SpiderMike

If anything I was only rubbing it in that Pasadena's finest has yet to give me a pink paper on bike.

Sorry but I come from the discipline of " drive it as fast as you can afford it"

brent

Here in philadelphia, I run red lights, stop signs, I "push the green" (stopping at a red light, but then going before it turns green), ride going the wrong way (not very often, i dislike that alot) among other things. Tons of other bicyclists do it too. So do motorists. I know I'm taking a risk but I look before I go always. Cops never have said anything to me. A friend of mine once got pulled over because he pushed off a cop car in traffic to steady himself.....
I've reported poor road conditions to cops and they didn't care or call it in. Like recently when I hit spilled oil on a major street that i take to work daily and slid 10 feet...
I should mention that If i feel like something is not safe, then I will not do it, for example, if I can't see cars coming out of an alley, then I do not just blow past it willy-nilly, I check before I ride past. One time I was going the wrong way on a sidewalk and went through a red light and was tapped by a PT Cruiser.
whoops. I now avoid that situation everytime.
-Brent

gmitchell

I was riding at about 9 pm one summer evening in Baltimore about 2 years ago when a police car came up behind me, put on his lights and siren and pulled me over. The officer got out of the car, shone a flashlight in my eyes so that I could see nothing else, and asked me what I was doing. I stated the obvious (I was out for a ride), and he proceeded to give me both a lecture and physics lesson on who would win the collision if me and a car were to meet. When I asked what law I had broken, the cop told me that my flashing red light had to be attached to my bike (I had it attached to my leg). I was lit up like a Christmas tree with headlights, a flashing red attached to my leg, reflectors on my helmet, pedals, and shoes, and a reflective vest. I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut, but was furious at being treated like a child. My only solace was that it was perfectly clear from looking at this bully that he had never ridden a bike and had stopped in too many doughnut shops!

lin_kieu

The cop who pulled me over was an overweight one too. He looked as though he was in shape at some point in his life ( probably an ex-marine, musclehead ). I've always thought that cops should be in top shape and models of fitness, but 50% of the cops I see are overweight. Kind of comforting to know that I could out run most of the cops I see.

H20.1

I work for a police labor union organization, and I wish I could agree with you. A lot of the guys that I work with are ex-cops and I have heard enough stories and enough from them in general to know that many cops have it out for certain people. Just acting nice and respectful doesnt mean you will get the same treatment.

H20.1

Cops have to pass an intense physical fitness test to become cops but only a handful of departments REQUIRE you to maintain fitness. More than not, you can earn bonuses like extra pay etc. if you meet annual fitness benchmarks, not usually mandatory however.

cowgirl

Grego262, I'd like to report an attempt to murder in progress. My job is slowly killing me.

I have to admit that I don't bother with the stop signs in my neighborhood, but I always slow down and look both ways to make sure no cars or kids are coming. I am more careful when I get out on the streets.

Granted, I definately agree that everyone should ride with some form of id, just in case something happens, but I do not think that if a cop pulls you over on your bike for something, that he/she should hassle you about whether you have a DRIVER'S license or not. As well as I remember, I was driving a car for my driver's test, not my bike.

sprockets

I blow through stop signs and red lights on empty streets quite regularly. I do worse than that on my motorbike, but if I get a ticket I don't blame the cop - even if he was a jerk. You blew through the stop sign in front of a cop, right? What did you think he was going to do, give you a medal? You didn't even get a ticket. I'm no big fan of the police but I do understand that they have a job to do and on an individual basis, they're people too. Some of them are even reasonable.

theredgoose

I've been pulled over three times. Each time was for running a stop sign. I didn't blow through the stop signs.... Rather, I slowed down and checked for vehicles but didn't put a foot down. That was deemed by the police officer's as not stopping. The last two times I was fined but I don't remember how much. The first time I had to appear at junvenile traffic court so I could be scolded by a judge and my father.....

A friend of mine was stopped for doing 30mph in a 25mph zone. I don't get it. I see people in cars going 40mph in 25mph zones and never get stopped.

Bigtime

Your friend was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If a cop stopped me on my bike going 30 in a 25 I would be proud of it!! I would probably frame the ticket. Some cops are good, some are bad, some are indifferent. Just depends on the day.

Joe Gardner

I would fight the ticket, as far as i know, no US states require any type of speedometer on a bicycle. Maybe his was calibrated incorrectly?

Juha

Interesting. The law actually requires a cyclist not only to stop but to put foot down? Does this include STOP-signs and traffic lights? And do they also require car drivers to shut down the engine ?

--J

SteveE

They can't strictly enforce the "put a foot down" rule because a fair number of folks can do a track-stand.

Also, there is evidently some room for interpretation of this rule. I, too, received a ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign (right-hand turn in bike lane) in Ca. The officer said he saw me pedaling through the turn (well yeah, there was a good headwind that day). I asked him if I had to put my foot down and he said "no", I just had to stop pedaling and come to a "near" stop. I've followed this rule and been observed by cops at this same intersection with no repeated citations.