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04-13-06, 03:28 PM
Just got off the phone with a police officer and thought I'd write it up for comment. The incident: two cyclists were riding about 10:30am on a weekday on a 2-lane country road in a distant west suburb of St Louis, racers, riding uphill S curves, truck waits behind them for several turns to pass on the straight. The cyclists claim the truck passed within 2-6 inches, intentionally trying to run them off the road. The driver claims he passed safely and had no such intention. Immediately, the cyclists start cursing and flipping off the driver, which the driver sees in his mirror, they catch him at the light and a verbal confrontation ensues. Cyclists take down the phone number of the business the drivers work for, displayed on the bumper sticker. They call the cops. They post the company information on a local list server with encouragement to email the owner and complain. I and others do so.
My interest? It is cycling heaven out there, beautiful windey, scenic country roads. Everyone rides there. So I want to know if there is discontent brewing among the locals. I call the police officer whose name and number were also posted. He is amazingly friendly and is a bike cop in this city. His take was that he honestly believed the truck driver did not "intend" to run the cyclists off the road and that he feels if he prosecutes the driver under the Missouri safe passing law, 1) there is not enough evidence to succeed in court, ie. no 3rd party witness, and 2) he would have to also prosecute the cyclists for disturbing the peace. The owner of the company is also considering a libel suit against the cyclists for knowingly posting false info intended to harm the business, ie. that they were "run off the road" by company employees, which never happened. Anyway, the officer has lived in this city since 1985 when it was just a cow pasture and said the locals are having to deal with out-of-control development, endless lines of dump trucks on the roads, how the brightly clad competitive cyclists are viewed as outsiders taking over "their" roads. Many conversations with residents reveal deep resentment toward the cyclists, just like the resent the new townies moving in and ruining their quiet little town. We talk about the ambiguity of the new safe passing law. He said he has discussed with fellow officers and they think it will be as hard to prosecute offenders under this law as the "following too closely" law, ie. how close is too close? He suggests an education campaign with signage to suggest 3 feet as a safe passing distance. We discuss "taking the lane" and he says that was part of his training as a bike cop but honestly feels most of the town's residents interpret this negatively.
In all, we didn't solve any problems, but I ended saying I was assured that the local authorities at least take harrassment of cyclists seriously and that is encouraging. Other cities, most notably St Louis proper, require blood spilt before they lift a finger. Hopefully, and this is a lot of hope, with courtesy and understanding on both sides, the brewing discontent will not result in injury or death. Somehow, I think it will come to that, though, before any progress will be made.
My interest? It is cycling heaven out there, beautiful windey, scenic country roads. Everyone rides there. So I want to know if there is discontent brewing among the locals. I call the police officer whose name and number were also posted. He is amazingly friendly and is a bike cop in this city. His take was that he honestly believed the truck driver did not "intend" to run the cyclists off the road and that he feels if he prosecutes the driver under the Missouri safe passing law, 1) there is not enough evidence to succeed in court, ie. no 3rd party witness, and 2) he would have to also prosecute the cyclists for disturbing the peace. The owner of the company is also considering a libel suit against the cyclists for knowingly posting false info intended to harm the business, ie. that they were "run off the road" by company employees, which never happened. Anyway, the officer has lived in this city since 1985 when it was just a cow pasture and said the locals are having to deal with out-of-control development, endless lines of dump trucks on the roads, how the brightly clad competitive cyclists are viewed as outsiders taking over "their" roads. Many conversations with residents reveal deep resentment toward the cyclists, just like the resent the new townies moving in and ruining their quiet little town. We talk about the ambiguity of the new safe passing law. He said he has discussed with fellow officers and they think it will be as hard to prosecute offenders under this law as the "following too closely" law, ie. how close is too close? He suggests an education campaign with signage to suggest 3 feet as a safe passing distance. We discuss "taking the lane" and he says that was part of his training as a bike cop but honestly feels most of the town's residents interpret this negatively.
In all, we didn't solve any problems, but I ended saying I was assured that the local authorities at least take harrassment of cyclists seriously and that is encouraging. Other cities, most notably St Louis proper, require blood spilt before they lift a finger. Hopefully, and this is a lot of hope, with courtesy and understanding on both sides, the brewing discontent will not result in injury or death. Somehow, I think it will come to that, though, before any progress will be made.