It is a typical Wednesday, and I am walking to my Spanish class in Eads, accompanied by two of my friends. We are chatting about trivial banalities, enjoying the crisp fall weather and all-in-all relishing our first semester on Washington University’s campus as we stroll past Graham Chapel. Then suddenly, my arm is grabbed by an unknown source as I am harshly yanked to the left. My characteristic clumsiness ultimately causes both my heroic upperclassman savior and me to land sprawled in the grass off the sidewalk, and I notice that my two friends have somehow managed to get stuck in the bushes on the other side of the walkway.

From my awkward position I manage to glimpse the cause of the mass chaos: One of my very own fellow freshmen! Likely late for general chemistry laboratory with Kit Mao, a terrified-looking boy zooms past us on his bike at full speed, either oblivious or intentionally ignorant of the victims he is leaving behind in the dust.

While no freshman girl really minds being saved from a speeding vehicle by an attractive male upperclassman, I think I am fairly certain that I have begun to develop post-traumatic stress disorder from the numerous bicycling accidents I have witnessed during my six weeks on campus. I display all of the diagnostic symptoms, really: exposure to traumatizing event(s), frequent recollection of event(s) through flashbacks/nightmares, avoidance of associated stimuli and increased arousal in the form of anger or hyper-vigilance, among many others. I have yet to experience impairment in my daily functioning, but if the streak of bicycle accidents I have seen and heard of continues, this symptom may follow as well.

There are certainly many responsible student bicyclists who pedal on Washington University’s sidewalks, but the few who employ unsafe bicycling methods have traumatized the lives of pedestrians and of this freshman in particular.

A few weeks ago, I witnessed two female bicyclists collide head-on as I was leaving the DUC. Both bicyclists were weaving their way through the crowd at a dangerous speed and apparently thought the other would change course to avoid the collision. Both women were unscathed for the most part, but I recently heard about a pedestrian-bicyclist accident in which the pedestrian was not so lucky after being run into from behind by a hurried cycler. I have even seen bicyclists going at full speed while talking on their cell phones and steering one-handed or—scariest of all—speeding by while texting with both hands off their handlebars and their attention focused downward toward their phone.

I fully understand the lure of using bicycles to commute to and from classes, but in my opinion it is the epitome of self-centeredness for bicyclists to disregard the safety of their fellow student pedestrians in order to reach a class or meeting a few minutes early. The Washington University guide, “Bearings,” prohibits bicyclists and skateboarders from using “excessive speed” or partaking in “any activity which reasonably presents a risk of injury to persons,” but these rules often seem disregarded in an effort to save time.

For safety reasons, bicyclists must stop frantically weaving through crowds, cycling too fast and forcing pedestrians to jump out of the way as they zip by. I realize that these bicyclists may have paid exorbitant amounts of money to cut down on their commuting times, but as a pedestrian I believe I have the right to walk on my University’s pathways without constant fear of being mauled from behind by speeding bikes.

It makes me sad as a first-year student to admit that the most careless bicyclists I have witnessed on campus are fellow freshmen. I can empathize with these cyclists’ desire to be prompt for every class, but it is simply not fair for them to make everyone else’s life a living hell in the attempt. So bicyclists, please hear the plea of this writer as well as numerous other Washington University students: Slow down, and give us back the safe use of our sidewalks.

Sneha is a freshman in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].