Advocacy & Safety - Apparently cops hate us too!

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125999

Here are some highlights:

In my area we have several bicyclists complaining about the "right to ride" on city streets, which I have no problem with...BUT......They run red lights and stop signs. No tickets yet, but I have gotten on the loudspeaker advising them they need to stop for those red signs and lights. Never had a bad look yet. These guys are to first to complain about their rights to the road being violated by some jagoff in a car not giving them room or throwing things to them, but Ive seen them act just as stupidly.

And

You should obey the rules of the road no matter how inconvenient it may be for you. I get so tired of the cyclists complaining about the motorist's. Cyclist's, most of the time, are worse than motorist's when it comes to traffic violation's. The commit violation's in front of officer's on a daily basis around here. I dont have the time to stop and cite them, especially when subjected to all the whining and complaining. When there is an accident involving a cyclist it's usually almost always the cyclist fault. If my department ever gets funding for overtime cyclist enforcement, I'm signing up and writing my 2 citation books worth.

And what is wrong with what he said? Stop for stop signs and lights. Hopefully he will write some tickets.

I read that whole thread, it sounds more like annoyance than hate.

And what is wrong with what he said? Stop for stop signs and lights. Hopefully he will write some tickets.

I agree the cops have the right to enforce traffic laws, but I'm concerned about the statement "When there is an accident involving a cyclist it's usually almost always the cyclist fault."

Such prejudice could easily lead a cop to side with a motorist in a scenario where the motorist hits a cyclist while texting and says "officer, he swerved."

I read that whole thread, it sounds more like annoyance than hate.

Maybe "hate" is strong word, but remember this is "A/S"...

I agree the cops have the right to enforce traffic laws, but I'm concerned about the statement "When there is an accident involving a cyclist it's usually almost always the cyclist fault."

Such prejudice could easily lead a cop to side with a motorist in a scenario where the motorist hits a cyclist while texting and says "officer, he swerved."

Relax,
its called profiling, cops are trained to do it all the time; for more than just cyclists. For example they can use this training to decide fairly accurately who is hiding drugs based on their skin color and age.

I'll definitely follow the rules of the road, no matter if cops side with motorists.

Hate? The OP may have led an extremely sheltered life. Of, perhaps, s/he enjoys the role of drama king/queen.

In general, I consider drama counterproductive for cycling safety and advocacy.

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125999

Here are some highlights:

In my area we have several bicyclists complaining about the "right to ride" on city streets, which I have no problem with...BUT......They run red lights and stop signs. No tickets yet, but I have gotten on the loudspeaker advising them they need to stop for those red signs and lights. Never had a bad look yet. These guys are to first to complain about their rights to the road being violated by some jagoff in a car not giving them room or throwing things to them, but Ive seen them act just as stupidly.

And

You should obey the rules of the road no matter how inconvenient it may be for you. I get so tired of the cyclists complaining about the motorist's. Cyclist's, most of the time, are worse than motorist's when it comes to traffic violation's. The commit violation's in front of officer's on a daily basis around here. I dont have the time to stop and cite them, especially when subjected to all the whining and complaining. When there is an accident involving a cyclist it's usually almost always the cyclist fault. If my department ever gets funding for overtime cyclist enforcement, I'm signing up and writing my 2 citation books worth.

I don't know what planet this cop is on, but drivers are much worse violators of traffic laws than cyclists. Let that cop tell me with a straight face that at any given 4 way stop that even HALF of the drivers make a full stop.

The cop suffers from the same mentality as many many drivers, who believe that cyclists just don't belong on the road. Its sad that those that supposedly are here to protect everyone, including cyclists, are completely biased against them.

One of these days, if I see an anti-cycling thread come up saying that most cyclists don't follow the law or to tell cyclists to get off the road and into sidewalks, I'd chuckle, smile, and move on, while asking myself, "who cares."

But sometimes, I can grab some :popcorn and read on (and have some fresh, hot sweet tea after I'm done with BikeForums.net). :)

'xcuse my off-topic comment, but can't resist posting it... :p

I don't know what planet this cop is on, but drivers are much worse violators of traffic laws than cyclists. Let that cop tell me with a straight face that at any given 4 way stop that even HALF of the drivers make a full stop.

.

I see posts with this comment all the time, but at least where I live and drive I simply don't see this behaviour. I hit multiple 4 way stops, on my standard routes every day and have seen only one motorist do this....and she almost took me out. I'm not saying it's not different elsewhere, but i don't see it.

But i do see far more cyclists doing thing like ignoring lights, running stop signs as at speed.

The city of San Jose does a bike/car collision study.....for 2007 43% were cycllist fault, 28 driver and 21 can't figure

the root cause of collisions where thhe cyclist is at fault are listed below. (with wrong way as highest in incidents, followed by failure to yield to stop and mid block pull out in third.




WW Wrong Way: Bicyclist riding on wrong side of roadway.
MP Mid-Block Pull-Out: Bicyclist riding from driveway onto roadway.
MD Mid-Block Dash: Bicyclist attempts to cross roadway when unsafe to do so at a mid-block location.
SS Sideswipe: Motorist drives too close to pedestrian and contact ensues.
FS Failure to Yield, Stop Sign/Signal: Bicyclist does not stop at stop sign or yield to signal.
LC Lane Change: Bicyclist changes lane in an unsafe manner.
SOLO Solo: Accident involving a bicyclist only.
FR Failure to Yield, Right Turn: Bicyclist making a right turn does not yield to oncoming traffic.
FL Failure to Yield, Left Turn: Bicyclist making a left turn does not yield to oncoming traffic.
FINT Failure to Yield in Intersection: Bicyclist does not yield to a motorist in the intersection, not defined by FR or FL.
OTHER Other: Collision type not defined by any of the types above (eg. Intoxicated bicyclist, faulty bike components, towed by vehicle).
UNK Unknown: Not enough information present in report to determine

I see a higher percentage of cops breaking traffic laws than I do cyclist. I particularly appreciate watching a cop turn on their overhead lights to run a red and as soon as they are clear of the intersection they turn the lights off.

Illegal use of emergency lights is far worse than a cyclist simply rolling a stop sign.

I have lost most of the respect for cops that I once had.

MP Mid-Block Pull-Out: Bicyclist riding from driveway onto roadway.

There is a variant of this not in the list - "Bicyclist riding from roadway onto sidewalk."

I saw someone do just that recently. They promptly head-ended another sidewalk rider. :lol:

-Kurt

And what is wrong with what he said?

he's completely biased and an example of a cop with entirely the wrong attitude. To start with, most studies of crashes indicate that fault/responsibility is shared approximately equally (50:50) between adult cyclists and motorists, and the OP just went downhill from there.

plus the OP on the cop forum was a complete troll post, not sure what to think now.

:wtf:

I don't know what planet this cop is on, but drivers are much worse violators of traffic laws than cyclists. Let that cop tell me with a straight face that at any given 4 way stop that even HALF of the drivers make a full stop.You seem to be confusing matters and throwing up strawmen.

In Austin, people have picked certain stop-sign intersections and counted the vehicles who stop, roll and blow through the intersection. It depends on the particular intersection and how much traffic it gets, but they've generally found that around 40% of the motorists stop properly, 50% roll through the intersection at a low rate of speed and 10% run through it at speed. Looking at bikes, the figures are more like 10%, 50% and 40% respectively. These figures are approximate, but they give the general idea.

In short, both cars and bikes break the law more than half of the time, but bikes do it somewhat more, and bikes are far more likely to blow the intersection rather than slow and roll through. To be fair, a bike going through an intersection without slowing may go at the same speed as a car that slowed first, but the two incidents would go into different categories above.

Ultimately, cars and bikes both break the law in large numbers at stop signs and red lights. But bikes do it a somewhat larger percentage of the time, and in a more dangerous way. But in the vast majority of the cases, both types of vehicles do it when it's safe to do it -- so it's not a safety issue, it's a `obey the law' issue.

But getting away from intersections, cars break other laws that bikes don't. Cyclists occasionally speed, for example, but cars speed a lot. If you add in the speeding, considering that something like half the cars on the road are likely to be speeding at any given time (more than half if you look only at roads away from intersections), I'd say that cars break the law more than bikes.

EDIT: `bikes are far more likely [than cars] to blow the intersection ...'

it's usually almost always the cyclist fault.[/B] [/QUOTE]

The city should spend some money hiring literate officers first. Secondly, anybody walking around chanting at people on the street with a loudspeaker should be restrained for study.

Originally Posted by beetz12
Then what happens when a 5 year old runs a stop sign or a red light?
His Big Wheel gets impounded, and his Playground License is suspended for 30 days......

:lol:

I see a higher percentage of cops breaking traffic laws than I do cyclist. I particularly appreciate watching a cop turn on their overhead lights to run a red and as soon as they are clear of the intersection they turn the lights off.

Illegal use of emergency lights is far worse than a cyclist simply rolling a stop sign.

I have lost most of the respect for cops that I once had.

You can only speculate about actions an officer takes and yet you choose to assume the worst. Unless you're tuned in to the same radio channel listening to what the cop may be monitoring, following or responding to you're only armchair quarterbacking, and you're not doing a very good job of it.

These cops seem to be okay with cyclists:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/th_100_3896.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/100_3896.jpg)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/th_100_3897.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/100_3897.jpg)

They'll pose for pictures

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/th_100_3937.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/100_3937.jpg)

Before going back to work on these

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/th_100_3945.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09BikeToWorkDay/100_3945.jpg)

:D

You can only speculate about actions an officer takes and yet you choose to assume the worst. Unless you're tuned in to the same radio channel listening to what the cop may be monitoring, following or responding to you're only armchair quarterbacking, and you're not doing a very good job of it.Your right, the cops must have been responding to emergency calls at the police station that I watched them eventually pull into during my daily commutes to work.

What would be the radio call that would cause the cops to not use their turn signals on 90% of their turns and lane changes in Honolulu?

What would be the radio call that would cause the cops to not use their turn signals on 90% of their turns and lane changes in Honolulu?

Regardless of your arbitrary 90% figure, probably none. Must just be that laid back Honolulu attitude.....something it appears you know little about.

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125999

Here are some highlights:

In my area we have several bicyclists complaining about the "right to ride" on city streets, which I have no problem with...BUT......They run red lights and stop signs. No tickets yet, but I have gotten on the loudspeaker advising them they need to stop for those red signs and lights. Never had a bad look yet. These guys are to first to complain about their rights to the road being violated by some jagoff in a car not giving them room or throwing things to them, but Ive seen them act just as stupidly.

And

You should obey the rules of the road no matter how inconvenient it may be for you. I get so tired of the cyclists complaining about the motorist's. Cyclist's, most of the time, are worse than motorist's when it comes to traffic violation's. The commit violation's in front of officer's on a daily basis around here. I dont have the time to stop and cite them, especially when subjected to all the whining and complaining. When there is an accident involving a cyclist it's usually almost always the cyclist fault. If my department ever gets funding for overtime cyclist enforcement, I'm signing up and writing my 2 citation books worth.


Yeah, cops hate us too, but it's only because of the money. We hardly ever go over the speed limit... so their speed guns are not a formidable weapon against us.

But most of the time, THEY SIMPLY IGNORE US, for better or worse. :rolleyes:

Maybe "hate" is strong word, but remember this is "A/S"...

And A&S=Mars to a lot of other folks here. Please follow along and practice what thou art preaching. You are setting the example for others, it is hoped.

Yeah, cops hate us too, but it's only because of the money. We hardly ever go over the speed limit... so their speed guns are not a formidable weapon against us.

But most of the time, THEY SIMPLY IGNORE US, for better or worse. :rolleyes:

I went to junior high and high school with a number of the members of my police department. Their children have become adults in many cases and they are becoming grandparents. Why, for one single minute would they be ignoring a group that they could teach?

I went to junior high and high school with a number of the members of my police department. Their children have become adults in many cases and they are becoming grandparents. Why, for one single minute would they be ignoring a group that they could teach?

Everybody gets corrupted to some degree or another down the line. Or simply call it that they get "cynical" about the $ystem, as they learn to concentrate on the $tuff that makes or breaks city coffers. :rolleyes:

I went to junior high and high school with a number of the members of my police department. Their children have become adults in many cases and they are becoming grandparents. Why, for one single minute would they be ignoring a group that they could teach?

Cops are not teachers, in fact most of them aren't qualified to be teachers.
There's a reason its called law Enforcement not law education.

Cops here pretty much hate everyone.

Cops are like anyone else: They hate dipsh!t behavior.

If they hate dipshzt behaviour, why do they act that way themselves more often than not?

If they hate dipshzt behaviour, why do they act that way themselves more often than not?

Because they're above everyone else, after all they're The Law.

If cops hate us, I'm cool with that, because I hate cops myself.

My friend nearly died from being stabbed, because the fracking White Rock cops wouldn't come after several 911 calls from me, due to the fact we were slightly out of their area. We had to wait for like 30 mins for cops to show up, also the ambulance. My friend was 16, I was 19.

Frack the Police.

If cops hate us, I'm cool with that, because I hate cops myself.

My friend nearly died from being stabbed, because the fracking White Rock cops wouldn't come after several 911 calls from me, due to the fact we were slightly out of their area. We had to wait for like 30 mins for cops to show up, also the ambulance. My friend was 16, I was 19.

Frack the Police.

When I was a kid, I was at a friends house while it was being broken into at about 1am or so. We were by ourselves and we called 911, the operator didn't stay on the phone with us and the cops didn't show up until about two and a half hours later. Luckily when the person trying to bust in the front door heard us freaking out he took off, he probably thought the house was empty. It just always makes me chuckle when I say that I hate cops and other people reply with "some day you'll have an emergency and then who'll you call to come save you"

If they hate dipshzt behaviour, why do they act that way themselves more often than not?

I dunno. I don't see this.

My favorite:

p.s. Yes! Tickets issued to those who are in violation of a bicycle law are ascribed to your driving record; and, if you are a licensed driver, they count in the overall point count.

Fortunately, that's not true (at least in CO).

Because they're above everyone else, after all they're The Law.


I see some of them around here sitting in their cars all day long. You may argue they are WASTING TAX PAYER'S MONEY, but basically they don't bother anyone. At most they go at the end of the day to the roads and issue some speeding tickets.

It could be worse... :rolleyes:

p.s. Yes! Tickets issued to those who are in violation of a bicycle law are ascribed to your driving record; and, if you are a licensed driver, they count in the overall point count.

Fortunately, that's not true (at least in CO).
Unfortunately my non-existant drivers license was suspended for a skating ticket in Rhode Island.

From my observation, I have not seen a car driving on sidewalks apart from police chase movies. But I sure as hell seen my fair share of cyclists bombing down sidewalks and not only that, a recent Canondale or Schwinn commercial was even showing a couple cycling their urban bikes along a sidewalk past the many cafes. :thumb:
I've also not seen cars driving on the opposite street apart from those "World Craziest Videos" snippets. But I've definitely seen cyclists going on the opposite lanes and have encountered them on bike lanes too.
I bet there are half of the motorist that will coast down a stop sign, but I can guarantee you that double that number amongst cyclists. Heck, those cyclists are even on forums like these to promote "If it is safe to do so..." excuses. :rolleyes:
And I have yet to encounter drivers that would cross a double line lane just so that he/she can coast down the opposite lane for about a block or two to pull into a driveway. But cyclists do it all the time.
Without proper enforcement and standards on bicycling, I can see why cops and motorists are so frustrated with cyclists. It's just so inconsistent. And yet, this group is the one that is most vocal to claim rights on the road. :(

When I was a kid, I was at a friends house while it was being broken into at about 1am or so. We were by ourselves and we called 911, the operator didn't stay on the phone with us and the cops didn't show up until about two and a half hours later. Luckily when the person trying to bust in the front door heard us freaking out he took off, he probably thought the house was empty. It just always makes me chuckle when I say that I hate cops and other people reply with "some day you'll have an emergency and then who'll you call to come save you"

Not an emergency, but one day a ducked into a stand of trees and happened upon a stolen car that had been pushed into the woods. Probably ditched by someone joyriding. I called the police to report it, I even told the dispatcher that the car was off the road in some woods and could not be seen from the road Which meant the officer that responded would have to walk into the woods to actually see the car. I was waiting for a commuter rail train to Boston, so I didn't have time to wait for the cop to arrive, and I also told the dispatcher that as well.

I don't know if the cops ever showed up, but the car sat there for at least another six months, slowly getting beat on by the local kids. I figured calling a second time would just garner the same results as the first call.

From my observation, I have not seen a car driving on sidewalks apart from police chase movies. But I sure as hell seen my fair share of cyclists bombing down sidewalks

Cyclists (less secure ones, younger ones, older ones, mothers with kids) are pushed onto sidewalks by hostile drivers.

Make the roads SAFE before they can return to their rightful place. :thumb:

When I was a kid, I was at a friends house while it was being broken into at about 1am or so. We were by ourselves and we called 911, the operator didn't stay on the phone with us and the cops didn't show up until about two and a half hours later. Luckily when the person trying to bust in the front door heard us freaking out he took off, he probably thought the house was empty. It just always makes me chuckle when I say that I hate cops and other people reply with "some day you'll have an emergency and then who'll you call to come save you"


Typical. Man how I hate cops. All they care about is handing out speeding tickets, hassling cyclists and eatin' doughnuts.

Someone being swarmed and there's a knife involved and there's 3 increasingly hysterical calls from a 19 year old girl?! Who cares! the last call was me screaming that he was knifed in the back and spurting blood everywhere. I got to see his ribs from the INSIDe and severed fracking veins and layers of skin/fat, stuff a 19 year old should not see. to add insult to injury, one of the stupid teenagers came inside the store we were hiding in and spat in my friend's face, as he sat bleeding all over the place and in shock, then spat in my face. I would gladly even to this day beat the living daylights out of her. I got punched in the jaw but it didn't connect hard enough to do any damage.

Anyway, it only came out during the trial why.it.took.so.freaking.long. Slightly outside their jurisdiction, our jurisdiction cops didn't have a station in that area, took em 30 mins at least to arrive. My friend came very close to being dead.

My mom and his mom sat through the entire trial of the scum that stabbed him, they played the 911 tapes for the whole courtroom. My mom and his mom were in hysterics and my mom is tough as NAILS.

We had to have bodyguards in the courthouse, my friend and I. They were afraid the bastards would finish us off. Holy christ, I don't know how I got through that god awful time, it's only that my friend did not die that I'm remotely sane and here.

long story, but I feel I'm entirely justified in my never-ending hatred of cops.

That's insane!, but also somehow not surprising. Reminds me of a high school friend who got stabbed in the chest at a party and somehow survived. He walked to a payphone afterward to call 911.

Aiee...tough hombre.

One thing's for sure, I would never ever use a knife in a fight. Shudder. I've see all too well what they do to people.

Then the VPD tazered that foreign dude at the airport, the guy died. What a stink that created!

Cops are people too. And in general, people do not like cyclists on the roads. It's sad, but true. The more lycra you have on, the worse.

Typical. Man how I hate cops. All they care about is handing out speeding tickets, hassling cyclists and eatin' doughnuts.

I dunno, Luddite, I think if anything your beef is with the police dispatcher and not with the actual patrol officers. You keep tearing them down over this one incident and by your account it sounds like the cops weren't there not because they were hassling cyclists and eatin' donuts, but because no one told them to go.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4018/hulkavl3.jpg