Behind the wheels: bike safety near campus

Kate Cole was riding her bicycle to campus when the unexpected happened — she was hit by a car while crossing the intersection of Sycamore Avenue and Shaffer Street. 

“I don’t remember getting hit,” said Cole, a senior political science major. “I remember seeing the car coming and I blacked out for a few seconds, then I woke up in the middle of the street and people were rushing toward me.”

Students like Cole who have been in a collision while riding their bicycles, strongly encourage commuters to obey all traffic laws when they’re on the road in order to prevent similar accidents. 

In 2012, 729 cyclists were killed in motor vehicle accidents and an additional 49,000 cyclists were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

According to Public Safety, it is acceptable for students to ride their bicycles on the street and through main walkways on campus, but not on sidewalks. Cyclists must adhere to the same traffic laws as drivers, such as safe speed, turning hand signals, right-of-way, stop signs and traffic signals. 

Witnesses told Cole that after being hit on her right, she went up onto the hood of the car and landed on the pavement 10 feet away once the vehicle came to an abrupt stop.

“I was just really lucky that I didn’t even break anything,” Cole said. “I had a sprained foot, a concussion, severe whiplash and I had scrapes and bruises all over my body.”

Cole said people from the neighborhood tended to her until an ambulance escorted her to the University of California, Irvine Medical Center.

Cole was released from the hospital later that night.

“Now whenever I’m going through an intersection, whether I’m walking or in the car with someone, I get really nervous,” Cole said. “I know that any second there could be a collision.”

According to BicycleLaw.com, if a cyclist is in a collision, he or she should wait for the police to arrive and not try to negotiate with the driver. A statement should be taken from the cyclist, the driver and all witnesses and medical attention should be sought immediately. Damaged property should not be tampered with until it can be photographed. Police will examine the evidence to determine who was at fault and appropriate actions can be taken by each party afterward. If the victim chooses to take action, he or she must consult with an attorney before contacting the insurance company. 

Three weeks ago at about 2 p.m., sophomore theatre major Caroline Hale was riding her bike to Orange Cycle to fix a wobbly basket and get her tires pumped when she had a similar experience.

While crossing the intersection, Hale was struck by a silver Toyota Camry traveling 10 mph.

“There was a moment when I kind of saw that she wasn’t going to stop so I had moved around her but she just kept going and hit me,” Hale said. “If she had stopped where the line said to stop, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Hale said her injuries were minor and she didn’t notice any pain immediately after the impact.

“I was just so shocked and nothing hurt at first because it was such an adrenaline rush,” Hale said. “I was definitely limping for a while after and I had this huge bruise on my leg.”

Hale said she didn’t exchange numbers or names with the driver who hit her.

After the crash, Hale continued on to the bicycle shop and had to carry her turquoise beach cruiser, which was suffering from much more than a wobbly basket.

“I couldn’t ride it anymore because the frame was so bent,” Hale said. “I ended up breaking my bike lock, which doesn’t sound like much but they’re like $40.”

Hale said that this incident has made her more aware, but she still feels a pit in her stomach whenever she rides her bike down the same path.

“Here are these people behind pounds of metal, they’re a lot safer than us,” Hale said. “They almost have a responsibility to maintain their space and to be aware of the power that they have being behind the wheel of a vehicle.”

Hale said it’s important for cyclists and drivers to be mutually aware of each other, but sometimes it feels one-sided.

“I think that the most you can do is watch out for yourself and make sure you’re responsible for your own presence and do everything that you can to prevent being hit,” Hale said.

Junior strategic and corporate communications major Gunnar Helman said he thinks people need to be more aware of bikers when they’re driving.

“Most people aren’t respectful of bikers, especially on the intersection of Center and Sycamore,” Helman said. “People don’t even stop half the time and I almost got hit a few times.”

Helman said cyclists must become more aware of their surroundings as well.

“People ignore the rules of the road on their bikes and they think that they won’t get hit even though they easily could,” Helman said.

Helman also said that campus itself isn’t built for cyclists.

“Any campus that’s as small as ours can’t really be bike-friendly because it’s not spread out enough,” Helman said.

Despite the small campus, Jerry Price, vice chancellor of student affairs and dean of students, said the administration regularly gets requests for additional bike racks.

“It seems like we’re always trying to catch up to have enough,” Price said.

According to Price, bike racks are constantly being evaluated.

Price said that students should always err on the side of caution when on the road.

“Assume cars aren’t going to stop,” Price said. “I would encourage all students to take an extra beat or two to make sure that either it’s clear or the cars that are coming are actually stopping before going across.”

Photo courtesy Gratisography.