The new campaign by MSU police to increase awareness of existing traffic laws has reached students, but the conversation is about the lack of bike lanes.

Physical science junior Bryce Tebos doesn’t think students can realistically comply with the law requiring bicyclists to ride only in bike lanes and paths.

“If you’re saying it’s illegal to ride on the sidewalk, the bike lanes on campus aren’t sufficient enough to have all bike riders stay true to that policy,” Tebos said. “I understand where they’re coming from, but the thing is, at the end of the day there aren’t enough bike lanes on campus to make it safe for bike riders to ride in the streets.”

Although there aren’t bike lanes everywhere on campus, MSU police Lt. Randy Holton said bikers should, by law, ride on the street and act as a motorist when bike lanes aren’t available.

Despite the ordinance, many students are reluctant to ride their bikes on the roads.

“I feel safer riding on the sidewalk,” supply chain sophomore Joshua Lu said. “On the sidewalk I’m the one going the fastest, so I don’t have to worry about getting hit.”

According to Holton, the most common accidents occur when a biker rides across a crosswalk and makes contact with a vehicle.

“What we’re trying to do is that we have so many bicyclists and pedestrians that we want to make sure they’re following the laws so we don’t have an unsafe environment,” Holton said.

It comes down to motorists following proper road etiquette by yielding to pedestrians and giving them enough space, Holton said.

Holton also thinks distractions among motorists, pedestrians and cyclists play a big role in accidents.

“They’re not paying attention,” Holton said. “We have pedestrians and bicyclists that are just listening to their music, texting and on their phone, talking and riding and not paying attention.”

After hearing about the increased number of accidents, Lu started wearing a helmet while riding his bike on campus.

“ If I were to ever get in an accident with my head it could cause a lot of damage,” Lu said. “That concerned and worried me, so I decided to start wearing one.”

Holton said the police department wants to continue to make students aware of existing ordinances and laws.

“Basically everyone just kinda has to do their part to make sure it’s a safe environment for the campus,” Holton said.