Police Cracking Down on Red-Light-Blowing Cyclists
 

http://sfist.com/2011/09/22/finally_...own_on_red.php

Following a spate of accidents involving cyclists who don't obey traffic signals, the SFPD is in crack-down mode this morning. Joe Eskenazi reports on The Snitch that "a phalanx of motorcycle cops" were handing out $123 citations to cyclists on Market Street near Van Ness this morning, methodically stopping them as they, one by one, blew through red lights.

Glad to see this happening. No need for cyclists to be running red lights!

If they start to crack down on all the jaywalkers as well, San Francisco will have to change its name!

Good. Obey the laws you demand everyone else obey.

Glad to hear it. I was riding in San Francisco about 3 months ago and we were the only cyclists that seems to obey the red lights, especially down Market Street. Seemed a little strange and quite dangerous.

Yawn. Another A&S thread.

Agreed.

To be honest I am guilty of 'rolling through' stop signs but never red lights. To do that in a city with somewhat of a 'nightlife' culture would be almost like suicide. What I mean by that is that there are a lot of 'buzzed' drivers on the roads. What I will do is wait a couple of minutes and if the light does not activate, then I will proceed forward when it's safe.

Market St is a busy corridor where cars, buses, trolleys, pedestrians, and bicycles are all competing for space. I guess if anywhere, Market Street would be one place to do it. The next target should be along the Embarcadero, but that's also Port property so I'm not sure if enforcement along that stretch is different (apparently sidewalk riding on Port property is legal).

I need to move to San Fran so I can ride around doing 35 mph all the time.

We credit that to the wind power from the bay, it also help athlete shatter Home Run record without the need of sport enhancing drug. ;)

I got my first taste of city style red light running on Friday, and I wasn't particularly happy about it. Guy split a group of pedestrians while running a red light on his bike. Audible gasps from the people that just stopped themselves from stepping in his way.

It seems the SF cops are going after the people that are actually a problem instead of people that are easier to catch. Like the New York cops have been doing.

I soft pedal through red lights all the time when it is clear, but get annoyed at the guys that think it is their right to weave through the traffic and pedestrians.

Yes, cops should spend time doing this because cyclists who run lights very frequently kill and permanently disfigure other people in collisions. Therefore, the risk to public safety warrants this increased ticketing.

Motorists hate cyclsits who run lights because these cyclists are harder to pass. No other reason. They feign concern for public safety and other bull****, but it's just that -- bull****.

Otherwise we'd have police ticketing people speeding in residential areas and on major highways, which would just slow down traffic and be really annoying. That would just be stupid.

It's your nappy time :P

Oh, but back to the point of this thread:

"yeah -- (clapping), get those idiot law-breaking cyclists! Make our streets safe again!"

if you don't notice and/or don't stop at a light when there are a "phalanx" of cops around, you are an idiot

:thumb:

San Fransico and New York have been the most dangerous cities to ride in that I have lived....

It's one thing to roll through a red light light when it's all clear. But to almost run over pedestrians and weave through moving traffic just to avoid having to stop for a moment is just asking for trouble.

When I'm riding and I have a green light, the last thing I want to worry about is some other cyclist trying to dodge across my path and the path of a bunch of cars. If they don't end up killing themselves, they might end up killing someone else.

Fail -- you still are breaking the law and will get ticketed. Your behavior is safe and unlikely to cause anyone any problems (idaho stop), but we need to appease an angry mob, where common sense doesn't apply!

Ticket cyclists!

Good- "Just because we both rides bikes doesn't mean we're friends".

My theory is that the percentage of ******** in the bike population is the same as in the general population. Ticket them, they screw it up for all of us. Efforts to gain equality and and respect on the roads are hard enough with out "our own" sabotaging it.

rant over.

Entirely correct.

Good to see. I appreciate this now that I'm older. I ran a red light in college and was pulled over. Thankfully a very attractive sorority chick ran the light right in front of me (the reason I kept going) was pulled over too. She turned on her charm and the cop let her off. He looked at me and told me it was my lucky day!

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