Signs, video to promote Bike Safety Awareness Week Sept. 12-18

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Nighttime temperatures in the 60s and weekend football games are signs that fall is here.

Bike Safety Awareness Week is here too, and on Monday there will be signs of that – literally.

Rice’s Bicycle Safety Committee will be staking attention-getting signs all around campus to remind cyclists about the rules of the road and cycling etiquette.

Each side of the signs features one of four safety tips, such as ”Bell or yell for alert to pass.” Cyclists are supposed to ring their bell or call out ”on your left” to pedestrians before they pass by them.

Free Rice-branded bells that can be attached to handlebars are available to cyclists when they register their bikes with the Rice University Police Department (RUPD). But there’s a better incentive for registering bikes with RUPD.

”We want the freshmen to know that if their bike is registered and gets stolen, there’s a greater chance that RUPD will be able to find it and return it to the owner,” said Richard Johnson, chair of the Bicycle Safety Committee and Rice’s director of energy and sustainability.

”The key is having the serial number for the bike,” said Sgt. Gary Spears. ”If the bike’s registered with us, we have the serial number on an RUPD computer and it won’t be lost when students are changing dorm rooms or moving back home.”

Amy Kavalewitz, a member of the Bicycle Safety Committee and an administrator for the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, said she hopes next week’s safety campaign will help make newcomers to campus aware of the basics, such as the requirement that bikes be walked through the cloisters, or covered walkways, along buildings like Lovett Hall to prevent accidents.

”Our goal is to help transform the bicycle safety culture at Rice,” she said. ”Making everyone aware of these guidelines is key for pedestrians and cyclists to coexist safely.”

In addition to placing signs along walkways and near bike racks, the committee is using a humorous video produced by Public Affairs’ Brandon Martin to convey safety tips. Sammy the Owl and President David Leebron make appearances in the video, which is posted on this page and also at rice.edu/bikesatrice, where more information about bike safety and online registration can be found.

”We want to encourage everyone – cyclists, pedestrians and drivers – to help make the campus a safe place to travel on bike, on foot and in vehicles,” Johnson said.

The signs will be removed at the end of Bike Awareness Safety Week, but the committee plans to reuse them for another safety campaign in the spring.