Bicycle Registration and Safety

We strongly encourage people to walk or ride bicycles around campus instead of driving — it’s good exercise, you don’t consume fossil fuels or pollute the atmosphere, and you can often get where you want to go just as quickly.

Bicycle Registration

Registration helps you to recover your bicycle if it is borrowed or stolen. Also, officials have found that registered bicycles are far less likely to be stolen. Register your bicycle with the Fairfield Police Department (1200 W. Grimes, 472-4146). The license, valid for two years, costs $1.00. They will record your name and the make, color, and a serial number of your bicycle, and give you a sticker.

You can register your bicycle with the Safety Office, as well. Please call ext. 1117 (641-472-1117) for an appointment. All bicycles must comply with the State and City ordinances and campus regulations

Bicycle Laws

People using bicycles on public roads and streets in Fairfield are required to obey all traffic laws that apply to other vehicles (signaling turns, stopping for stop signs, etc.). Observation of traffic laws prevents accidents, damage, and injury both to you and your fellow community members. The town enforces these laws strictly and charges fines for violations.

The Fairfield Police and the Campus Safety Office ask that everyone also follow these rules:

• All bicycles must have a functioning headlight on the forward part of the bicycle, visible from a distance of at least 300 feet. You can buy a headlamp at the Campus Bookstore. (Campus regulation and City Ordinance 551, Section 8, Ch. 10.58.070 state that the headlight must be stationary and with an illuminating power equal to that produced by a one and twenty-five hundredths volt electric bulb and battery.) There must also be displayed on the rear part of the bicycle a red reflector, no smaller than one and one-half inches in diameter, or red light of similar diameter.
• All bicycles operated on campus must have reflectors on the right and left side of the front and rear wheels (preferably clear). All bicycles under a 26-inch wheel size must have an aerial pennant secured to the rear wheel assembly.
• It is not permissible to carry passengers on bicycles (including children).
• All bicyclists and motorcyclists are urged, for their own safety, to purchase and wear appropriate protective headgear when operating their bikes.
• Do not ride on sidewalks within two blocks of the town square.
• On sidewalks more than two blocks from the square, walk your bicycle whenever pedestrians are sharing the sidewalk with you.
• Obey all traffic laws (such as stopping at stop signs and observing one-way street signs) when riding on the streets.
• Use the bicycle racks on the four corners of the square when shopping in town.
• Please lock your bike when you are not using it, preferably to a bicycle rack. Fire safety regulations prohibit the parking of bicycles in halls, doorways, and stairways.

Storing Bicycles

If you live on campus you cannot store your bicycle in any common areas indoors, including residence hall lobbies or hallways, areas under stairs, boiler rooms, or any portion of any building on campus, with the exception of bicycles being stored in an individual’s room or storeroom.