Editorial | Walk your bikes

Throughout the day, Locust Walk becomes jam-packed with students, faculty and visitors trying to find their way around Penn's campus.

It's a tough crowd to navigate, but it gets even tougher when another segment of traffic is thrown into the mix: Cyclists.

Bicyclists whiz by pedestrians, creating dangerous safety hazards. Especially during breaks between classes, pedestrians must dodge each other and look for cyclists.

It's a situation that shouldn't be happening in the first place; bikes are banned on Locust during the day.

According to University policy, "Cyclists will walk their vehicles on Locust, Smith, and Hamilton walks between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m." Futhermore, bicycles are subject to the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, which bans riding bikes on pedestrian walks at all times.

Yet enforcement lags behind. Most students are given little more than a slap on the wrist, instead of a ticket.

Obviously, not everyone is aware of the policy at the beginning of the year. To remedy that, the Penn Police should use the first few weeks of the year to raise public awareness of the daytime ban on bikes. And warning signs should be made more visible and abundant - as columnist Rene Alvarez noted earlier this week, there are only a handful of signs along Locust warning cyclists about the policy.

If the Division of Public Safety can get that far, it should begin the regular ticketing of offenders. It may strike some as harsh, but it appears the only way to get violators to actually obey the law is to enforce it. It certainly would be a bit awkward for safety officers - for whom the policy does not apply - to ticket students and staff for bike violations, but there's no other option left.

Begin enforcement before someone gets seriously injured. After all, it's the law.

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