Fast bikers on campus sidewalks create hazard
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 08/29/2007
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While walking from class to class, it is unfortunate that we must constantly be on the lookout for a small number of harebrained sidewalk bikers.
The problem is not the bikers who pedal along at pedestrian speed, nor the ones who chain up their bikes at their first class and walk around all day. It's the morons who insist on speeding and weaving through the thick, class-changing crowd as if they heard their mommies calling them for dinner.
The capability of a serious injury resulting from a biker to pedestrian crash is significant. Sarah Sayger, clinical director at Purdue University Student Health Center, said in an e-mail that she doesn't have specific data on the amount of injuries. But from time to time PUSH sees students suffering from abrasions, fractures and bruising caused by bike to pedestrian collisions. Of course, those at PUSH don't even see the results of less serious crashes that just spill books instead of blood.
Bikers must realize that dodging in and out of traffic has a much higher risk than the reward of getting to class or the residence hall a few minutes sooner. It's not worth plowing into someone at 10 miles an hour because you needed to play World of Warcraft as soon as class got out.
Do what the responsible bikers do - chain up at the outskirts of campus and use your feet. If you must go through a crowd, slow to walking speed. Finally, use the roads whenever possible. Bikes are vehicles and have the same rights on a road as cars do. And for the sake of petrified pedestrians everywhere, please don't kill us.