths, alleys, parking lots. I stay off the major thoroughfares, like Route 422 and busier roads.”

Commuting by bike is a growing movement.

“A lot of companies are starting to focus more on wellness,” Heilman said. “Biking to work is good exercise and people are in better spirits (after a ride).”

She advises firms that want to encourage employees to bicycle to install bike racks, which cost a few hundred dollars each. Commuter Services also supplies a kind of rider insurance. It will pay taxi fares, rental car fees or gas for a friend’s car in the event a rider falls ill during a workday and cannot pedal home.

But Prensky said more help is needed.

“It’s more than just giving lip service to, yeah, let’s ride our bikes to work. There’s so many institutional things that need to be done. Bike racks, a place to change at work,” he said.

And, especially, a share of the road in the form of dedicated bike paths.

It’s been done elsewhere. Bikers in New York City, Prensky said, can “get from one end of Manhattan to the other on a bike path.”

A 2005 report from the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission found that state highways are grossly underfunded and that a third of roads were in fair to poor condition. The situation is worse on the state’s 21,000 miles of secondary roads where bicyclists travel. The report rated 35 percent of them poor.

The League of American Bicyclists, which issues annual lists of Bicycle Friendly States, ranked Pennsylvania 40th in 2009, down from 38 in 2008.

“Look at the Harvey Taylor Bridge. They spent millions to repave and put in bike lanes. Go figure out the access to get onto that from the West Shore,” Prensky said.

Unless a biker braves the Taylor Bridge Bypass, the route from Camp Hill to the bridge path is a winding path through Wormleysburg to Front Street. Riding from Harrisburg, the path abruptly ends at Front.

“It’s a totally disjointed approach. There has to be a real strategy,” Prensky said.

State lawmakers said they were concerned about biker’s safety when, in March 2009, they proposed amending the vehicle code. Under House Bill 1110, cars would be permitted to get no closer to a bicycle than four feet when passing and would be prohibited from turning in front of a bicycle that moving straight. The bill has languished in committee.

Prensky said patients tell him his riding inspires them. That gives him courage every time he buckles his helmet.

“It’s not for the faint of heart at times. Bicycle commuters do put up with a lot of grief,” he said.