Louisiana state law provides bicycles the same rights as cars when it comes to sharing public roads, even if it doesn’t always seem that way.
Stipulations exist, such as staying as far right as possible, using hand signals for turning and keeping at least one hand on the handlebars at all times. But for the most part, a bike is no different than a car in the eyes of the justice system.
The University will add dedicated bike lanes and shared road signs to some campus roads during this coming summer’s Easy Streets II project — small victories for the cycling community.
Yet bike-related accidents happen all the time, no matter how many provisions have been made. According to avid bike riders, more often than not, it’s cyclists abusing their road privileges who cause the problems.
Bikers blowing through stop signs and red lights, riding along pedestrian crosswalks and traveling opposite the flow of traffic are among the concerns of LSU Cycling Club race coordinator and mechanical engineering senior Joey Bacala.
“A lot of times I’ll see somebody on a bike, without a helmet, going the opposite direction of traffic — it’s just an accident waiting to happen,” Bacala said. “If all cyclists followed the rules, then you’d see the number of accidents with bicycles go down tremendously.”
Don’t place the blame solely on careless bicyclists, said German associate professor Gundela Hachmann.
“Cars honk at me, people yell at me, people get angry — some drivers feel that a cyclist should be using the sidewalks, which of course is not according to state traffic laws,” said Hachmann, who never owned a car until she moved to Baton Rouge three years ago.
The native German described Highland Road as notoriously dangerous for bikers, citing the narrow lanes and heavy traffic as major safety concerns.
But according to Parking, Traffic and Transportation Director Gary Graham, complications with utilities, right of ways and space limitations make expanding Highland on campus for bike lanes nearly impossible.
“We don’t have any room — try to widen it and you have to deal with a lot of agencies,” Graham said.
When adding a turning lane to Highland at the Dalrymple Drive intersection a few years ago, it took more than a year just to receive approval from the Environmental Protection Agency, he said.
Under Easy Streets II, street parking will be eliminated along Dalrymple east of Highland, and dedicated bike lanes will take its place. Shared road signs will also go up along a handful of campus roads such as South Campus Drive and Field House Drive.
Plans are in the works to eliminate a vehicle lane and add dedicated bike lanes along Skip Bertman Drive from campus to the levee, too. But since it’s a state-owned road, the University will have to work with the Department of Transportation and Development to make it happen, Graham said.
LSU Cycling president Dustin Drewes said riding around campus is relatively safe, despite the lack of bicycle accommodations.
“If you’re following all of the traffic laws, obeying the stoplights, and watching for pedestrians, it’s really not too bad,” Drewes said, adding that off-campus cycling is a totally different story.
Like Bacala, however, he often sees riders breaking traffic laws, putting everyone on the road in danger.
“People on bicycles don’t consider themselves a vehicle,” he said. “And then there’s just cyclists who almost have a complete disregard to the rights of the road.”
Drewes attributed some of the relative safety of biking on campus to lower speed limits than busier city and state roads.
“I could ride my bike down the middle of Airline Highway and I’m not breaking any laws. Now, is that safe, is that advisable? Probably not.”
