Fresno State student Diana Magana Chavez is locking her bike
and getting ready to head to class. Many students choose to
drive their bycicles to school instead of driving.
Alicia Acevedo / The Collegian
With gas prices on the rise and campus parking often difficult to find, some students prefer to travel by bicycle. Fresno State provides a web page to help students understand California bike laws, safety reminders and prevent bike accidents.
The 2002 National Survey of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Attitudes and Behaviors survey found that 57 million people, or 27.3 percent, of the population age 16 or older rode a bicycle at least once during the summer of 2002.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2009, 51,000 pedal cyclists were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those 51,000 injured were age 14 and younger.
To prevent such unfortunate events, Vehicle Code Section 21200 requires every person driving a bike to be subject to rules that also apply to vehicle drivers such as driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs.
Vehicle Code Section 21201 requires every bicycle to be equipped with a lamp that can be seen from a 300 foot radius. A bicycle must also be equipped with red reflector on the rear of the bicycle that can be seen from 500 feet away.
A white or yellow visible reflector is also required on each pedal. Students are not allowed to carry any materials that prevent them from using both hands when driving a bicycle. Hand signals are also required to properly drive bicycles.
Negating these laws can lead to fines or worse: accidents.
“When you’re riding on campus I don’t think it’s necessary,” Fresno State student Alexandra Zentner said. “If you’re riding in a high-traffic area, I would recommend it.”
Fresno State master student Sarait Martinez last semester was involved in two close accidents. “This semester I have been more careful.”
“I didn’t see the car, he was going into McDonald’s and he didn’t look both ways so he almost ran me over,” Martinez said about the first accident.
“The second time was my fault. I was crossing the street and I saw the red hand, I kept going, but then the light turned green.
“Now I pay more attention to what I’m doing. I slow down and look both ways,” added Martinez. “You tend to think nothing will happen to you until it does.”
Although California law only requires those under age 18 to wear a helmet, some students believe laws should require helmets.
“If it’s going to keep them safe, adults should definitely wear helmets,” Fresno State student Milford Miles said.
California bicycle laws also say that, “No person operating any vehicle, including a bicycle, shall wear any headset covering, or any earplugs in both ears.”
The bicycle parts and accessories website, megabikecenter.com, recommends bicyclist to put away the iPod and listen to surroundings. This is especially important when sharing the road with vehicles.
“I can see why it would be a problem,” Miles said. “But I’m not going to lie, if I was riding a bike I would probably wear my headphones.”
Since some students’ schedules require them to take night classes, there are often cyclists riding at night that can be hard to see.
To prevent night accidents, megabikecenter.com suggests that cyclists avoid riding after dark. If driving after dark, bike headlights, taillight and tire reflectors are necessary. Students should also wear reflective leg bands or a reflective vest to be seen from all sides.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2009, “630 bicyclists died on U.S. roads in 2009.”