Advocacy & Safety - Columbia SC: Car vs bicycle, bicyclist get charged.

Bravo!!! We bicyclist need to know we also need to follow the law. If we want to be treated with respect, then we have the ride like it.

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=54658&provider=top

(Columbia) -- Columbia police say a homeless man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Assembly and Pendleton Streets was struck by a car Tuesday morning.

The bicyclist was charged with operating bicycle on wrong side of the road, and the driver of the vehicle was not charged.

Police say the homeless man was taken to Palmetto Richland with non-life-threatening injuries.

Bravo!!!

Ticketing an injured homeless man is always something to cheer about, eh?

Bravo!!! We bicyclist need to know we also need to follow the law. If we want to be treated with respect, then we have the ride like it.

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=54658&provider=top

(Columbia) -- Columbia police say a homeless man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Assembly and Pendleton Streets was struck by a car Tuesday morning.

The bicyclist was charged with operating bicycle on wrong side of the road, and the driver of the vehicle was not charged.

Police say the homeless man was taken to Palmetto Richland with non-life-threatening injuries.

Are you a plant from some anti-bicyclist group?

I don't think anybody here would argue that if a cyclist commits a moving violation and causes an accident, but he should not be given a ticket.

So what's your point?

Are you a plant from some anti-bicyclist group?

I don't think anybody here would argue that if a cyclist commits a moving violation and causes an accident, but he should not be given a ticket.

So what's your point?

I suppose the point is that riding the wrong way can be dangerous, as evidenced by this crash, and that a ticket can be a good deterrent to dangerous riding habits -a deterrent to the cyclist involved and maybe to any who might be reading this forum. Hence the OP was applauding the ticket, just as most of us would applaud a ticket given to a motorist who engaged in dangerous behavior that caused a crash with a cyclist. Apparently you agree with his point. Are you also a plant from some anti-cyclist group? :lol:

I agree with the OP, as a bicyclist I've seen too many riders who want all the rights and privileges of the road, but none of the responsabilities.

Tickets may be the only way to get riders to realize that there are only one set of laws.

Feel for the guy who was hit, but being made aware is not always a painless process.


Ken.

I would feel a lot better about this ticket if motorists that strike and kill cyclists got tickets. The asymmetry is rather stunning. And in the OP incident, there is some culpability of the motorist that struck the man. The motorist almost surely didn't take due care resulting in injury to the cyclist. There are other incidents where this is not the case, such as striking a cyclist that runs a stop sign at a blind corner. Right of way is not a hunting license.

I was out riding on Saturday, and passed a man and two boys riding on the wrong side of the road. I said "ride on the right, please." Maybe I should have made the point that it is illegal.

Sigh. It's bad enough that cyclists statistically make about the same percentage of mistakes (e.g., failure to yield or stop resulting in an accident). What gets me is that riding on the sidewalk or the left side of the road is so totally preventable. This isn't an error in judgment, it's outright stupidity and ignorance.

Of course I'm sorry the cyclist got into trouble, but if only we could get the message out to LEO's and the great unwashed public to stop acting like roadkill....

Ticketing an injured homeless man is always something to cheer about, eh?

Yes, because it sends the message that bicyclists also need to follow the law. If the car was at fault, the driver should be charged and ticketed.

As bicyclist, we should demand that vehicle drivers be charged when they are at fault. But we can't keep having it both ways, and it's people who insist on two different set of rules that really hurts bicycle activism.

It is our responsibility to act like traffic if we EXPECT to be treated as traffic.

Yes, because it sends the message that bicyclists also need to follow the law. If the car was at fault, the driver should be charged and ticketed.

As bicyclist, we should demand that vehicle drivers be charged when they are at fault. But we can't keep having it both ways, and it's people who insist on two different set of rules that really hurts bicycle activism.
It is our responsibility to act like traffic if we EXPECT to be treated as traffic.


I agree with the OP, as a bicyclist I've seen too many riders who want all the rights and privileges of the road, but none of the responsabilities.

Tickets may be the only way to get riders to realize that there are only one set of laws.

Feel for the guy who was hit, but being made aware is not always a painless process.


Ken.And you two folks REALLY believe that this wrong way riding, homeless man is one of the 'same rules , same rights cycling advocates' you refer to.:rolleyes:

Do you really think this guy will pay the ticket, do you think he gives a rip about the ticket, do you think he gives a rip about any of societies laws?

The fact that the man is homeless is irrelevant. The salient point is that he was operating a vehicle on the wrong side of the road, causing a collision. It's good that he was held accountable. All vehicle operators should be.

A homeless person got a ticket. Yippee!
Or as the OP said, and I quote, "Bravo!!!" (with three "!!!"'s)

Let that be a lesson to all who ride bicycles.

Give me a break.

No offense but this thread is seriously absurd and lacking in perspective.

By the same logic a recent accident in which a drunk driver (multiple repeat offender) drove the wrong way at high speed on a divided highway and killed a young married couple with a baby on the way should be a lesson to motorists that they need to obey the law.

Yea, right.

This thread isn't all bad; it did give me a laugh.

(sadly, the drunk driver in the case I mentioned above lived, while his innocent victims died)

No one is arguing that people should not be responsible for their actions. The issues are relevance and perspective.

I'm thrilled the Columbia police know the law! There are a lot of wrong-way riders in SC. No one seems to know the rules, on a bike or in a motor vehicle, civilian or police. Accident rates reflect that, being the highest in the US.

That's not to say there aren't people doing a great job trying to change things, namely the Palmetto Cycling Coalition (http://www.pccsc.net/).

BTW I'm in Myrtle Beach right now, one of the most bike-hostile environments I've ever experienced. Typical mode is beach cruiser at walking speed against traffic, 'cuz people are scared to death and they don't know any better.

I'm thinking of teaching some League classes while I'm here. (I'm LCI #2197.)

Bravo!!! We bicyclist need to know we also need to follow the law. If we want to be treated with respect, then we have the ride like it.

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=54658&provider=top

(Columbia) -- Columbia police say a homeless man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Assembly and Pendleton Streets was struck by a car Tuesday morning.

The bicyclist was charged with operating bicycle on wrong side of the road, and the driver of the vehicle was not charged.

Police say the homeless man was taken to Palmetto Richland with non-life-threatening injuries.

I agree with this. Because, Riding against traffic is just plain stupid.

At the same time, I was stopped by a cop, who claimed I was weaving. So I agree with the cyclist being charged for riding against the traffic. But, I think the cop who stopped me, didn't like cyclists being on the road. He was attempting to get me for drunk driving. I didn't give the cop an inch.

BTW I'm in Myrtle Beach right now, one of the most bike-hostile environments I've ever experienced. Typical mode is beach cruiser at walking speed against traffic, 'cuz people are scared to death and they don't know any better.

I'm thinking of teaching some League classes while I'm here. (I'm LCI #2197.)If there was ever a place that was crying out for light rail, Myrtle Beach is that place. People just mindlessly drive up and down 17.

BTW I'm in Myrtle Beach right now, one of the most bike-hostile environments I've ever experienced. Typical mode is beach cruiser at walking speed against traffic, 'cuz people are scared to death and they don't know any better.

I'm thinking of teaching some League classes while I'm here. (I'm LCI #2197.)

They are no better down there, than they were 35yrs. ago. People in Myrtle Beach are speed demons. I went to Myrtle Beach for a day, always after a week-long stay in Pawley's Island. Every year(up until 1986), people were speeding through the city.