I drive to campus every day, obeying all the traffic laws; stop signs, red lights, speed limits — and especially yielding to bikers. I am the person that will face the scorn and horns of cars that are behind me when the light has turned green because there are two more bikers who need to cross the street in a hurry. I am okay with that. What I am not okay with, however, is letting these bikers go rogue and hurt someone because of their total disregard for others on the road.

The roundabout near Williamson Hall has a pedestrian crossing where all traffic stops and the students walk to the bus stop. A matter of seconds can result in a missed bus and being late to the next class on West Bank or St. Paul campus. Imagine yourself walking happily to the Campus Connector that is waiting to go westbound, only to get almost run over by an inconsiderate biker who thinks that yielding to pedestrians is beneath them. The crosswalk is designed so that students can walk without getting hit by a rushing biker or have to run for their lives to dodge these dangerous vehicles.

Last Tuesday near TCF Bank Stadium, I saw a biker get hit by a moped. The biker clearly saw the oncoming traffic and still tried to make it across. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt. But the biker got up from the ground, dusted himself off and cursed out the moped driver for a good five minutes, despite his own wrongdoing.

If cyclists want to use roads and act like they are driving motor vehicles, then they need to accept the same responsibilities. One part of biking, like driving, is learning the laws and rules, yet bikers seem to feel entitled to not have to abide by them. If bikers followed rules, the number of accidents and discrepancies on campus would undoubtedly deteriorate. The biking community on campus needs to have some regard for pedestrians and other vehicles.