University police issue tickets to cyclists

Senior Zack Liscio was riding his bike on the sidewalk down Main Street coming home from a late-night shift working at the Bob Carpenter Sports Center when he was stopped by a university police officer in front of the post office.


"There was cop on the sidewalk and he put his hand up like a stop sign and said, ‘Stop, stop,' so I figured I just was in his way," Liscio said. "I got off my bike and asked him if I could keep going and then he said no, proceeded to ID me and write me a $40 ticket, which looked like a regular car ticket — except instead of saying make and model, it said ‘bike, green'."


In an effort to protect pedestrians, motorists and bicyclists, Public Safety has begun ticketing bicyclists who violate traffic code on campus.


Chief Patrick Ogden said university police have received many complaints from both pedestrians and motorists about the way people are riding their bikes around campus.


"We haven't had any serious bicycle crashes on campus," Ogden said. "But we did some research and reached out to the state police and statistics have shown that there are people out getting hit on bikes at an alarming rate."


He said university police spent two days earlier in the semester patrolling campus specifically enforcing the rules of the road for bicyclists. During that time period, university police issued between 20 and 25 tickets, Ogden said. Before this enforcement period, the department gave presentations across campus aimed at educating students on the importance of bicycle safety.


"If one of those people who got bike violations will follow the rules and won't get into an accident, it's worth it," he said. "We're not trying to give people a hard time or generate revenue, we're just trying to attack a problem from all angles."

Ogden said his ultimate hope is to promote safety.


"If it saves one person from getting hurt or killed, it was worth it," he said.


Ogden said he feels he has an obligation to keep the students safe, even if it means having to strictly enforce the law.


"I do realize when we take an enforcement approach on anything, it's always a negative interaction, but we try to turn something negative into something positive," he said. "If it's predictable, it's preventable. We see problems, analyze them and try to prevent them."


Senior Andrew Tauro also recently had a run-in with a university police officer while riding his bike.


"I was riding up Delaware Avenue in the bike lane a few weeks ago. One cop was standing at the crosswalk, waved me closer and gave me the stop signal with his hand," Tauro said. "He told me to get off the bike and put it on the grass. He asked me for my license and then gave me a $51.50 ticket for riding on Delaware Avenue against traffic."


Liscio and Tauro said the fact that Main Street does not have a bike lane is somewhat of a problem for bicyclists.


"There are bike lanes on campus, but there is no bike lane on Main Street," Tauro said. "So it makes more sense to bike down Delaware than Main Street, which can be really dangerous."


Ogden is aware of the student perception of the new ticket enforcements, but said if things continue in the fall, the department will try another round of educational opportunities and if needed, heavier enforcement.


"It's all about balance. You can't go overboard or people leave with a negative perception — we're not at war with the students," he said. "We want to engage the students and show that our whole goal is about public safety. We want to keep everyone safe and part of that is going out and enforcing the law."