ST. PAUL, Minn.- Save on gas, leave your car at home and bike to work on Friday, May 18, Bike Safely to Work Day, Events are planned for Duluth, Minneapolis, Park Rapids, Rochester and St. Paul to help reinforce the importance of safety as the bicycle season begins.

Biking to work, school or other activities is an excellent way for Minnesotans to improve their health and well being through increased physical activity. Biking to work can also bring commuters closer to nature, reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and is a more efficient use of road space and resources.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has proclaimed the week of May 14 through 18, 2007, as Bike Safely to Work Week in Minnesota.

Minnesota's "Share the Road" bicycle safety program was created in 2005 to educate adult bicyclists and motorists about how they can share the road safely and help reduce crashes that result in injuries or death. "Share the Road" information, graphic materials and speakers help create awareness of bicycle safety at events statewide.

"Share the Road" messages focus on eight "rules of road" for bicycle safety based on Minnesota law:

1. Bicyclists may ride on all Minnesota roads, except where restricted.

2. Bicyclists should ride on the road, and must ride in the same direction as traffic.

3. Motorists must at all times maintain a three-foot clearance when passing a bicyclist.

4. Bicyclists must obey all traffic control signs and signals, just as motorists.

5. Motorists and bicyclists must yield the right-of-way to each other.

6. Bicyclists should signal their turns and should ride in a predictable manner.

7. Lights and reflectors are required at night.

8. Bicyclists should always wear helmets.

Bicyclists riding on streets, roads and highways are much safer in Minnesota than in most places in America. The number of crashes in Minnesota involving a bicycle and a motor vehicle declined by 37 percent between 1994 and 2002. Yet, the fatality rate is still high with 965 bicycle crashes resulting in 952 injuries and seven fatalities in 2005.

As expected, bicycle crashes are mostly a warm weather occurrence. Four of the seven fatalities, 73 percent of the crashes and 74 percent of the injuries, occurred in the five-month period of May through September.

More than 50 percent of crashes occur when the bicyclist and motorist are on crossing or perpendicular paths. The most severe crashes-those resulting in the death of the bicyclist-occur when the bicyclist and motorist are traveling in the same direction. Minnesota and national law are clear: Bicyclists and motorists share the same rights to travel on Minnesota roads and, as a result, both share the responsibility for bicycle safety.

Bike trails are not always available to bicyclists commuting to work or school destinations. Most urban bike trails and paths are limited to 10 mph and many trails are used by pedestrians, many with children and dogs, which can become obstacles for fast-moving bicycles. Minnesota law requires bicyclists traveling at speeds faster than 10 mph to ride on the road. Bicyclists traveling on bike trails must yield to pedestrians and give audible signals when passing.

For more information about the "Share the Road" bicycle safety education program go to http://www.sharetheroadmn.org/index.html.