road rational
cyclists yield to regulations
by holly hoskins
Total chaos.
That’s how I would sum up the biking scene
on campus these days.
When riding around campus anymore, I feel
a vague sense of inevitable, impending doom.
My heart rate increases and I find I would be well
served to have eyes in the back of my head. The sides of my
head too. It’s the fight or flight response, baby. The main
thoroughfares in and out of campus are as lawless as the roads
of Mad Max, lacking the violent biker gangs.
With 26,000 people in the campus community, rules
of the road are a necessity. According to the CSUPD, on
campus, anything with wheels is expected to follow the same
guidelines as bikes. This includes you rollerbladers and Razor
scooter riders too. With any large ecosystem, there is a food
chain. Follow the rules or someone gets eaten alive.
For cyclists, the rules start with bike registration on
campus. Beyond that, few students are informed about the
bike laws that are supposed to govern traffic. The CSUPD
established the Bicycle Education and Enforcement Program
to educate the community about bike safety. I haven’t actually
heard of BEEP and I think that it’s been forgotten about,
given how long ago the Web site was updated.
act like an automobile
The city Web site for Fort Collins is a great resource
for cyclists. You can download bike maps and the bike code
for the state of Colorado, as well as find information about
events and tips for biking in Colorado. Fort Collins also has a
bike library in Old Town that is staffed by a host of volunteer
bike enthusiasts ready to share their tips.
In the state of Colorado, bicyclists are required to follow
the same guidelines as a motor vehicle. And yes, that means
all those stop signs with the white border apply after all.
Watch for signals from drivers - often they will wave a cyclist
across to be nice, but don’t assume as much. No one wants to
find out the hard way.
Cyclists are expected to follow all traffic signals, as
well as ride with the flow of traffic. Lights, yield signs and
merge lanes are to be obeyed. Cyclists do have a few legal protections, but more on that later.
Technically, one is not supposed to multi-task while riding
either. While I totally respect the skill it takes to ride to class
with coffee in one hand and a cell phone in the other, save it
for Tour de Fat. And you aren’t supposed to pull your friends
around either.
pedestrians: to yield or not to yield
Another unfortunate thing about following motor vehicle
law is the requirement to yield to pedestrians.
I for one would prefer to run them over. I do not have any
personal issue with pedestrians. I am one frequently. But I do
take issue with plugged-in pedestrians ambling through the
bike path. When you have a sidewalk all to your bi-pedaled
selves, please use it. Running you over is oh-so-tempting. I’m
sure that it is just as tempting for pedestrians to throw out
an arm when a bike invades their personal space. To make transit across campus easier for all, stick to your designated
area before somebody gets hurt, or I will hurt you on
purpose.
A good rule of thumb is to stay as far to the right as is
reasonable and to maintain a straight path of travel. You are
less likely to get hit, or become a “door prize.” Think of how
it would feel to get launched over a car door, so choose to
ride the straight and narrow. Weaving is for drunks.
Just an FYI, riding-under-the-influence tickets are not an
urban legend. You can get one for riding anything in motion.
I went to high school with a kid who got busted for riding a
horse drunk. If you have been drinking, stick to stumbling
home through the bushes.
It is also required that riders audibly warn pedestrians
when they are passing. You can ring a bell, honk your ducky
or scream. I wish you the best of luck in the battle against
being heard above mp3 players. You will need it. I think a
well-aimed pebble would be just the thing.
talk with your hands
Next, we come to signaling. When turning or slowing,
riders are expected to indicate their intentions by signaling.
I’m sure most of us learned to signal in elementary school and
promptly forgot upon entering middle school. I’m ashamed
to admit that I wouldn’t know a signal when I saw it. It is
up to you to find some way to tell the world what your plans
are. Personally, I like to preemptively glare at the driver
most likely to hit me for not watching what I’m doing. It’s
worked well so far, but just in case, follow the diagram to
learn proper signaling. Let’s hope the drivers know what your
signaling means.
Pedestrians are king, followed by bicyclists and motorists.
Then maybe horses and their riders fit in there somewhere,
too, though I doubt horse accidents are a huge concern on
campus. On the main campus, at least. Not everyone pays
attention, so it is extremely vital to protect your own neck.
By CSUPD estimates, there were nine reported bike accidents
on campus last year. That figure does not include the dozens
of near-misses that I alone witness every day. According to
state law, if a vehicle strikes a cyclist it can be considered
vehicular assault, depending on the situation. Sometimes it
has more dire consequences, as our community found out the
hard way over this summer with the passing of undergraduate
adviser for the department of Journalism and Technical
Communication Rebecca Allen. There is a real danger here,
folks.
Living through a year of riding across campus can be
achieved by following these three little rules:
When in doubt, yield.
Stop at all crossings.
And above all, trust no one. Only you can prevent getting
injured in a bike accident.