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People Friendly Driver

A pilot project for a new program for educating all motorists on safe driving behaviors around people who are walking or biking.

A program and curriculum for educating all motorists on safe driving behaviors around people who are walking or biking.

Why People Friendly Driver: Problem Statement

In Minnesota, more than 90 million trips are taken by bicycle each year and millions more walking trips occur. Many of these trips are for transportation purposes and, for some Minnesotans, they are the only affordable means of transportation. New and senior driver’s education classes reach more than 160,000 Minnesotans each year. Other corporate and professional classes reach thousands more who as a group drive millions of miles while working. None of these programs have a standard comprehensive curriculum on safe driving around people who are walking or biking.

With so many interactions between motorists and people walking and biking, educating motorists on best practices could help prevent the approximately 50% of the serious and fatal crashes that are the fault of the driver. BikeMN staff and partner educators will continue to provide safety education for pedestrians and bicyclists as they have since 2008.

The People Friendly Driver (PFD) program is based in part on the successful bicycle friendly driver program developed in Fort Collins, Colorado, and other programs under development.

Vision:

A robust, widely-distributed program that provides a train-the-trainer education model for all types of driver’s education instructors as well as a direct service program for certifying corporate, professional, fleet, and workplace safe driving programs.

Program Goal:

Reach all motorists with the People Friendly Driver curriculum and, therefore, decrease the risks of serious and fatal crashes with Minnesota’s most vulnerable road users. Ultimately, PFD will contribute to a Vision Zero goal on Minnesota roads.

Pilot Objectives:

  1. Seek new partners to join, review, and improve this project.
  2. Acquire funding from partners, corporations, and foundations for program development, customization, and outreach.
  3. Vet program for certifying corporate, professional, fleet, and workplace drivers.
  4. Develop a train-the-trainer licensing program for integration into Minnesota driver’s education for new and senior classes.
  5. Research opportunities for a larger scale program that may include a website, online learning portal, video content, and print and other materials.
  6. Develop a business plan for sustaining the program.

Offerings:

  • Short-term: Provide direct service short (30-minute) classes upon request that are taught by BikeMN staff or trained instructors.
  • Includes: an online quiz, interactive presentation, and PFD safety handout
  • Also available: a web page with info, class request, and partner sign up; safety handout
  • Long-term: Develop a train-the-trainer licensing program for integration into Minnesota driver’s education for new and senior classes and a business plan with partners that will sustain the program.

Please reach out to us if: