Drivers in Cambridge renewing their resident parking permits will now receive something extra for their cars: rectangular stickers to place on the driver’s side mirror that remind them to keep an eye out for oncoming cyclists.
Joseph Barr, the city’s director of traffic, parking, and transportation, said in an e-mail that Cambridge officials are supplying the stickers, which read “watch for bikes,” to people when they update a permit for 2017. Residents have been receiving the safety reminders, which have red letters and a clear background, since early November on a rolling basis.
Barr said the city has handed out similar stickers in the past. But this is the first time that officials have fully integrated them into the brochures annually mailed to constituents when they reapply, a process that can be done online, by mail, or in person at City Hall.
“We hadn’t been actively distributing them like this for a while,” Barr said.
The distribution effort was spurred by the June death of cyclist Amanda Phillips, who was killed after she made contact with an open Jeep door and was pushed into Inman Square traffic.
“We were working on the resident permit brochure around the time that the Amanda Phillips fatality occurred,” Barr said. “So it seemed like a good opportunity to remind Cambridge drivers.”
The stickers also come as Cambridge tests new protected bike lanes in two areas of the city. Earlier this month, lanes were constructed on the northbound side of Mass. Ave., between Sidney and Douglass streets; and between Waterhouse and Everett streets, near Harvard Law School.
A picture of one of the stickers was shared to the Cambridge Bikes Facebook page Thursday.
Among other things, the tri-fold brochure sent to residents includes information about visitor parking, numbers to important City Hall offices, and an explanation of Cambridge’s involvement in Vision Zero, an initiative adopted by cities across the globe to eliminate bike and pedestrian crashes.
Barr said the city has not decided whether it will hand out the stickers every year because people rarely change cars. But they have discussed identifying new residents or residents who buy new vehicles to send the stickers to them.
Using the stickers is not mandatory.
“It’s just trying to encourage people,” Barr said.
The safety stickers pair nicely with a separate project launched by a retired Cambridge doctor in the fall. Michael Charney has been encouraging people to do the “Dutch Reach,” a maneuver where drivers open the car door with their right hand, inadvertently forcing them to turn their bodies, and check for cyclists.
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.