Cars, pedestrians both need to ensure safety

Jessica Bogenrief has to take extra time to make sure she stays

safe every day, and that’s just on her walk to school.

“I have to walk everywhere and I almost get hit every day,”

Bogenrief said. “The drivers just don’t stop, they have this

attitude like, ‘I’m bigger than you,’ but the bikers are

worse.”

There may be two sides to every story, however. When it comes to

those who walk, bike or drive to campus, some people think safety

is someone else’s responsibility.

“It has historically been a problem,” said Capt. Bob Chaffee of

CSU Police Department. “I am always concerned when people get into

bad habits.”

As a resident assistant for Ellis Hall, Bogenrief said she sees

bike accidents often.

“I see bike collisions every week of school,” Bogenrief said.

“We have bike laws and bike lanes for a reason.”

Bogenrief sees it all as a vicious cycle.

“The drivers hate the bikers and the bikers hate the walkers

because they have to get mad at someone so they go and try to run

us over,” Bogernrief said. “It’s a good thing the bikers don’t have

cars, they’d be dangerous.”

But Bogenrief isn’t the only one who is upset with the bikers.

Tanya Passmore, a senior business major, thinks that even if the

biker has the right of way they can still encounter trouble.

“The car’s bigger than you and it’s going to win every time, you

can be dead right,” Passmore said. “The bikers are not following

the traffic laws, they just think they’re on a bike so they can

keep going right in front of a car.”

Chaffee agreed that everyone should just take the time to follow

the safety laws.

“The key to traffic safety is predictability,” Chaffee said.

“What we ask is that people simply obey the safety laws.”

CSUPD has been and will be issuing tickets to students as part

of the Bike Enforcement and Education Program to enforce rules and

regulations.

“Bicyclists are charged through the university rather than the

municipal courts,” Chaffee said. “Bicyclists tend to be more

careless than drivers, some bicyclists just don’t pay any attention

at all.”

However, maybe there is one thing that both bikers and drivers

can agree on – construction isn’t making things any simpler.

“I’ve had a couple of close calls because of the construction,”

said Chris Banks, a junior who has been biking to school since the

beginning of the year. “I almost got hit by a bus because the

construction had taken the bike lane out and I had to go around the

block.”

Passmore agreed that construction has made it more difficult for

her as a driver too.

“All of the congestion is causing a big problem. Drivers are

having to go from lot to lot to find some place to park and not

having enough spots,” Passmore said. “I think the biggest problem

is the construction.”

But Banks, a natural resource recreation and tourism major,

definitely thinks that drivers are the most responsible for

problems on the campus streets.

“I think it’s the drivers fault because they are out of

control,” Banks said. “They don’t pay any attention, they have no

regard for the bikers.”

Banks also thinks that the use of alcohol is a problem for both

bikers and walkers.

“At night most of the drivers are drunk. I think alcohol is a

big issue,” Banks said. “And those who walk are always in the bike

lane.”

Many agree that everyone could do a little to help.

“Everyone needs to start paying more attention,” Passmore said.

“You have to be defensive and alert to what’s going on around

you.”