ARGYLE — While a lone cyclist can be spotted in any season, brightly colored packs of them emerge every spring, wheeling over the county’s side roads, especially on Saturday mornings.

And Texas motorists hit and kill about 50 bicyclists every year.

DRC/Gary Payne

Riders in the Corinth Cycle Club cross McKinney Street on April 18 in Denton during a 50-mile morning ride that started in Corinth.

View larger More photos Photo store

One of the area’s best-known clubs for cyclists, the Corinth Cycle Club, organizes group rides to build skills and boost safety for about 250 people on its e-mail list.

Corinth resident Scott Franklin, who organizes routes for the group’s most experienced riders, said the riders observe a host of safety rules and most drivers share the road without a problem. But some motorists don’t realize the distance needed to safely pass cyclists.

“Trucks with extended mirrors on the side are particularly dangerous,” Franklin said. “They hit cyclists in the head or neck and kill them.”

Forty percent — about 20 — of those annual fatalities come from traffic going in the same direction, according to incident data collected by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Argyle police Chief Tom Tackett said he has received calls from motorists who are upset that bicycle groups sometimes travel four and five riders deep and do not yield to cars behind them. The department recently sent out an e-mail newsletter reminding cyclists to respect the rules of the road.

Franklin said riders know how to thin out the pack as a car approaches, yelling “car back” to the cyclist ahead of them so that everyone knows to move over. If cyclists have a problem with someone in the middle of the pack not passing the word, they let that person know.

Some cyclists believe the state can do more to make roads safer, and many went to Austin last week — including a busload from Dallas and Fort Worth — to campaign for Senate Bill 488-E. Known as the “Safe Passing Bill,” it cleared the floor of the Texas Senate April 21.

If the bill becomes law, motorists will be required to give at least three feet of clearance before passing pedestrians; people riding bicycles, horses or farm equipment; and other “vulnerable users” of the road.

Robin Stallings, director of the Austin-based nonprofit Bike Texas, said that if the bill had focused on vulnerable users to the exclusion of bicyclists, they would have had no trouble getting the bill passed.

Some bicyclists don’t obey the laws and make motorists angry, but that doesn’t mean that they represent all bicyclists, Stallings said, just like red-light runners don’t represent all drivers.

“A small subset of bicyclists — who are jerks — have been part of the obstacles,” Stallings said.

The bill goes back to the House Transportation Committee next week to reconcile some of the differences, including an amendment that triggers the passing requirement only on four-lane roads, Stallings said.

Denton County has not had a bicycle fatality since 2006, according to TxDOT. Since 2003, however, four bicyclists have been killed in Denton County. Another 88 were injured, and 18 suffered incapacitating injuries.

Franklin said most motorists are respectful but the club’s rides do occasionally arouse the ire of some drivers.

Franklin said he’s not sure how the bill, if it becomes law, would be enforced.

“It helps to have [police] officers who ride in our group,” Franklin said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .

About 50 cyclists are killed each year on Texas roadways. Hundreds more are disabled or hurt. Here is the breakdown of injuries and fatalities for the last five years.

SOURCE: Texas Department of Transportation Crash Reporting Information System