Impeding Traffic - Really?

I'm not sure what they did wrong, and judging by what the male officer said, he doesn't appear to understand what's safe for a bike. It certainly seems as if the cyclists were pulled over and cited just because they were cyclists. It'd be nice if someone familiar with bike laws in California would chime in.

sitzmark said:

Not really sure where this goes - related to safety, but probably just as related to road cycling in general.  Searched the forum but didn't see this posted anywhere. Interesting video of cyclists stopped and cited in Gardena, CA July 10, 2013 for impeding traffic.  Based on the video, I have no idea what the officer witnessed that warranted a traffic stop for impeding traffic.  General impression is that the roadway isn't a high-speed throughway and has light to moderate stop and go city traffic conditions.  I understand the precautions taken during the "pat downs", but find it intriguing how cycling/charges of impeding traffic provides reasonable cause to search the individuals.   I do not support jackass riding but unless there's more to this story,  this just seems surreal.       vimeo.com70163839Open ↗

Ok... I know that law can sound a bit "alien" at some times (as in not really getting reality) but having witnessed some of these reaaaaaaaally slow group rides I realized that they are actually causing problems to the traffic and not all car drivers and the nasties these "radicalized" cyclists are against. So this never happened around here for the reason that these rides when they happened here (they dont happen anymore I think which is good) have not 8 but around 200 cyclists. If it was just 8 of them and the police wanted to go for a fast ticket then that would happen here and possibly everywhere too. I dont support radicalized protest rides. It kinda gives the wrong impression on what cycling, the bicycle and cyclists actually are. I also dont support road rage against cyclists. I also dont support obstructing the traffic. You need an open road for a ambulances etc. Plus by obstructing the traffic you are causing congestion in front of people's houses. I know because lots of gypsies double park their cars in front of my house causing a slow full road traffic in front of my place which is annoying. I also think that the female police officer that appears from the start of the video (not the one with pink i-phone) is kinda cute.... 😄 :kiss:

The video starts after the offense.

The officer explains what they did wrong. The made a left turn from th left lane. That was ok. Then the proceeded in the left lane (called the number 2 lane earlier). He explained they had to leave that lane and move to the right.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by An old Guy [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

The video starts after the offense.

The officer explains what they did wrong. The made a left turn from th left lane. That was ok. Then the proceeded in the left lane (called the number 2 lane earlier). He explained they had to leave that lane and move to the right.

Still, ticketing them for that is silly. A warning would more than likely be much more effective at educating the cyclists. Maybe the officers were under orders to write citations, maybe it was at their discretion, who knows. Either way, the officers missed an opportunity "to protect and serve", which would add to their trustworthiness, instead causing themselves to look like armed, badged revenue collectors. I'm just curious how much traffic was "impeded" by the stopped police cars (looked like they were double parked) as compared to what the cyclists did.

Citations did seem to be a bit over the top. Wonder if pat downs are routine for similar motor vehicle traffic stops. That really seemed over the top. Saw no evidence for reasonable cause. (That said, it is reasonable for the officers to take the precautions they did if they do elect to search and suspect weapons.)

I'm always leery of videos where people go looking for trouble and are ready to tape it. Hard to tell, but not capturing the actions that created the problem can either mean they weren't looking to "go viral" with an issue, or were looking to create an issue and didn't want it to be obvious. From the traffic passing (what we could see) it appeared they would not be severely impeding traffic flow even if they took up a full lane. They should have been in the right-most lane if taking the full lane.

Would be interesting to know exactly what preceded the stop and how those actions related to CA laws. Maybe a learning opportunity. Knowing what I do, I'm with jpr95 - seems like a lot of law enforcement for what I "think" was the situation. Certainly so no signs of disrespect, aggression, or threat toward the officer(s). If real (which it appears to be), the whole event is very strange.

The ONLY thing that I saw was the rear three were riding three wide and not 2 wide as per law but I can not see that causing this.

sitzmark said:

Wonder if pat downs are routine for similar motor vehicle traffic stops.  That really seemed over the top.  Saw no evidence for reasonable cause.  (That said, it is reasonable for the officers to take the precautions they did if they do elect to search and suspect weapons.)

It definitely seemed over the top, especially given that all of the riders seemed pretty damned cooperative.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by jpr95 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Still, ticketing them for that is silly. A warning would more than likely be much more effective at educating the cyclists. Maybe the officers were under orders to write citations, maybe it was at their discretion, who knows. Either way, the officers missed an opportunity "to protect and serve", which would add to their trustworthiness, instead causing themselves to look like armed, badged revenue collectors. I'm just curious how much traffic was "impeded" by the stopped police cars (looked like they were double parked) as compared to what the cyclists did.

Of course ticketing was silly. As were the pat downs.

---

I carry mace and a kinfe.

"I carry mace and a kinfe."

Never take mace or a knife to a gun fight!

"I'm just curious how much traffic was "impeded" by the stopped police cars (looked like they were double parked) as compared to what the cyclists did."

Yeah, 3 marked units, 3 or 4 officers' time involved when a quick and friendly warning would have probably been sufficient My Give-A-[censored] meter is stuck on zero though. LEO's were probably concerned WRT to the recent two cycling deaths discussed and perhaps a them-us attitude due to the (mentioned in the traffic stop video) officer's daughter/cyclist killed a few days earlier:

On behalf of Callahan & Blaine posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, July 11, 2013.

A young woman whose father is a sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was arrested for the hit-and-run death of a 60-year-old man riding his bicycle in Gardena. The 22-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, perjury, filing a false police report, and felony hit and run.

The car accident occurred on the night of June 26 at the corner of Vermont Avenue and El Segundo Boulevard. Early the next morning, the woman went to the Huntington Park police, where she reported her car stolen. She told police she had found the car, which is registered to her father, parked near the home where she lives with her family. She said it appeared to have been in a traffic collision. The Huntington Park police officer who took the report suspected a connection with the hit-and-run accident in Gardena, and notified the Gardena Police Department. She turned herself in to police on July 3.

The woman's father, a sergeant with the LAPD, is reportedly being investigated by their internal affairs division to determine whether he did anything improper or illegal after the accident to help his daughter. He has also been interviewed by the Gardena Police Department.

Although the woman has maintained her innocence, police believed after speaking with her that she was involved in the bicyclist's death. However, because investigators are still waiting for results of DNA and other forensic evidence to present to the district attorney, they did not require her to post bail before releasing her with a signed promise to appear in court. Police say that this has nothing to do with her relationship to a police officer, but is common practice when there is not enough evidence to hold someone, and when the person arrested has an attorney who is in communication with them.

The woman in this case retained counsel who arranged for her to turn herself in to police, and who is remaining in contact with authorities as the investigation continues. It is essential whenever someone finds themselves under suspicion for a vehicular accident to retain an attorney with experience handling this type of case to guide them through the process and protect their rights.
Source: Dailybreeze.com, "Daughter of LAPD sergeant arrested for hit-and-run death in Gardena" Jim Crogan, Jul. 04, 2013