Rhodyman

Interesting, but par for the course in RI, eh?!? Gotta love those Newport cops who hide out in alleys after the bars close to write $200+ tickets for public urination!

TVS_SS

it was a joke....

smasha

when I was an EMT in NJ i took the same CEVO (Certified Emergency Vehicle Operator) course that the cops took. it was a step or two beyond a standard defensive driving course, but nothing special, and i don't recall any mention of bicycles or pedestrians beyond the usual "be aware of them" and "don't run them over". the right hook and left cross (left hook and right cross, here in NZ) weren't mentioned in that, or any other motor vehicle course i've ever taken.

i've got about half a million miles (about a million kilometers) of experience behind the wheel, with no accidents and no tickets, but only learned about "the hook" after my primary mode of transport became a bicycle. i'd like to think that the same spacial awareness that kept me (and those around me) safe when i was driving motor vehicles would have prevented me from hooking anyone on a bike, but i'm not aware of any driver training that mentions the issue to motor vehicle drivers.

BTW, i also spent some time driving a taxi in asheville. i don't know about other places, but about half of those taxi drivers were one ticket away from a suspended license. IIRC, NC law allows someone to drive a taxi as long as they have less than 12 points. funny thing is that 12 points means you'd lose your license. go figure.

"the hook" should be familiar to all cyclists, but it's a danger that most other road users don't think of and don't know of. so it's really an education issue. i'd call up the sheriff's dept and mention the issue as an "informal complaint", but stress that education is needed and that the sheriff's dept should be setting an example of safe and courteous driving.

other than that, AIRZOUND.

Rex G

It is not just radios that patrol officers/deputies have to distract them from driving. Most large agencies, and quite a few small ones, use MDTs/MDCs, which are computer terminals, or actual fully-functional computers, GPS navigational gadgets, LOJACK, and then there are systems than scan for, and home in, on various other local tracking devices that are similar in principle to LOJACK. Then, there may be a monitor for fixed radar devices that track moving vehicles. Please understand, I am NOT making excuses for distracted-driving police, just pointing out what is out there. (I do wear a badge, and patrol a big city at night.) While cycling, I very nearly got nailed by a patrol car myself not long ago, as one of my co-workers drifted across the center of the roadway. Luckily, he corrected just in time, before I could start an avoidance tactic, which probably would have been too late.

We have a saying at my PD, "Death by MDT," for those otherwise unexplainable one-patrol-car crashes, when a patrol car runs off the roadway and right into something.

billew

The sneaky ones ride bikes, we call them the pee-pee patrol.

Rhodyman