- November 8, 2024
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“There’s zombies out there everywhere – on bikes and in cars – and they will get you!”
So says Palm Coast Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Forte – or rather the character he plays in the city of Palm Coast’s new “Zombie Survival Guide to Bicycle Safety” video. View on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/owQO3egV2CQ.
Forte has six simple rules to ensure your survival. With just a few key choices, you can stay amongst the living rather than join the zombie hordes. So what are the six rules of survival?
Rule No. 1 – Stop or Get Hit (obey the rules of the road, and when you’re on a pathway, be sure to stop at intersections)
Rule No. 2 – Go with the Flow (cars use the right side of the road; so should you)
Rule No. 3 – Take the Path (Palm Coast has more than 125 miles of bicycle trails, a safe place to ride your bike)
Rule No. 4 – Light the Night (install lights on your bicycle for night travel)
Rule No. 5 – Helmets – It’s a No Brainer (always wear a bicycle helmet)
Rule No. 6 – Be Courteous (to fellow pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists)
The “Zombie Survival Guide to Bicycle Safety” video was a joint project of the Palm Coast Fire Department and the city’s Communications & Marketing Division.
“Approximately every seven to eight weeks, a motor vehicle accident occurs somewhere within the city that involves a bicyclist or a pedestrian and a car,” Forte said.
Florida’s Integrated Report Exchange System (FIRE) shows there are about 7,000 bicycle-car crashes each year in Florida, with well over 100 fatalities. There were 34 bicycles crashes in Flagler County in 2015, and there have been 11 so far this year.
After several accidents involving Flagler students who were hit while walking or bicycling to and from school last school year, the Flagler County School District and City of Palm Coast formed a working group to educate students, parents and drivers; add signage near school bus stops; and add a concrete patio at three heavily-used bus stops.
A student team from Flagler Palm Coast High School used bike and pedestrian safety as part of a Community Problem Solving project, doing presentations at Flagler Schools and creating a website with helpful tips and information at http://fpcstreettalk.weebly.com/. The “Project Street Talk” team from FPC, which took home third place in international competition, spearheaded local governments’ adoption of Aug. 15-19 as Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Week, and both the Palm Coast City Council and the Flagler County School Board presented a proclamation for that on Tuesday.
The number of accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists is the reason Palm Coast Fire approached the city’s video production team about creating a new bicycle safety video.
“The idea was to reach out to kids in their early teens and into their 20s, so we came up with the zombie concept so that the youth could hopefully relate to the ‘rules of survival’,” said Palm Coast Digital Communications Coordinator Jason Giraulo.
The “Zombie Survival Guide to Bicycle Safety” was inspired by the 2009 film “Zombieland” and stars Palm Coast firefighters and family members as the walking dead. In the video, sometimes the zombies are the bicycle riders and sometimes the zombies are driving the cars. The zombies are always the ones who are failing to follow the rules.
It was a complex project to produce, with all the videotaping and editing done by Giraulo and Palm Coast Video Production Coordinator Tom Hanson. Three days of filming were done along Palm Coast’s bicycle trail system, and the video took several weeks to edit. Makeup/costuming was done by Palm Coast Fire Lt. Dan Driscoll.
So don’t miss this ‘killer’ production. Share it with friends on Facebook from the City’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/discoverpalmcoast, or using the YouTube link
Most importantly; when you’re out on the road – as either a driver or bicyclist – remain aware of your surroundings and follow the six simple rules.
