Frank Knox said:"Tim McNamara" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Frank Knox said:It worries me that police do not treat cyclists equally. In many
accidents, the auto driver seems to go without any punishment
when a cyclist is involved. Were another motor vehicle involved
in the same accident, the driver at fault would receive a ticket
or worse. Police are paid to enforce the law. When they ignore
laws giving us status as legal vehicles, they are not doing their
job.
I think you had better be able to back this up with some facts.
I can only relate facts as they are in *my* area. My club held a
memorial ride for a member today. She was killed by a careless
driver who cut a curve, entering her lane, and hit her head-on.
There were two other cyclists who were witnesses. The police did
not accurately report the accident and did not question or accept
statements from the two witnesses. Only after a front page article
in the local paper and many calls to the highway patrol captain and
district attorney from club members and concerned citizens in our
community was the driver charged with a misdemeanor. There was no
ongoing investigation at all. In North Carolina, robbing someone of
$20 is a felony but stealing the life of a 22 year old girl while
driving irresponsibly is a misdemeanor.
I think you are missing something here, or coming to conclusions based
on emotional reasoning, but not having lived in your part of the world
I do not know for certain.
Quoted message said:Several years ago my uncle and aunt were on a club ride in Virginia.
A deputy stopped them and told them to get off of the road and ride
on the grass or face arrest.
Not knowing the laws in your state, I cannot comment very well.
However, if that happened to me I'd be having a cell phone
conversation with the watch commander ASAP. As a citizen and a
taxpayer, my rights are every bit the equal of anyone else's. Hell, I
might have called the deputy's bluff and let him arrest me and played
it out in court.
Quoted message said:People on bikes in my area ride the wrong way, run stoplights and
signs, and weave through traffic. The police here *never* ticket
them. The traffic laws simply are not enforced with regard to
cyclists. This encourages people to ride bicycles in an
unpredictable way and endangers all of us. It's no wonder local
motorists do not understand our right to the road and become
confused when experienced cyclists do obey the traffic laws.
This unfortunately is normal in most places. It stems in part from
there being no driver's license for bicycling (riding a bike, like
walking, is more along the lines of a right than a privilege) and
thus there is relatively little government hold over cyclists. Some
cops may just figure than natural consequences will take care of the
problem, sort of a vehicular Darwinism. I happen to agree, though,
that traffic laws should be enforced for all road users. However,
90% of drivers break the law on a daily basis as well...
Quoted message said:Another recent story as related to me by one of our club members:
Several weeks ago one of our club members was knocked off his bike
while making a left turn. A driver behind him drove around him in
the middle of the intersection while he was in his proper turn lane
and hit him. When the responding Greenville Police Officer asked
the driver why he did that the driver responded that he thought he
could make it around the cyclist before he finished turning. The
policeman told them he was not going to cite anyone, but if he was
he would cite the cyclist because he shouldn't have been there.
Then again you need to get badge numbers and have a conversation with
the watch commander, chief of police, mayor, city council, etc.
Assert yourself as a taxpayer, citizen and voter. If you let
ill-informed cops get away with not knowing their jobs vis a vis
bicyclists, the situation will not get better.
Quoted message said:Our club has just formed advocacy and education committees to help
change traffic laws and to educate the public and police about
cycling safety issues and their importance.
Excellent.
Let me tell you a story of my own. About 7 years ago I was on a club
ride with the Gopher Wheelmen in Roseville MN. We were northbound on
Victoria, riding in a double paceline on the shoulder, which was
about 6 feet wide at that point. I was the last rider in line. A
vehicle stopped to make a left hand turn into a nursing home parking
lot and was rear-ended by a woman driving past the bicyclists. She
got out of the car and immediately began blaming us for being "all
over the road" and for distracting her, causing the accident.
The police were called and we all decided to wait since we were
witnesses. In the meantime we pushed the rear-ended car off the road
and checked on the condition of the elderly woman in the passenger
seat.
When the police arrived, the woman launched into her complaint that
the bikers were "all over the road" and distracted her, causing the
accident. The officer- a good ol' boy looking potbellied character
smelling of coffee and doughnuts, all the usual stereotypes- held up
his hand and said, "Ma'am, they have the right to ride on the road.
They have the right to be in the traffic lanes. They have the right
to take the entire lane if they have to for their safety. It's your
job to pay attention to the road and to your driving." He then wrote
her a ticket for careless driving, and told us to have a nice ride
after taking our names as witnesses.
That's how it should be done, and I encourage you to hold your law
enforcement officers to similar standards. I hope your efforts work
out well.
