[Bill on Capitol Hill]

On my way to work, I yielded to pedestrians and then got a warning ticket for not continuing to wait out the light, along with a threat that I’d get a real ticket because of my “bad attitude” for pointing out that illegally left-turning car had almost clipped me within his sight 10 seconds earlier but he didn’t seem to care about that.

I totally understand the enforcement blitz in the sense that a lot of cyclists blow right through without even thinking about pedestrians. But the cops need to have the brains to see which cyclists are doing this and which ones are being as courteous as possible to the peds.

The bike cops themselves don’t stop at those lights. And I ride home after 11 p.m. — they really expect me to sit there for two minutes when nobody is around? There’s no way that makes any sense.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

How about spacing them zero feet apart? Emergency vehicles could still make U-turns at the intersections.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

@bobco85 83188 wrote:

I don’t know of a term for that, but in situations like that where you know someone is behind you and you’re going to slow down or stop, I would recommend using a hand signal.

From the VDOT site:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5332[/ATTACH]

Great, ANOTHER warning for not using a hand signal! The Park Police are not alone!

You’re right, of course, where that applies, but I’m not thinking of that kind of case. I’m not slowing from 30 mph to 5 mph with somebody drafting me. I’m talking about somebody who was nowhere in sight happening upon the scene and deciding I’m an idiot slowpoke without taking half a second to look at his surroundings.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

Is there a term for the shoal-corollary, where you are passed not while stopped but rather while slowing down for a very good reason? I’m getting more of that recently than the actual shoaling. I take it too personally, I know, but I always want to shout, “YES! WHAT AN IDIOT I WAS FOR GOING SO SLOW THERE WHILE THE BLEEDING INFANT CRAWLED ACROSS MY PATH! SILLY ME!”

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

@bobco85 83078 wrote:

Man, that sucks to get a ticket at that time of day when there is no cross traffic to worry about. It’s definitely one of those situations where 999 times out of 1000 there’d be no problem with it, but I think the main reason you got pulled over is that it happened right in front of the cop. I can easily imagine the cop saying, “Did he REALLY just do that RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME?” before deciding to pull you over.

This is anecdotal, but in my experience when multiple vehicles break the law (e.g., speeding or running a red), the cop will go after the last car in the line of law-breakers. I think that if you had stopped at the sign, the cop might have gone after the pick-up truck instead.

I’m tempted to speculate that busting an actual lawbreaker as opposed to screwing over somebody for no reason provides less masturbatory fuel when he gets home, but perhaps I’m being uncharitable.

But seriously, one of the many ironies, as I may have already said, is that I hurried to get out of the way, and onto the sidewalk, precisely because I heard his engine. I don’t normally ride on the sidewalk, but in a practically empty park I didn’t want to be the guy who is slowing down an impatient driver — or, worse, in the path of a driver too drunk or distracted to even know I’m there before plowing me over.

And because I proceeded to the sidewalk, in a very real sense I didn’t “run” the stop sign, even though I didn’t stop. The path I ran to before turning to the sidewalk was a dead patch of asphalt next to a ROAD CLOSED gate.

Not only could the nonexistent cross-traffic never have hit me, but Officer Friendly also couldn’t have, without leaving the roadway.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

@dasgeh 82962 wrote:

Good point. Though I think something along the lines of “if you choose to operate a multi-ton vehicle with a powerful motor, you have a heightened responsibility to operate such vehicle in a responsible safe way.”

I am really sick of the whole “everyone has an equal role to play here”. We don’t. Drivers of cars are augmenting the power they have on their own, and with that comes more responsibility. Similarly, I think cyclists are augmenting their own power, so should be more responsible than pedestrians. Though the gap in power between cyclists and pedestrians is nothing compared to the chasm between drivers and the rest of us. Moreover, those in cars surround themselves in lots of safety equipment, decreasing their personal incentive to play safely with others. The law should work to put a thumb on this great imbalance by favoring the vulnerable road user.

Yes.

And — as I told Officer Friendly, not that he would have had any way of knowing whether I was lying — I really do stop at stop signs and red lights a lot more than most cyclists I observe. I even understand the desire to rein in the scofflaw pelotons. But the cops need to display the rudimentary mental capacity to understand that these “dangers” cease to be dangers if nobody is being endangered or even slightly inconvenienced.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

But my ticket was only $25 — surely a motor vehicle is fined more for running a stop sign?

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

@Steve O 83057 wrote:

I’ve always wondered what would happen if I told the officer I had no ID? After all, one does not need a license to ride a bike, nor are citizens required to carry credentials with them as they go about their business. It is not illegal for me to walk or bike down my street without my wallet.

Has anyone had this experience: being stopped by a police officer without identification? What happens?

My Park Police pal seemed surprised that I had a driver’s license. I think he thought he had bagged a genuine thoroughbred bicyclist type. Because, you know, I was wearing a sport jacket and tie and Hush Puppies and riding a clunky red Bikeshare bike, just like Lance Armstrong.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

Pickup trucks are exempt from that, I guess .

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

Perhaps a stupid question, but what if I’m looking to buy a brand not carried by the shop doing the fitting? Would they go over the geometry specs of the bikes I have in mind and help me narrow down my choice and choose sizes? Adjust the handlebars and seat on a later visit?

I’m sort of in between deciding whether my current bike can be made to work and buying a new one, so I might want a consultation in that regard as part of this, too.

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