BIKES AND THE LAW

Last week I was driving a friend to an important appointment with her doctor at the UK hospital. As we drove down Rose street just after ten a.m., I knew we would be delayed by UK students crossing the street, and had made allowance for that.

What I hadn't made allowance for were the bikers and their flagrant disregard for the law; and the safety of their fellow students.

We car drivers observed the many signs about yielding to those crossing at the designed, painted crosswalks..and waited for the long lines to end. (Made longer by the fact that some students just sauntered across, others broke thru the line of cars in mid-block where there were no painted crosswalks.)

But the biggest problem were the bikers. I saw five, one after the other on the short block south of Columbia ride down the bike lane and THRU the lines of other students crossing. Not only was this unsafe, it's illegal.

State law, and Lexington ordinances basically define bicycles as vehicles, subject to the same laws. As cars must stop at stop signs, and red lights, and for pedestrians at crosswalks, so must cyclists.

There would have been a small town-gown protest if the 5 of us in waiting cars tried to break thru the line, which might have caused injuries. Granted being hit by a bike is not the same, but it can still cause hurts, and it's still wrong.

There are groups which educate in bike safety and the city government has brochures outlining the law. To keep UK students from being injured, needlessly, perhaps student government might like to take on bike safety and the law as a project.

I'm just sayin'...