With ongoing bicycle accidents and a wave of tickets, University Police is urging students to abide by campus bike rules.
So far this semester, officers gave out more than 280 warnings and about 10 citations to cyclists disobeying rules, said UPD Capt. Jeff Holcomb. These numbers are average for Fall, he said.
But last week, a woman was sent to the hospital with severe injuries after she was hit by a bicyclist while getting off a bus on Gale Lemerand Drive.
“In Florida, a bike is considered a vehicle, so you have to abide by the same rules,” Holcomb said.
He also mentioned that riding a bike with headphones is illegal.
At nighttime, cyclists should have one white-colored light in the front and one red-colored light in the back, he said.
Mainly, Holcomb said police want to remind cyclists and pedestrians to practice common sense. For example, if a bus stops and nobody gets on, it’s likely someone from the bus will be getting off, so cyclists should slow down to avoid hitting someone, he said.
“I guess the warning is just to remind bicyclists to use a little bit of judgment,” he said.
Robbie Pomeroy, a 19-year-old UF criminology sophomore who got grazed by a bicycle last year, said he thinks similar incidents are isolated and can be prevented by pedestrian awareness.
“As you get accustomed to being on a really bike-friendly campus, you become more aware,” he said. “It’s kind of a pedestrian’s job, even though it should kind of be the other way around.”
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 10/4/2013 under the headline "In wake of accident, University Police asks cyclists to abide by rules"
