LBCyclist member and his experience with educating enforcement.
Middle of the day. Hardly any traffic and I just got pulled over for not riding on the "right side." I'm no racer but 15mph on 2nd Street isn't going that much slower than car traffic through there.
I tried to explain to the officer that any closer and I would be in the "door zone." He seemed nonplussed.
I cited the vehicle code and told him that it said I was to ride to the right as "practicable" which is a big difference than "possible", because it was up to me to determine if there were any hazards. He didn't seem to care.
I told him that I was riding exactly where the new sharrows would be on 2nd street in a few months. The new wha? I don't see them now.
I was holding him up. Although I was on the right travel lane and he was on the left and he wanted me to know about it.
I'm about as law biding a cyclist as you can get in Long Beach. I ride in the correct direction of traffic. I don't ride on the sidewalk. One of the first things I keep trying to advocate for is that we have to educate the enforcement on the laws regarding bicycling. Maybe NOW might be a good time to start.
For those that are curious, the CVC as pertaining to bicycles is the following. I was exercising my right (3) because I was avoiding the rather unpleasant "fixed object"...aka door, but also because when I ride as far as the right as practical, I always get buzzed too close. Hence, riding more "practicable."
21202. (a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a "substandard width lane" is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
Russ
21 comments:
This reminds me of the time that Chief Batts pulled me over on Anaheim for the same thing. He at least listened to reason and allowed me to educate him on the laws.
This also reminds me of the time two bicycle-mounted police passed me heading East on 2nd St. from Alamitos... wait, that was this morning.
That sucks- I am so sorry and I hope you fight it
Let's invite any interested police officers to one of our league sponsored classes so they can learn why bicyclists some times "take the lane" and what are our rights and responsibilities.
Also, I think some public service announcements (preferably by police or other authorities) on this subject could help educate police, cyclist and noncyclists alike.
Don Moore
21201(a): No person shall operate a bicycle on a roadway unless it is equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make one braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.
The officer incorrectly cited the cyclist for an equipment infraction.
Case dismissed.
"Case dismissed". Fine: one gigantic pain in the ass.
Cops aren't judges. There's no need to argue with them about the fine points of your interpretation of the law. Take your ticket and take it to court and let a judge decide if you are in the right or not.
Sorry to hear about your ticket. I would have done the exact same thing though. As a matter of fact I got the same ticket for riding down 4th street. It was between the Red Room and the V Room. And no, I wasn't at either one of those places earlier! Any ways they took for ever figuring out what to right me up for. The officers were talking to someone at dispatch or headquarters. They ended up citing me for the exact same thing. I haven't gone to court yet, but I plan on fighting mine. They're just going to keep righting these tickets up if no one shows them in court it wrong. My argument is pretty much the same thing you're saying. Plus I will point out I was riding to the right of the roadway. If the lane had imaginary center line drawn down it, I would have been to the right of that line. So I was to the right of this centerline and out of the door zone. That doesn't give very much room for the bike rider. Much less a bike rider and a car to use the lane together. Which I assume is what the officer has in mind?
I have a pretty good story about the time a few months ago I was assaulted on my bike and hardly even 12 hours later was assaulted by a cop--read it on my blog.http://swiggie.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/good-cop-bad-cop/
I just went to court for it with a lawyer and settled for a day of Sentence to Serve (community service type of thing), even though they acknowledged I did nothing wrong--I couldn't deny I didn't want to stop for the cop w/o reason.
I think it's funny that he cited the wrong section of the vehicle code (21201 instead of 21202).
Many law enforcement officers, like most people, don't understand the legal rights of bicyclists.
We can change it. Maybe try to contact the officer's captain?
But this is yet another reason to support removing 21202 (and 21208) from the vehicle code. Nobody, including the police, understands the exceptions, which make the main part practically irrelevant.
swiggs your an idiot. you deserve everything you got. This is completely different.
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