On the path between Boyd Hall and Coates Hall, I encountered death. Walking from the Quad to the Student Union to get breakfast, I suddenly heard a noise. I whipped around to see a student on his bike hurtling toward me, the gleam of a dominant predator in his eye. At the last moment, I outsmarted my attacker by dodging to the side. As he zipped past me, he said, “Sorry man,” but the sneer across his lips and the malevolent glint in his eyes yelled, “I’ll get you next time.” With the implementation of Easy Streets, the University hoped to make campus more pedestrian-friendly. Sadly, it seems Easy Streets just forced all of the crazy drivers from behind the wheels of their cars to behind the handlebars of their bikes. Just as I would not trust Britney Spears with my kids, I don’t trust some students on their bikes. Before Easy Streets and the influx of bicyclists, life was simple. I applied a very simple rule I learned in kindergarten to navigating campus: if I didn’t want to end up as road kill, I should stay on the sidewalk. Now that line has blurred, and the streets seem safer for me as a pedestrian than the sidewalks. Easy Streets have yielded sidewalks that should feature a sign saying, “Walk at Your Own Risk.” Things cannot go on as they are. I should not have to fear for my life any time I walk on a sidewalk. Bikers need to know that they don’t own the sidewalks and playing chicken with pedestrians is getting old fast. It is time for some common courtesy. You already get the best parking spots on campus (right in front of the doors), so you don’t need to hog the sidewalks. Don’t you have better things to do than run over walking students? I am not asking for the banishment of bikes. I am, however, requesting that bikers be more courteous to their less fortunate peers who are still walking around campus. Yes, your bike is cool and you want to show it off, but it would not be so cool with my blood splattered over it.
—-Contact Allen Womble at [email protected]