Comments on: Keep this incident report

By: don

don — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:03:09 +0000

Hey Robert, I don’t know about TX, or even Oklahoma, but in Tucson police officers respond to accidents all the time. They reconstruct the accident by talking to witness and the drivers of the two or more cars involved. They determine who is at fault and cite the driver responsible. What I find strange however, if the accident involves a bike and a car, this same process is not followed, and citations are sometimes not issued. WHY ?

By: Robert Davidson

Robert Davidson — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:36:01 +0000

I know I am a couple days late here, but I discussed this issue with the San Antonio PD and was told that in TX, police only issue citations for violations that they observed. Does this also explain the lack of citations for AZ bicycle accidents?

By: Green Design » Blog Archive » Mobility as a Basic Human Right

Green Design » Blog Archive » Mobility as a Basic Human Right — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:50:10 +0000

[...] from the Streetsblog Network: Systemic Failure wants to get bike lanes out of the gutter. Tucson Bike Lawyer wonders if drivers only get charged for making an improper turn if they end up hitting a police [...]

By: Today’s ride, on which I encounter just a little road rage « BikingInLA

Today’s ride, on which I encounter just a little road rage « BikingInLA — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:31:58 +0000

[...] Bike Friendly City award, too. In Arizona, a right hook apparently isn’t illegal — unless you do it to a bike cop. In Texas, sharrows and bike boxes are considered experimental; in L.A., they’re non-existent. [...]

By: Opus the Poet

Opus the Poet — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:51:18 +0000

Hi, Eric. Just a question apropo of the defense lawyer in the LA road rage trial insinuating that the wreck was because the cyclist fell off an inherently unstable vehicle, not because of any action by his client. What wold you say about the inherent instability of a bicycle compared to a lawyer?

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:51:11 +0000

I agree with Miohael. There should be a bike duty requirement for police departments all over the U.S. But I think they shouldn’t be in uniform. (After all, who is going to throw a full can of beer at a cyclist’s head if he’s TPD?) In several U.S. cities, police have gone undercover as pedestrians at crosswalks and you can imagine the citations issued. To my knowledge Tucson hasn’t tried it yet, but when they do (revenue, revenue, revenue) I think they should add undercover cops on bikes.

By: Streetsblog San Francisco » Mobility as a Basic Human Right

Streetsblog San Francisco » Mobility as a Basic Human Right — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:09:02 +0000

By: Streetsblog Los Angeles » A National Look at Meyer’s Exhibit – Mobility as a Basic Human Right

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:43:52 +0000

[...] it. More from the Streetsblog Network: Systemic Failure wants to get bike lanes out of the gutter. Tucson Bike Lawyer wonders if drivers only get charged for making an improper turn if they end up hitting a police [...]

By: Michael McKisson

Michael McKisson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:17:49 +0000

This is one of those “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” moments. The majority (probably all) cyclist have at some point driven a car, so they know what it is like to drive.

But few cops (and drivers) have experienced rush hour on Campbell in a bike lane.

Of course a bike cop is going to give that ticket. I suspect if a bike cop was in a patrol car for a day and saw the same thing happen to a cyclist, he’d also write the ticket. ( I REALLY hope that is true)

It would be awesome if TPD made all of their recruits do a stint on bike patrol to see what it is really like.

By: Lucas

Lucas — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:17:03 +0000

Selective enforcement is unfortunately true.

I wish I had had my camera with me when, as I was cycling home at the end of a work day this past Summer in one of the most “bike friendly” cities in the US, I witnessed an officer on bike patrol ride his “Smith & Wesson” MTB through a red-light to make an illegal left (without even so much as signaling!), INTO the lane of a car which had the green (and, of course, right of way) who had to then forcibly apply his brakes to avoid hitting the cycling officer. I wonder what the driver would have been cited with were there a collision? :/