Originally Posted by 04sctj

(I posted this little story on the "Adovacy & Safety" section a couple weeks ago. I think it's appropriate for this thread...)

I just had to share a little story: back when I was living in VERY CYCLIST FRIENDLY Ft. Collins, CO, there was one 4-way stop in a quiet neighborhood that I use "roll" through every morning at like 6:45 in the morning on the way to work. I rarely, perhaps went weeks, met a car at this 4-way stop. Well, after taking this route for a good 8-10 months, and rolling through the 4-way, I rolled through one morning and there was a Public Safety officer/car hiding down one of the side streets; I saw the police car just as I was about mid-way through the intersection. Needless to say, I just went ahead and "pulled" over, and sure enough, the cop drove up behind me with her lights on. She proceeded to say that the neighborhood residents had been complaining about cars rolling through the 4-way, and that she had already pulled over like 4-5 cars early that morning, and that she COULDN'T let me go free and clear. Long story short, I graciously accepted the $25 ticket that she handed me; I was really cool headed about it, acknowledged what I did wrong, and the cop was pretty cool too. Anway, this little incident taught me a couple things:

1. That we as cyclist truly do have to follow 100% of the "rules of the road"...i.e., the Uniform Vehicle Code acknowledges us as having rights to the road, but it also means that we have to follow the rules just like "vehicles."

2. Since that morning of the ticket, to this day, I stop at all stop signs/traffic lights. That ticket I got that morning just may save my life one day b/c of the precaution I now take. That officer has no idea what impact she had on my safety by handing me that ticket.