In these days of bad parking and various agencies screaming at the public to save the air and conserve gas, many people are riding their bikes to campus. While this may save money and spare the air, it doesn't necessarily help those pedestrians who are also out there.
Every day, there are close calls between bicyclist and pedestrians, and they usually occur on the sidewalk, where bicycles aren't supposed to be.
Bicyclist are only allowed to use the sidewalk when passing other bicyclist or going around an obstacle, according to the California Vehicle Code.
Even then, there must be no other safe way to maneuver around the bicyclist or obstruction before getting on the sidewalk.
While talking to a few people at Peak Adventures, they mentioned that it has to do with the distinction between a cyclist and a casual bike rider.
A cyclist, being a person who rides to ride rather than simply for transportation to and from campus, is used to being in traffic since that is where they usually are.
For casual bike riders, those people who only started riding a lot for transportation reasons, often the thought of being in with all the cars can be overwhelming.
"They are used to being pedestrians so they tend to stay on the sidewalk," Brian Anderson of Peak Adventures said.
So, casual bike riders are probably afraid of traffic, a feeling that is perfectly understandable. A car driving really fast down J Street can be very hazardous to a bike rider's health.However, there is still the issue of all the bikes on campus. There always seem to be bikes chained to trees or to the name signs for the buildings. Does anyone realize that there are signs painted on the ground that say no bicycles on the pedestrian walkways that run through campus?
"Those signs are so faded that you can't see them," sophomore in Japanese Christina Davis said.It is true that many of these painted signs on the walkways have faded away with years of people walking over them. But that still doesn't give bike riders an excuse.
The Sacramento State Parking Regulations say that bicycles are allowed on the campus roadways but not on any of the pedestrian walkways.There is only one problem with that policy: there is a distinct lack of bicycle lanes on certain stretches of the campus roadways.
For instance, there is no bike lane along State University Drive West from the Hornet Crossing tunnel to Napa Hall and the overflow parking lot. There is also no bike lane from the Corporation Yard on State University Drive North to where the path from the Hornet Crossing ends, near Parking Structure I.
If students are still supposed to ride their bikes to conserve fuel and spare the air, then the least the university could do is simply paint some bike lanes. Jenna Hughes can be reached at [email protected]
