Artkansas 

My Crime? Riding a Bicycle on a Public Street. Interesting article.

gerv 

If you live in a country where the NSA can read your every electronic missive (but not first class mail... need a warrant for that!), this is the kind of thing that happens.

Roody

I thought this never happened where I lived, because I have ridden thousands of miles without trouble, all those miles ridden as far as practicable to the right, but not one inch farther. In other words, most often in the center of the right hand traffic lane.

But not long ago, it became clear that cyclists here are not immune from police harrassment when riding safely and legally on public roadways. John Lindenmayer, the advocacy director of the League of Michigan Bicyclists, was ticketed for impeding traffic and fined $115 by a magistrate. With he assistance of a lawyer, he appealed to the judge and the fine was overturned. The article about this is quite interesting, especially the cop's attitude that John--a leading bike advocate--was an uppity cyclist "with long hair" who deserved punishment for blocking traffic on one of the busiest streets in the city (which also happens to be a major route for bicycle commuters).

https://www.lmb.org/index.php?option=...=162&Itemid=94

lasauge 

This reminds me of an observation on David Arditti's 'Vole O' Speed' blog (a British blog, but applicable to the US in this case) that cycling might as well be an illegal activity when fewer than 1% of people ride bicycles, but easily more than 1% of the population do things that are explicitly illegal such as abusing drugs, pirating copyrighted material, or commiting some kind of theft - and it shows, in 2009, a .7% share of the total US population was locked away in prisons, but only .55% of us used bicycles as our primary commuting vehicles. Is it any wonder that the police might stop someone acting 'suspiciously' in a public place?

chewybrian 

It was an interesting read, but I have to disagree with him on one point.

A racing trike like that should have a flag to help visibility. Sure, most people see him most of the time. But, the whole rig is under 3 feet off the ground, and there will be situations where you can't see it seen unless something sticks up higher.

Roody

I think it can be argued that a flag is a good safety feature. But there is no legal requirement to have a flag, so the cop had no excuse to stop the cyclist for not having one. This cop seems to be the moronic type of person who sees something new and strange (to him), such as a recumbent trike, and figures he'd better do something about it.

Roody

If the NSA is reading this forum, at least they will know it's legal to ride a bike.

chewybrian 

I'm not saying there needs to be a law, and it certainly is not up to the cop to enforce non-existing laws. I just think it would be smart to have one.

DX-MAN

Gotta say, I'd have one; but, having said that, it's just one of the cool things about this country that we can do things that other people think aren't smart, but aren't regulated by law.

There's a book-sized list of things I see people do daily that I think are dumb; but I'm not in charge, and I think the country would probably explode if I was.

That blog episode is another vivid example of runaway police extremism.

gerv 

I'd bet it's a rarity. I know in my neighborhood, the police always wave when they see me. (I keep my Critical Mass logo well hidden, however... oops I bet the NSA just found out though.)

DX-MAN

No, it's not common; but there have been too many stories in recent years to call it rare.

The local PD seems to have an unwritten rule for the officers: professionalism recommended (but optional), and public displays of human friendliness are against regulations.

wahoonc

It happens a lot more than people realize.

Do a search for ChipSeal here on the boards. He was actually given jail time for riding his bicycle on a public roadway in Texas.

I have gotten a variety of tickets over the years, most of which went away. Only one was bad enough that it was recommended by my attorney that I take a plea bargain to unsafe equipment (slick tires no tread ) just to get out of that court room. The judge that was presiding was less than impartial when it came to cyclists and pedestrians. Fortunately he is now dead.

Aaron

Roody

I was pulled over while riding late at night in a residential area. The cop said there had been a number of B&Es in the area, and TVs and computers were being stolen. I welcomed her to search my vehicle to see if I was concealing a wide screen. Luckily, she just laughed and let me pedal away.

My son and our roommate were less lucky. They were pulled over while riding through an industrial area near our house. Again, the cops were profiling bicyclists, this time for stealing heavy tools. Through amazing detective work, it only took them about 20 minutes to deduce that there were no tools concealed on the two bicycles. But they did determine that our roommate had a bench warrant for unpaid fines, so they arrested him. They wouldn't let my son take both bikes home ("too dangerous" to ghost ride) so he rode the roommate's more valuable bike. He hid his own bike in some weeds. By the time we went back for it, it had been stolen. And of course the real criminals had all that time to get away while the cops were "investigating" two obviously innocent bicyclists.

gerv 

Wow! Why didn't they take his bike along with him?

Roody

My experience is that cops HATE to put bikes in their trunks.

jon c. 

I would expect they would have a legal duty to impound the bike.

The police of all jurisdictions around here seem to be pretty bike friendly. Most of the city cops have "3" Please It's the Law" stickers.

chewybrian 

Is there anything unsafe about slick tires on a bike (on the road)? It is almost impossible for a bike to hydroplane; you need to get up to a crazy speed first, like Merckx following a semi down a mountain with a 50mph tailwind. Tread is only useful in mud or gravel. It seems like you could have beat that one.

Clarabelle

Having a cop who is ignorant of the law is not a big surprise. I once had a local officer come into my classroom (5th grade) to talk about bike safety a couple of days before we took our annual bike hike. When it came to giving hand signals, he told them that either hand held upright meant right turn, and either hand held horizontally meant left turn. We spent the next 30 minutes re-educating and practicing hand signals.

wahoonc

At that point I had worked my way down from: "Obstructing Traffic" (on an empty 5 lane road early on a Saturday morning), "Resisting Arrest" (I moved to the far right of the lane, but did not stop immediately) and a couple of other charges.

Aaron

Roody

Nor, for that matter, is it rare to find a judge who is ignorant of traffic laws. In the article I linked to earlier, the magistrate did not know the law regarding bicycle placement in the roadway and was unwilling to listen to the defendant when he tried to explain the law. (In Michigan, a magistrate is a junior judge who mainly hears traffic cases.) The appeals judge also did not know the law, but at least was willing to look into it.

Education of cops and judges should certainly be a high priority for bicycling advocates, whenever they're not too busy trying to force us to wear helmets.

https://www.lmb.org/index.php?option=...=162&Itemid=94

dynodonn 

From natural causes I presume.

wahoonc

I don't recall if it was him or the other *******, but one of them was poisoned by their wife. The other dropped dead of a heart attack coming out of a brothel.

Aaron

RyderTheRider

That really sucks that the bike was stolen. I don't see how they can force you to abandon it on the street.

I've been pulled over in a car multiple times for driving in areas that the cops said have had multiple B&E's. Take names, addresses, search car and try to intimidate you by questioning your reasons for being there and then refusing to believe them.

Roody

This happens all the time. Randomly stop people without cause and eventually they get lucky. Great police work! Meanwhile, they have detained 50 innocent people for each guilty one they catch. It's an injustice and a waste of taxpayer dollars, but approved by our right wing Supreme Court.

enigmaT120

Back in the 80s they used to do that to me on my motorcycle. I was pulled over 12 times but never ticketed. I wasn't even speeding (when they pulled me over). Just BS excuses like Roody says. At least they've quit doing it since the early 90s. I don't know what changed. Maybe more cops bought motorcycles.