VSU holds bicycle safety event
Published 7:00 am Monday, January 16, 2023
- Submitted PhotoHahira Middle School student Makayla Washington won a new bicycle as a positive behavioral interventions and support incentive. Instead of keeping the prize, Makayla chose to make another student's dream come true at school and gifted her bike to Miguel Trejo. 'We are extremely proud of Makayla for this act of kindness,' school officials said. Makayla Washington, Miguel Trejo, and PBIS Coach Sarah Merriman with the bicycle.
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State University College of Humanities and Social Sciences invites everyone to come out and learn more about efforts to make South Georgia more accommodating and safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The event is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in the Student Union Theater, university officials said in a statement.
Bicycle- and Pedestrian-Involved Crashes:
An Experiential Learning Partnership with Southern Georgia Regional Commission
Students Nikki Ballard, Erica Glover, Autumn McAtee, Samy Pantoja and Nashie Wesley, along with Brandon Atkins, senior lecturer in criminal justice, and Dr. Anne Price, associate professor of sociology, present “Bicycle- and Pedestrian-Involved Crashes: An Experiential Learning Partnership with Southern Georgia Regional Commission.”
The presentation covers trends in bicycle- and pedestrian-involved crashes and fatalities in South Georgia during the past five years, as well as student reflections on the research experience, university officials said.
A Bikeability Assessment
Tool for 18 Counties
Dr. Paul Vincent, associate professor of geography and interim head of the Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geosciences and Engineering Technology, discusses “A Bikeability Assessment Tool for 18 Counties,” another partnership with the Southern Georgia Regional Commission.
The presentation covers attributes of roads and other factors that contribute to bikeability and bicyclist safety on roads in Lowndes County.
Making South Georgia Better
The Southern Georgia Regional Commission’s Elizabeth Backe, planning and transportation director, and James Horton, planner, close the event with a discussion on how these projects support the SGRC’s mission to develop, promote and provide services that make the region a better place to live and work. The Southern Georgia Regional Commission is a regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency that serves an 18-county area (Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner and Ware) in South Georgia.
The event is part of the VSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences Lecture Series and reflects the university’s commitment to impacting regional progress across South Georgia.
