howsteepisit

So what claims of laws would you as an LEO believe those that you have stopped claim, and which one would you not believe. If the claims of "laws" made on this forum are any guide, you would be right far more than wrong if you discounted all claims of what the law says.

genec

Seems to me that if someone starts citing laws, perhaps one should become "smarter." Really, what does it take to look up some vehicle code?

The real problem is cops going about their job and not knowing the laws they are hired to enforce... going around and just blindly believing that "bikes don't belong" for instance. What other stupid notions might such LEOs also be carrying around... "blacks are bad?" "Midnight curfew?" Who knows.

noglider 

@howsteepisit, no one asks cops to believe everything people say. They should be well informed and also be familiar with how to apply logic and judgment. It's not too much to ask that they listen, within reason.

lostarchitect 

When unsure, headquarters and confirmation is one radio call away. Further they usually have computers in their cars now and can confirm on their own. Hence, I would believe the ones that were correct and not the ones that were wrong.

No one here is saying that police officers should believe that the dog ate my homework. But when a law is cited it can be easily checked.

I expect you to counter that this is a waste of their time. If correct application of the law is a waste of a law enforcement officer's time, then this society is lost.

CB HI

Sadly, it seems the cops themselves believe such self education is a waste of their time. In the one video, the cop comes back to the cyclist and says 'you seem to know the laws' rather than 'you are correct in the law you stated'. The implication to me is the cop was too lazy or incompetent to find the law and read it, even though he said that was what he was going to do in his car. Very sad we have cops like this.

genec

Keep in mind too that most of these cops are not cyclists, and therefore have the typical bias of motorists... believing the notion that bikes don't belong on the roads.

They start with that bias and go from there... even so far as to deny laws shown right to them, to not understand clauses of exception, and try and twist those such that they think they apply, when clearly they do not.

Paul Barnard

I doubt most LE academies touch on bicycle law at all.

howsteepisit

Why would I say that? My whole argument was that people thinking that they can explain laws to LEOs and the LEOs believe them and let them go was foolish. As you agreed with me, the officer can consult with HQ to determine if a law appears to apply, then make a determination to ticket or not. As you pointed out, the determination is made by other LEOs not the person stopped. If the person still disagrees, then a judge or DA will decide, once again not the person stopped.

lostarchitect 

Oh, so you were arguing with the strawman that someone here said the determination of legality should be made by the cyclist, then. Got it.