The University of Florida Police Department has registered more than 30 000 bicycles, which is quite a considerable number for a campus with over 50,000 faculty, staff and students. Earlier this month, the University of Florida also worked to increase awareness about bicycle safety, to curb the bicycle accidents that can happen on the busy campus.
The University passed out flyers and the campus newspaper published stories to draw attention to the issue. According to the University of Florida Police Department, a key problem on campus are bicycle-pedestrian collisions. This is simply because many students and faculty walking to and from class as well as many bicyclists rushing to the same classes can create accidents. Although pedestrian-bicycle accidents are rarely fatal, they can be a cause of personal injuries.
Of course, when students and other members of the University of Florida take their bicycles on the road, off-campus or onto the campus areas where cars are more frequent, fatal accidents can occur. Whether trying to prevent motorist-bicycle accidents or pedestrian-bicycle accidents, the University of Florida Police Department has the same message to everyone on campus: Remain aware of surroundings. According to the University of Florida Police Department, most collisions involving bicycles could be avoided if bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists all showed greater caution and greater awareness of what is going on around them.
One of the major culprits, according to campus authorities, are cell phones, and other distractions. Many students will chat on their phones, eat their lunches, listen to ipods and otherwise distract themselves while riding bicycles. This can dramatically reduce response time and can create any number of dangerous situations.
Another problem that the University of Florida Police Department sees is to have a warning system on hand. When coming up behind a pedestrian, it is mandatory to give warning, either with a bike bell or verbally. Otherwise, the University of Florida Police Department advises that everyone stay in designated pedestrian or bicycle lanes and generally exercise some caution. Since bicycle accidents can lead to brain injuries and other serious injuries, the University of Florida Police Department offers special classes to those bicyclists who have at least one citation.