Spring quarter is in full gear and it seems that everyone on campus is riding their bikes to class. Who can blame them? When the weather is nice there is no better way to get around. However, in the past week or so I have noticed a phenomenon on campus: UCSB police officers out and about looking for riders committing ticketable offenses. These officers are out actively looking for riders breaking laws.
One may be surprised to know that some of these offenses include: riding on the sidewalk (including the student walkways), riding double (or tandem), not stopping at stop signs, and riding with no hands. Most riders know some of these rules, but still manage to break them because they don’t think they will get a ticket. Also, bikers on campus usually have the right-of-way before pedestrians and even cars so many of them think that they don’t have to follow the rules. Let this article serve as a warning to be vigilant about breaking biking laws. The UCSB police department will not hesitate to give out a biking ticket and it would be annoying to start spring quarter with a hefty biking ticket (they’re usually more than 100 dollars) and a bruised ego. Not to mention for some offenses riders have to go to bike safety school… So lets all stay ticket-free and bike safely!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSB chapter.