The charge of the Safe Streets project is success through teamwork and collaboration. The Project Team leading the Safe Streets mission includes two of South Carolina’s most prominent bicycle advocacy organizations, who together have decades of success and many important milestones to empower future efforts. The Palmetto Cycling Coalition (PCC) formed in 1998 and has since been striving for a more bicycle friendly South Carolina through advocacy and education. Bike Law was formed in 2000 under the direction of attorney Peter Wilborn. Bike Law provides legal representation and resources for cyclists, cycling clubs, and cycling advocates throughout South Carolina and the Southeast. What unites these organizations is a love of bicycling and the joy that it brings to individuals and communities
After leading the 2008 success with the reform to SC’s bicycle traffic laws, the PCC partnered with Peter and Bike Law to lead over a dozen bicycle safety workshops for law enforcement and implement other efforts within communities around the state. In 2010, the Project Team set their sights on a long-term strategic bicycle safety campaign for South Carolina, and so Safe Streets Save Lives was born. Peter and Bikelaw’s engagement in this project was inspired by his participation in the Liberty Fellowship and its mission to transform South Carolina.
Drawing on their collective experience representing cyclists and training police officers, the Project Team designed this campaign to focus on the safety issues that matter the most and will drive real change in our State. In 2012, the Project Team received a grant from the South Carolina Departments of Public Safety and Transportation to help expand the Safe Streets message and to spread awareness and raise public knowledge about South Carolina laws relating to bicycling.