Police patrol Zernike route
Cycling students are a danger on the road
The police have particularly observed dangerous incidents at the Zonnelaan and Paddepoelsterweg. ‘Whenever we patrol there, we write at least seven or eight tickets in an hour’, says senior police officer Jean Paul Yska.
After the neighbourhood officer sent out an alert about the number of infractions, the police patrol the area almost daily. ‘The intersection at the Eikenlaan in the direction of the crematorium is infamous, but people also mess up at the lighted intersections at the Zonnelaan’, Yska explains. ‘We’re monitoring the entire area.’
The police patrol the area at any moment of the day. Sometimes they’re in uniform, sometimes they’re in plain clothes. The students they stop for going against traffic, ignoring the traffic lights, or holding their phones, immediately get a fine for 95 euros. ‘We don’t give out warnings anymore. We used cut people some slack, but it didn’t help’, says Yska.
Phone
Many students are fined for holding their phones. ‘Even if they’re just holding it because they don’t have pockets. The moment you start biking, you’re punishable by law’, says Yska.
The people who drive through red or who go against traffic often turn out to be international students, according to Yska. ‘Students from for example China have no concept of the rules here. The university might help out by informing these students. I think they could definitely play a role here.’
Information
Spokesperson Jorien Bakker says the university isn’t responsible for teaching students about traffic rules, but they do provide information. ‘We have stands for Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN) and the police at the information market during the KEI week’, she explains. ‘We also point out the English-language VVN flyers.’
One of the latest student blogs at the university also tackled cycling, says Bakker. ‘It also addressed the traffic rules. And during the Welcoming Festival, we set up a cycling track at the Oosterpoort courtyard.’
Bakker would love it if the VVN, the police, and the city collaborated on informing internationals. Yska thinks social control plays a large role. ‘Many students bike in groups, with their friends. They knowingly take risks. It would be good if they correct each other.’