Fourteen people in Maine lost their lives while biking and walking in 2014.
"And it's a sad reality, but we think it is important for folks to know," says Brian Allenby, of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.
Allenby says the latest Maine DOT data show that half of the victims were either seniors or under the age of 18, with 70 percent of fatalities occurring in clear weather where road conditions were not a factor.
Allenby says bicyclists and pedestrians need to do everything possible to ensure that they're visible to motorists. And drivers, he says, need to expect the unexpected.
"I know it's hard ask to say, 'Anticipate the unexpected,' " he says, "but it really just takes that speed down a little bit, and really try to be conscious of the fact that there might be other folks using the road, especially around dusk or nighttime."
About 35 percent of bicycle and pedestrian crashes combined took place between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
While 14 deaths are too many, says Allenby, the number is small enough that more attention to safety could mean a major reduction in deaths for 2015.
