RUPD creates new bike policy

By Jenny Sun     9/11/08 7:00pm

Bikers returning from summer break may be surprised to see the steps taken to preserve pedestrians' safety on campus. They might also be unpleasantly surprised to learn that many of these measures include more stringent bike riding regulations. While it is inevitable that drivers, pedestrians and bikers will have to share the streets, the new Bell or Yell bicycling committee and Rice University Police Department hope to reduce the high number of bicycling traffic violations and close encounters with pedestrians. Earlier this week, a Rice staff member was stepping off a campus bus when a bicyclist, failing to stop behind the bus, careened into her. The rider was traveling at a high speed and knocked her to the ground. Although she did not sustain serious injuries, the incident served as a forewarning for reckless bicycling, Risk Manager Renee Block said. Three major bicycle accidents occurred last year, though minor collisions often go unreported, RUPD Captain Phil Hassell said.

Hassell said he hopes to educate students and faculty to ride more safely by enforcing the bike policy more stringently this year.

"We've kind of ignored the [bicycling traffic] rules in the past, but we're going to start writing citations," Hassell said. "If we make students realize that we are taking [bike safety] seriously, I believe the good people will voluntarily agree to obey such norms. I know there are some who won't -- and those are the ones I want to stop and ticket."

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According to state law, city ordinance and university policy, a bike is a motorized vehicle that must adhere to all pertinent laws, including riding on the right side of the road, stopping at stop signs and cross walks and obeying speed limits.

For Rice community members, operating a bicycle in an unsafe manner or speeding yields a $50 fine. Biking on a non-bike path -- which includes nearly all pathways in academic and administrative areas and some paths in college areas -- and failure to yield to pedestrians will result in a $10 fine.

Hassell said these fees are justified, given the reckless driving by some bikers.

"Most people think that [collisions] won't happen to them," Hassell said. "Of course you don't expect it -- that's why it's called an accident."

Hassell said he has not ticketed bike riders so far, instead giving warnings to those speeding or in violation of bike operating rules.

The issue of bike safety was first brought to light at a town meeting last year, when Brown School of Engineering administrator Carolie Allgood voiced her concern for pedestrian safety around bikers. Rice subsequently created the Bell or Yell bicycling committee, named after its initial goal to encourage bicyclists to either ring a bell or yell when approaching pedestrians from behind.

"There was a feeling that emerged on campus that you were unsafe," Real Estate Officer Janie Bowes, co-chair of the committee, said. "You'd be walking on the sidewalk and a bicyclist would come out of nowhere and surprise you with headphones in their ears or hands in the air."

The committee began meeting last summer after the town hall meeting and now hopes to facilitate a productive discussion to lay a framework for improving bicycle and pedestrian safety. So far, the committee has included installed mirrors at sharp corners, distributed bike safety pamphlets during Orientation Week and handed out bicycle bells to those who register bikes with RUPD.

RUPD and the Bell and Yell Committee are also holding a bicycle fair Sept. 25, where officers will help students register their bikes, sell U-bolt locks, show videos on riding safely, and give demonstrations on the dangers of bike theft and correct bike-locking procedures.

"We would like students to participate enthusiastically in giving feedback about what we are doing and what we can do," Allgood said.

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