OT: MGoCyclist Fights Traffic Ticket and Wins!
A cyclist wearing University of Michigan kit was cited by Michigan State Police last summer near Ann Arbor for obstructing traffic. Feeling like he did nothing wrong, the cyclist fought the $200 ticket in district court and lost. After an appeal to the circuit court, however, the ticket was dismissed. Victory! This story is attracting wide spread attention in the cycling community. Good for the guy who I would assume is an Alum.
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/03/cyclist_wins_traffic_obstructi.html
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I wish more Ann Arbor cyclists would get tickets. Its like the wild west here.
No shit....
...of that scene in Butch Cassidy with Katharine Ross, Paul Newman, the bull and the high wheeler. Apart from that I'm coming up short on Wild West bicycles.
Doesn't Wild Wild West have a scene with some kind of rocket bike? I know it isn't really wild west themed but I mean...it is in the name. Also, I'm sorry I made you think of that movie.
That cop has major badgitis and should probably pull his head out of his ass.
I generally look at a story like this with a jaundiced eye. There are nearly as many self-righteous cyclists out there as self-righteous drivers. Not close to a majority in either instance, but both are shrill and generally foolish. (I drive and cycle, and both of these dipshit minorities irritate me.)
This one doesn't seem like a close call. The rider in question barely crossed the storm line on the side of the road (i.e., the white line on the right side of the lane). And his group was never more than two abreast, and kept over to the right side on a relatively unbusy two lane road. I really saw nothing wrong here from the cyclist. Interestingly, the cop singled out the guy in the Michigan gear rather than the one cyclist who may have been riding a foot or two in the lane.
The cop seemed like a real jerk here. The cop tells the cyclist that, by waving the cop past, he "was being a smart alec". WTF?
Here's the deal on that - being a smart alec is not a crime. (Thank God.) Even if it was, the Michigan clad cyclist was not be aggressive in the least. The cop either had a strong anti-Michigan bias, or an incredible case of blue fever.
it just pisses me off when other cyclists don't obey traffic laws. Last thing I want to do is get a motorist angry and resentful toward cyclists.
Note to motorists:
-also please obey traffic laws; don't stop to "let the cyclists go by" because it is actually confusing and dangerous. We want you to drive consistently with traffic patterns so we know what to expect.
-please don't honk. We hear you coming just by your engine noise, and many of us have small rearview mirrors attached to our helmets or glasses. I promise I am staying in the bike lane!
...disobey traffic laws more than car and truck drivers?
I see cyclists disobey traffic laws often.
But see car and truck drivers disobeying traffic laws (speeding, phone/texting while driving, other stuff) at an even higher rate.
As far as I can see 90%+ of car and truck drivers break the traffic laws sometimes, and most do so often.
90% might be geneous to the drivers. Is there any driver on the road that has never excceds the posted speed limit?
If you are going to freak out about cyclists breaking the law, then be consistent and freak out about drivers breakding the law too.
When I rode a bike a lot, the most important law to me was the "law of tonnage." I never assumed I had anything resembling the right of way, even when I did legally.
As for this story, the judge in the lower court had to be as big an asshole as the cop was.
It can be hard to drive in an area where there are lots of cyclists. I have never been to ann arbor but have heard it has a similar feel to Madison, WI, where there were tons of cyclists. They usually were not a problem at all, but even then you had to be careful. It helped that Madison had a very nice bike lane and trail system.
Now, when I lived at the beach it was a whole different world beach cruisers know no rules.
Do cyclists have to obey stop signs? Very few of them do in Seattle. That's usually where bad things happen.
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...for bicycles and cars. Same laws disobeyed, in roughly the same proportions, for bicycles and cars.
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Kidding. Probably.
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Michigan roadways are in a terrible condition. This comes as a surprise to you denizens, I know. I visit other parts of the world where the weather and traffic volume concerns are comparable, and the roadway states tend to be noticeably superior. We need to fix our roads and other infrastructure with the talent and labor of our own (preferably local) citizens so that cyclists, a growing reality, are not forced to transit dangerous roads.
As for the Trooper, and I usually respect them as being the most professional among Michigan law enforement, I sincerely hope the next ten times he steps out of his taxpayer-funded car that a truck cruises by and splashes a ton of mud on his uniform freshly cleaned from the last mudder fo' car. Okay that joke was like a Michigan roadway.
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Ooh - so edgy. Go fuck yourself.
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Bring on the bacon burgers please. I prefer them juicy, unless that's not PC, in which case I love them double unless they exhibit cheese. Rant away.
I support cyclists, except the jackass 14 year olds a few years ago that thought it was hilarious to weave down the middle of Lewis Avenue. Had they been my kids, I'd have made them watch while I used their bike to break all their stuff.
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Is that once a motor vehicle-versus-cyclist accident does occur, the motor vehicle operator is substantially more likely to lose at costly litigation. It isn't always the car driver's fault. Cycling involves physical exertion and a cyclist's objective judgment may be impaired the longer the cyclist rides or on hot days, under personal stress etc. Consequences for the bicyclist may be severe if an accident occurs, and the public (jury) won't want to pay for this, so a motorist conceivably may be unfairly determined responsible. Be safe out there, especially given the weather looks to improve soon.
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Here's the DashCam video from the article, if anyone is just curious about the incident itself. You would think this officer just caught someone on the "Most Wanted" poster in the post office.
the cyclist isn't allowed to ride abreast - see MCL 257.660b (i think). but contrast that with the cop behaving like an 'adam henry', and they cancel out. hope they both learn.
Well that's standard in certain contexts. Who am I to challenge this "law." It would be against interest.
As for both cyclists and motorists, you need to exercise the elusive common sense thingie and then you should be fine. The Trooper ignored this precept, and he has earned his fair helping of consternation. What a jackwagon.
Officer Dingleberry forgot to put his seat belt on before driving down the road. Click it or ticket, buddy. Someone should totally fine that guy.
Recap: Yeah, cyclists break traffic laws. But so do drivers, and probably at a highher rate.
Do Seattle drivers exceed the posted speed limit in your observation?
But cyclists tend to ignore stop signs and clog up lanes when riding in huge packs. Cyclists have to obey the same laws as if they were driving a car or a motorcycle. And where I live, I have yet to see one obey a stop sign. They plow right on through as if they believe they have the right away and have the right to blow stop signs. And I am not anti cyclist. I am an avid cyclists who hates cyclists who give cyclists a bad name by ignoring traffic laws!
I see cyclists go through stop signs without making a full stop too.
My point is that I also see car and truck drivers break traffic laws every time I am out driving.
If you are going to freak out about the former then you better be prepared to freak out about the latter.
I am not necessarily defending cyclists who violate the traffic laws in ways that create danger.
I am just saying that car and truck drivers are no better in terms of violating the traffic laws in ways that create danger.
Most people drive. Only some cycle. When the former break traffic laws most just treat it as a normal thing. When cyclists do so, it is The End of Civilization and Must Be Stopped. Or it gives All Cyclists a Bad Name.
Why don't all of the traffic law breaking drivers give all drivers a bad name?