“Slow your roll on the sidewalk” and other safety tips for cyclists and pedestrians will greet students, faculty and staff as they walk across campus during the first week of classes. Rice’s Bicycle Safety Committee will display the signs in honor of Bike Safety Awareness Week, Aug. 20-24.
“Bike safety isn’t seasonal, so every semester we want to call attention to safety issues that cyclists and pedestrians should be thinking about all year long,” said committee chair Richard Johnson ‘92, director of energy and sustainability.
Cyclists should register their bikes with the Rice University Police Department to increase the chance of recovery in case of theft and to enable RUPD to contact the owner if an abandoned bike has to be removed from a rack. Free Rice-branded bells for handlebars are available to cyclists who register their bikes with RUPD. For more safety tips, check out the humorous video below produced by Public Affairs’ Brandon Martin and visit rice.edu/bikesatrice.
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What a patronizing and narrow-minded view of traffic and pedestrian safety.
Mark I routinely walk the campus…care to guess how many times I’ve been nearly run down by a bike rider? Most riders, not all, seem to just be reckless in how they ride with no regards to pedestrians. Bicyclists are subject to the same rules of the road as automobiles, so they don’t really belong on the sidewalks to begin with. What’s worse is the constant speeding by the cars/trucks that ‘cut through’ the campus.
Yet again, Rice is advocating safety FROM bicycles, rather than encouraging all members of the Rice community to commute responsibly. No signs telling pedestrians to be aware of surroundings and not block the sidewalks. No signs informing cart drivers to get off their phones and look where they’re going. No mention of the University allowing rolling stops for bikes at stop signs, which would move bicycles from sidewalks onto the road, where they belong.
Rice – your focus on bicycles and enforcement blinds you to actual safety on our sidewalks.