Out-of-Class #2: Typical Strengths, Typical Problems

Oct. 31, 2016

OUTOFCLASS#2

BICYCLES ON CAMPUS

The bicycle has expedited transportation since its birth. Many college students choose to ride a bicycle to class instead of walking.

The same goes for students at Michigan State University, an institution with a 5,200-acre campus, according to MSU FACTS. Because of the large campus, students will ride a bike to save time on getting to class. A 30-minute walk to class can turn into a five-minute bike ride.

But, MSU FACTS also informs us that Michigan State has over 50,000 students. And the amount of people walking or biking to class creates a dangerous situation sometimes.

THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD PLACE TO PUT IN STATISTICS TO BACK UP YOURCLAIM: THE NUMBER OF SUCH ACCIDENTS ON CAMPUS, WHETHER THAT NUMBER IS UP OR DOWN FROM PREVIOUS YEARS, ETC. CAMPUS POLICE COULD HAVE PROVIDED THAT NUMBER TO US.

“It can get scary out there,” Tyler Vanschoik said.

Vanschoik is a sophomore at Michigan State University, and has been riding his bike around campus since the beginning of freshman year.

“It definitely has its perks,” Vanschoik said. “It’s nice being able to get places quickly and everything”. PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

Vanschoik recognizes the benefits of riding a bike to class, but he also knows accidents can happen.

“It’s just people not paying attention, I’m sure it goes both ways,” Vanschoik said. “What usually happens is someone walking will make a sudden movement one way or another and I’ll run into them. They need to understand we don’t have a lot of reaction time”. PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

Not every bicycle rider feels scared on campus. Stephen Ivkovich is an older gentleman who bikes around Michigan State about twice a week.

Ivkovich also claims he is collision free.

“I haven’t been in any accidents because I ride my bike defensively,” Ivkovich said. “But I do see cars not really looking both ways for pedestrians or bicycle riders”. PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

That is exactly how Michigan State student Mitchell Tengel feels.

Tengel switches on and off between riding his bicycle or his moped, and he says they’re equally dangerous. It doesn’t matter what he rides, the people driving don’t respect his right of way the way they respect people in other cars.

“A lot of the times on the moped cars pull out in front of me because they don’t look or they don’t notice because it’s too small,” Tengel said. “It definitely makes getting to class faster but can be dangerous”. PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

Like Ivkovich, Tengel is learning to ride more defensively overtime.

“I use to ride crazy offensively and expect cars to correctly stop for me, but it’s too dangerous to ride like that now,” Tengel said.

Size and speed are instigators when it comes to accidents between cars and bikes. The students who walk to class are going slowly enough for the people driving cars to notice them, but people on bikes are riding much faster. PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

A car stopped at a red light trying to make a right turn is usually looking for traffic coming from the left, not paying attention to the cross-walk at the intersection, which seems to be a common recipe for accidents. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD SUBPOINT TO INTERVIEW MSU POLICE ABOUT

But, the blame should not always be put on the people or things surrounding the bicycle rider. Sometimes, the blame deserves to be put on the rider. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD SUBPOINT TO INTERVIEW MSU POLICE ABOUT. WITHOUT THAT, WE’RE JUST ASSUMING/GUESSING, WHICH WE DON’T WANT TO DO. WE WANT TO GET ANSWERS FROM KNOWLEDGABLE INTERVIEW SUBJECTS

Mike Guel is a sophomore who walks to class everyday and gets bumped into by bicycle riders on a weekly basis.

“They act like they own the sidewalk,” sophomore Mike Guel said. “Most of them don’t even try to use the bike path on the road”. PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

Michigan State University: Bike Safety Tips say their biggest piece of advice is to stay off the sidewalks when biking over 10 mph. “Over 90% of all reported bike accidents are the result of sidewalk bicycling on the MSU campus”. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD BIT OF INFO TO OFFER MUCH HIGHER, AROUND THE AREA WHERE I SUGGESTED PUTTING IN STATISTICAL BACKUP FOR YOUR PRIMARY CLAIMS. PLUS, PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE OF QUOTE MARKS, LIKE THIS.”

Even when there is no bike lane in the road, bicycle riders still have a legal right to the road, according to the Michigan State University: Bike Safety Tips.

Ordinance 33.071 from the Board of Trustees also requires riders to have lights and reflectors if biking after sunset. But, of course like any rule, not everyone follows it.

Most of Guel’s problems with bicycle riders have resulted from them not having lights at night.

“They fly by you at night,” he said. “They can get going pretty fast. And, most of the time I’m walking with my headphones in and I don’t hear them approaching me. They need to have lights or horns to see them better”.

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SOURCES

Tyler Vanschoik: Student

(810)-360-8210

Mitch Tengel: Student

(517)-304-6837

Stephen Ivkovich: Rides his bike through campus for exercise

Stephen_ivkovich@yahoo.com

Mike Guel: Student

(734)-776-2694

ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (REDACTED)

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: A VERY NICE JOB WITH INFORMATION ORGANIZATION, BUT A HUGE PROBLEM WITH A NARROW RANGE OF SOURCES. WE TALK TO PEOPLE IMPACTED BY THE ISSUE (RIDERS AND WALKERS), BUT NOT THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE ISSUE HERE (MSU POLICE) AND WE DON’T HAVE A NEUTRAL EXPERT (LIKE A TRANSPORTATION PROFESSOR; THERE ARE SUCH PEOPLE OUT THERE!) WHO COULD CONTEXTUALIZE BIKE/PEDESTRIAN CONFLICTS AND SEE WHETHER SUCH PROBLEMS HERE ARE TYPICAL OR UNIQUE AND WHAT IS HAPPENING ELSWEHERE IN TERMS OF PROBLEMS OR SOLUTIONS. PLUS, WE ARE LACKING DATA LIKE, HOW MANY SUCH ACCIDENTS HAPPEN HERE ANNUALLY? IS THE PROBLEM GETTING BETTER OR WORSE? THAT IS DATA WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN FROM PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE ISSUE. AGAIN, THERE’S A LOT TO IKEHERE, BUT WE NEED TO EXPLORE THE ISSUE MORE BROADLY AND DEEPLY, WITH A WIDER RANGE OF PEOPLE AND DATA.