Campus provides host of traps for bicyclists
Clinic will outline pitfalls,
offer hints for safe biking
One of the toughest parts about
traveling the straight and narrow is
that too many other people do it
too — and when half of those peo
ple are on bicycles the problem
becomes even worse.
According to Michael Jones, a
University student who nearly be
came a bike casualty last Feb
ruary, there are too many of those
‘straight and narrow" places on
campus for bikers to be unwary in
their traveling. For that reason, he
is coordinating a bike safety clinic
scheduled for Tuesday.
By LORA CUYKENDALL
Of the Emerald
Jones, a senior iD community
health, says his concern with the
campus' bicycle safety problems
led him to organize the clinic,
which will include discussions by
special guest speakers about
bicycle touring, racing and
maintenance as well as sessions
on safety problems and tips.
Jones says he hopes the clinic will
build awareness among campus
bikers.
"There’s a lot of real safety
problems on this campus,” says
Jones. "Especially when bikes
and pedestrians are both trying to
get somewhere at the same time.
Some bikers just don’t seem to
realize how easy it would be for
someone to step out in front of
them. They need to start thinking
more in terms of riding speeds.”
Jones pinpoints the EMU
breezeway and the Lawrence Hall
tunnel as the prime danger spots
for campus bikers, but such
hazards as poorly placed curve
cuts, blind corners and sharp
curves also will be discussed at
the clinic.
"The University has decided the
bike safety problem is a student
problem rather than a transporta
tion one,” says Jones. He says
that is one of the main reasons he
took the initiative to organize the
clinic.
Jones is no stranger to the
hazards of bicycling. As a student
who frequently bikes to campus,
he has had his share of close
calls, including one major acci
dent on Valentine’s Day in which
his bike was totaled. Jones can
also cite a list of impressive bicy
cle safety statistics:
• Bicycles are the single most
hazardous product sold in the
country, according to the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Com
mission (CPSC). Claiming nearly
58 per cent of all bike sales, ten
speed bicycles also claim most of
the accidents. According to the
CPSC, ten-speeds are involved in
an average of .42 accidents per
person per year.
• Last year there were some
460,000 bicycle accidents in the
United States which required
hospitalization of the rider. Five
thousand of those accidents were
in Oregon alone. (The Bicycle
Manufacturer's Association of
America estimates there are 2.25
million bikes in the state).
• Of all bike accidents, 52 per
cent occur in the summer months.
• Most bike accidents are
caused by the failure of the bike
rider to observe traffic rules. Of
those accidents, 46 per cent are
caused by the biker's failure to
obey a stop sign, 27 per cent re
sult from the biker's use of the
wrong lane, 12 per cent involved a
faulty lane change signal by the
biker and 6 per cent were caused
by the biker's failure to use lights
at night.
Included with the safety infor
mation during the clinic will be a
slide presentation from the
Eugene Cycle Club about bicycle
racing and a talk from Diane
Bishop, bike coordinator for the
city, who will distribute bike route
information. Bicycle touring infor
mation also will be available and
Spoke Folks, a local touring or
ganization is tentatively sched
uled to give a slide presen
tation. Employes from Willamette
Valley Cycle Works and Stu's Bike
Shop will give free bike mainte
nance check ups.
Events will last from 11 a.m. to 2
p.m. and will be held at the corner
of University Street and 13th Ave
nue and in the EMU. Jones says
exact times and locations will be
posted Tuesday in the F.MU.
Failure to appear in court
loses license for cyclists
SALEM (AP) — You can lose
your driver's license if you don’t
appear in court on a citation for
improper operation of a bicycle,
Atty. Gen. Jim Redden said last
week.
Furthermore Redden said in an
opinion for the Oregon Motor Ve
hicles Division, you can have your
license suspended indefinitely for
failure to appear in court for illegal
hitchhiking.
Hitchhiking is legal in Oregon,
but the hitchhiker must stay on the
Turner resigns
University Registrar Leslie
Turner announced his plans to
resign Thursday.
His resignation wiil be effective
July 15. He plans to return to the
East Coast, where he has held
similar administrative posts at the
universities of New Hampshire
and Massachusetts.
___r\ * i» is. i »
shoulder or sidewalk.
If a person is directed to appear
in court on a traffic infraction and
fails to do so, the Motor Vehicles
Division can suspend the license
indefinitely. When the person ap
pears, he or she can regain the
license.
The opinion noted illegal hitch
hiking, jaywalking and illegal op
eration of a bicycle are traffic in
fractions.
The opinion said the City of
Eugene has six cases pending
where a bicycle rider failed to
show up in court, and two cases
where a hitchhiker failed to ap
pear.
A license to drive a motor vehi
cle must be suspended, the opin
ion noted, when the Motor Vehi
cles Division receives a notice
from the court that the defendant
failed to appear for a hearing on a
traffic infraction.
Unaware of riding speeds, bikers often don't realize
the potential danger of pedestrians, says Michael
Jones, a community health senior who will be pre
senting a bike safety clinic to bikers on Tuesday.
mini ill—.
Photo by Lora Cuykendall
Along with safety information, the clinic will offer a
slide presentation on racing and touring and free
maintenance checkups.
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