I appreciate recent letters expressing concerns about unsafe cycling. I'm no fan of it myself. But as a driver, cyclist and occasional pedestrian, unsafe driving is what keeps me the most vigilant even though we all too often take it for granted.
According to 2025 annual statistics from the Delaware State Police, the state had more than 27,000 vehicle crashes, with 116 people killed and 7,477 injured. Cyclists represented four fatalities and 160 injuries.
Ideally, everyone would practice safe driving, cycling and walking. But many people who see unsafe cycling often wonder why it isn't policed as heavily as unsafe driving. The obvious answers are that driving is licensed, unsafe driving is much more common and vehicles are much more dangerous given their size and speed. But police officers in cars are also reluctant to pull over or pursue people on bikes given the potential risks of hitting a cyclist or unintentionally causing them to veer off and crash. And other agencies that maintain paths and trails simply don't have the capacity and funding to do much enforcement.
Ultimately, policing – as well as education – can only go so far in helping people safely operate cars, bikes or their own two feet. Better infrastructure, such as dedicated and separated bike lanes, well-maintained sidewalks and improved signaling are the best options for keeping cyclists and walkers separated from multi-thousand-pound vehicles, especially around heavily trafficked roads like Coastal Highway.
In the meantime, I hope we can extend each other some grace and see that driver, cyclist and pedestrian behavior is often the surface-level problem. Whether it's brightly colored, distracting screens on car dashboards, road designs that put cars and people into constant conflict or a lack of public transit that leaves a commuter with no other option than biking on the side of a busy road, it's the infrastructure around us that is often to blame for injuries and death. And that will only change with advocacy – and funding – to make our roads and trails safer for everyone.
Aaron Huertas
Lewes
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