University of Arizona Police offers were stationed in at least three locations this morning watching for cyclists who were not following the rules of the road.

Officers were stationed at Park Avenue and University Boulevard, Third Street and Cherry Avenue and the Highland underpass.

The increased police presence is part of a campus-wide “Bicycle Safety and Education Campaign.”

According to a news release,

The Bicycle Safety and Education Campaign is designed to educate community members on University regulations and Arizona State laws relating to bicycle traffic while providing important tips for safeguarding bicycles against theft. The University of Arizona Police Department and Parking and Transportation Services personnel will be located at the following locations over the next few weeks in support of this campaign:

  • September 7, 2011 (Wednesday): 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (University/Cherry)
  • September 13, 2011 (Tuesday): 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (Highland/4th)
  • September 21, 2010 (Wednesday): 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (University/Cherry)
  • September 22, 2011 (Thursday): 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (AZ Health Sciences Center/South of Science Library)
  • September 27, 2011 (Tuesday): 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (Olive/2nd)

Yesterday’s enforcement did not coincide with any of the dates listed on the news release, however.

This is the third year UAPD has done this. Like last year, September will be devoted to stopping and educating people who violate the traffic laws. The police department will begin issuing tickets in October.

In addition to stop sign violations, UAPD is stopping bicyclists who exceed the 15-miles-per-hour speed limit in the three underpasses along Speedway.

Cyclists who do get a ticket on campus can take a free diversion class to avoid paying the fine.

 

12 thoughts on “UAPD educating bicyclists on campus; tickets come next”
  1. “In addition to stop sign violations, UAPD is stopping bicyclists who exceed the 15-miles-per-hour speed limit in the three underpasses along Speedway”Just curious, can someone explain these underpasses? (is it a road? a path? peds?) Why would the limit be 15mph?

  2. The underpasses are mixed-use paved paths. They are not roads. They are used by bicyclists, pedestrians, and some university vehicles (golf carts, maintenance, etc.) During certain parts of the day, they recieve a lot of traffic and the low speed limit is for safety. Other parts of the day, like yesterday when I went under at 6am and 8pm, there’s virtually no one else using them.

    Also, I just went through the Olive underpass and could have sworn it’s posted as 10 mph.

  3. It wasn’t thought about back when these fine underpasses under Speedway were built, but perhaps evil speed humps could be be built now in the underpasses at lower cost than sustaining UAPD officers at what, $50,000 + full benefits per year…

    If it’s really that bad…

  4. They should put up cameras with facial recognition to catch the speedy cyclists, withhold diplomas until all speeding fines are paid.

  5. So where were all these UA police officers when the silver grey mini van passed me between Euclid and Tyndal this afternoon.  I was riding in the centre of the lane going east at the speed of traffic when  the van passed me straddling the turn lane and the traffic lane to get around me.  There was zero space in front of me and the pass was close enough that I was able to slap the van to get the driver’s attention. Once past me he got in front of me and then stopped half in my lane, half in the left turn lane.  The van finally did yield the space faking a left turn at Tyndal, not possible the road is closed.  He then sped up passed and forced me to the side of the road by slowly sliding over.  Holding my lane I got around him again but then he slip over in 2 lanes at Park and made a quick left and disappeared realising I had his plate number and I was dialing 911.  I did get the chance to ask him to stop using his vehicle as a weapon.  His response was that I shouldn’t ride in the lane on University.  Umm then when should I ride in the lane?  It would be suicide to not ride the centre on that stretch.  For anyone not familiar with this stretch it’s where the bike line ends and becomes a shared roadway and there are pedestrians, mid block crossings and back in angle parking.  

  6. Won’t the city EVER post some ‘*Bikes* may use full lane’ signs so that there can be some official acknowledgement of the fact so as to shut some of these drivers up!  Sharrows do nothing. The bumpouts at that second ped crossing
    force you into the lane there anyway. They don’t like us in the lane, wait ’til the
    streetcar gets in there.

  7. Won’t the city EVER post some ‘*Bikes* may use full lane’ signs so that there can be some official acknowledgement of the fact so as to shut some of these drivers up!  Sharrows do nothing. The bumpouts at that second ped crossing
    force you into the lane there anyway. They don’t like us in the lane, wait ’til the
    streetcar gets in there.

  8. I remembered right. 10mph under Olive. The other underpasses aren’t marked, so how are cyclists supposed to know what speed to go?  The statutory speed limit for approaching a school crossing is 15mph. Is that where they’re getting it?

  9. First, it’s pretty much incumbent on a vehicle operator–bike or car–to know what the speed limit is where they are operating, even if there aren’t any speed limit signs.  When in doubt, ask.  Certainly the University can use better signage and have better lighting in some locations.  Alas, available funds at the University are one of those finite resources.  If you see something happen, record it, write down a license plate, or do something similar and then notify the cops.

    The old “where was the cop when ____ did ____ to me?” saw just doesn’t make sense.  Police have finite resources with which to cover an entire jurisdiction.  It’s physically impossible to cover all locations where something illegal might happen.  While a person is asking that question, another might be asking “where was the cop when my____ was stolen?” or “where was the cop when the old man in the library flashed me?”

    As much as some of the roads in Tucson suck for riding–Tangerine when people are going to or coming home from work–I think riding around campus sucks even more when school is in session.  For every idiot I seen driving a car, I see an idiot riding a bike and three idiots walking.  Invariably, a great number of those idiots have their heads impaled on cell phones.

    The best way to get across campus without physically exchanging energy and momentum with someone else is to either go between classes or after hours; or just slow down, be paranoid, and be patient.

  10. It was a rhetorical question.  Nobody I know has ever seen a car driver cited for violating the 3 foot law.  I’m not saying it hasn’t ever happened but if it has it is rare.  I’m assuming my description was inadequate.  This wasn’t someone being stupid in traffic, this was someone using a car as a weapon.  Assault is a serious enough crime in my book to warrant a 911 call.  Sometimes you just need to be somewhere at a specific time.  Friday afternoon is not a great time of day to be crossing town but that said this is the first time ever I’ve had to slap a car to get them to stop what they were doing.  I am paranoid, I was being patient and it didn’t matter.  Im was also traveling a major bicycle route, my trip was virtually all on bike lanes or bike boulevard.  I won’t ride Euclid ever.  I’m not one of those hey it’s a road I can ride it kind of people, god bless ’em.  Mostly roads in Tucson don’t suck for riding a bike on.  So I apologise for the rhetoric, it was my segue into the rant.  If I had it to do over again I’d just skip the post.  It didn’t really add anything to the discussion or build community.

  11. Well, you know this is a high-end,  journalistic blog, but it’s still a blog and if you can’t rant here, then where? And rants serrve a communal service in bringing to the surface things that annoy members of a group – some actually important. And at least one sociologist says bitching lends itself to cohesiveness in a group so fret not about a rant and let the reader decide what level of credibility it has.

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