Iowa is a big biking state. From the hundreds of acres of bike trails, to the spectacle that is the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), you cannot go far in Iowa without seeing a bike.

With the snow and ice finally melting off the roads and sidewalks around campus, students no longer have to ride packed busses but can rather take a stroll, or bike, across campus.

Per the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT), “a person riding a bicycle on the street or highway has all the rights, and is required to know and obey all traffic laws and rules of the road, applicable to the driver of a motor vehicle.”

This means that if you are riding a bike on the road, you should be biking the same way they would drive a car: stopping at all stop signs, traffic lights, yielding right away, signaling their turn, etc. This should be commonplace, but riders don’t always take into account that just because you’re on a bike, you aren’t exempt from traffic laws.

“Bicyclists who violate traffic laws are subject to the same fines as motor vehicle drivers,” per the Iowa DOT.

So what about sidewalks? As of now, there are no policies regulating the operation of bikes on campus. Per the Iowa State Parking Division, the only regulations that affect bikes relate to parking and reporting stolen bikes.

No regulations can lead to dangerous conditions for bikers and pedestrians on campus. Overregulation can lead to the exile of one of the most popular forms of transportation on campus. So what do we do?

Some cities across the country like New York and San Francisco ban bikes from sidewalks. This makes pedestrians feel safer, but forces bikes to use the road, making bikers feel unsafe.

Maybe there’s a happy medium for Iowa State. An idea: any large-width sidewalks on campus like the sidewalk from the library to Carver, bikes are allowed. Regular-width sidewalks, bikers are required to walk. And of course, bikes allowed on all roads around campus, albeit there is a bike lane.

The best form of regulation right now, however, is self regulation. So, bikers and walkers, pay attention while on and off campus. Look up from your phones while going between classes and pay attention to your environment.