My Investigation

Today on my way to class, I was walking down one of the main University roads when I witnessed the same thing I see every day. I looked out onto the road and saw a man do a triple pass in a no passing zone, blow through a stop sign without even touching the brakes, forget a turn signal, ram up onto the sidewalk and then cut through a parking lot as if it were a shortcut. After several near misses of vehicles and pedestrians, the man is on his way and out of sight. No one honked their horns, or screamed in fear he or she might be hit. No one gives him a bad look or discusses what just happened. As I stated before, this is nothing unusual here at Penn State. It's happening every day. This is your average college student bicycle rider on his way to class. Traffic in Penn State is hectic to say the least. When you add the thousands of pedestrians and bike riders to the picture, traffic becomes an even larger problem. Cars may have to sit at stop signs for minutes waiting for the endless line of students to pass through the crosswalk. The typical bicycle rider can find a way around this by riding up on the sidewalk or by driving around the backed up line of fifty cars. By Pennsylvania law, the bicyclist must drive as if they are operating a car. So how are these students driving like maniacs and getting away with it?

Upon doing some research on the subject, I received some feedback that I had presumed I would be given. Freshman bike rider Aaron Monick stated that "any bike rider who actually follows the laws are wimps." Clearly from this quotation it is evident that the bicycle riders who violate the traffic rules don't see any danger in it. He is not concerned about his safety or the possibility of getting in trouble enough that he would follow the strict laws.

Freshman Mitch Ernst, also a campus bike rider, had a slightly different opinion. "I try to be as safe as I can on my bike. Riding bikes around here is kind of like a free for all. You're not going to see me using turn signals or anything like that, but at least I'm one of the few who will stop and look both ways before I go through the intersection." At least in Mitch's case he is aware of the potential dangers of riding through campus.

Pat O'Grady a freshman here at Penn State provided me with the inspiration to report on the subject when he recollected on an incident he had seen on campus. "I'm walking back from class when I catch out of the corner of my eye a biker get hit by a car. The kid on the bike went right through a stop sign and made a left turn and got bumped into from behind from someone who thought it was their turn to go." The accident occurred at the four-way intersection of Bigler and Curtain roads. "The craziest thing about it was that the kid immediately jumped up and started to yell at the person driving the car. I think the kid honestly thought the car was at fault." Pat's quote depicts the invincibility the bicycle riders seem to feel when they ride through campus.

In a 2008 article from the online Penn State Collegian titled University Updates Bicycle Policy, Annemarie Mountz, the assistant director of public information, said that an increase in bicyclists had caused the university officials to realize the lack of knowledge among cyclists of how to appropriately ride. In a discussion I had with David Dorman, the parking allocation manager at the University Parking Office, he stated that the number of bicycles registered for use is nearly 7000. The Penn State transportation services website states that bicycles may only be ridden on approved bicycle routes and campus roads only. It also specifically states that this does not include sidewalks or pedestrian paths. Bicycle operators are also required to yield to pedestrians. According to Aaron, he goes straight through stop signs on a daily basis. He claims that this is what everyone else is doing.

Upon interviewing David Dorman, I was shocked at the number of bicycles registered on campus (5000-7000). I would now like to look into the trend of the number of bicyclists and find out whether this number may get even larger in the near future. During the interview, Aaron also claimed he had never heard of anyone getting pulled over on a bike. Although so far I have had difficulty getting information from traffic police, I hope I can find one who is willing to share with me about their experiences with bike riders and whether they have ever issued citations to them.