whoops

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Cyclist arrested for ignoring police order to stop

Thought this was interesting, considering the recent discussions about increased police enforcement. Has anyone else seen the police stop/warn riders being naughty? I've only ridden through Somerville twice recently and haven't really noticed anything (though I follow the rules of the road).

Comments

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

(The guy arrested also appears to be commenting quite a bit on the article)

[inahandbasket]

Last year I got grabbed by cops in Kendall sq. for running a red light, along with 4 other riders. (Yes, we technically did.)
They were lurking at most of the lights down there last summer, harassing commuters who were mostly behaving well.
They issued a warning basically.

(And I still saw messengers just blow through active intersections all summer, causing cars to slam on their brakes.
Not that I want to get into a troll thread involving traffic laws and messengers. ^_^ )

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Cambridge has been enforcing traffic stops for years (my only first hand experience being stopped was when I went through a very wide intersection on a yellow and the officer insisted I had done so on a red despite not being able to see the stop line the intersection starts!). But trying to outrun police officers seems really stupid. The fact that he was charged with so little is amazing.

I also _really_ hate that police are trying to enforce the do not enter during rush hour signs for cyclists. I used to live in a neighborhood like that. Not ignoring that sign meant going an extra half mile on busy streets at rush hour. Fwiw, the easiest way to get around such a thing is to become a pedestrian for 20 feet or so.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I don't like doing this myself, but in non-commercial/business districts it is legal to bike on the sidewalk in Massachusetts. Not sure if specific towns are allowed to ban the practice.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

In MA, the specific towns set the business districts where sidewalk riding is not allowed. I don't know if it's required but Cambridge has those districts explicitly enumerated in the city code but they must be well marked and defined. I don't know whether riding on the sidewalk would invoke the do not enter sign since it clearly doesn't apply to pedestrians on the sidewalk but does apply to vehicles on the road. Walking your bike on the sidewalk as a pedestrian puts you clearly on the bright line of not having that sign apply. Which is exactly what I'd have done for just long enough to get past that sign had I encountered a police officer telling me I couldn't ride through it.

[squirrelitude]

For all that, you can also just *walk* the bike for 50 feet on the sidewalk. :-)

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Stop using sense. We're talking about cycling here!

[marphod.livejournal.com]

Usually those signs say "Except for residents" or "Abutters only" or something along that line. Certainly, the one at the specific intersection does. If you live there, stop, tell the officer, and they should let you go in peace.

---

Evading a police stop is evading a police stop. If the guy was in a car, and failed to stop for an officer, I don't think anyone would be surprised if he got arrested. I'm not sure how being on a bicycle changes that.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I don't see where anyone's been implying otherwise.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

None of the ones around me had the except for residents exception. And as clevernonsense said, no one is implying that disobeying a lawful order of a police officer shouldn't get you arrested.

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

Trust me, the one on Tufts does. I don't go that way now that I have moved farther away from the area.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

see also where I said I'm surprised he was charged with so little.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I *hate* those types of restrictions. Why should the right to travel down a public street be denied based on where they live? Are people in those neighborhoods not allowed to have guests or deliveries during those hours?

If cut-through traffic is a problem, they should look into what's wrong with the main route.

In any case, there should be an explicit exception for bicycles.

It doesn't help when the signs are an inconsistent mess. Like at Washington and Myrtle, where one no left turn sign says 5-7 AM, and another says something like 7-9 AM 3-6 PM.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Tufts St. also provides a safe alternative to riding a bicycle on the elevated portion of McGrath Highway. O.O

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Most of those signs are about traffic backups on other streets than about anything else. Someone (quite possibly the residents on the street) felt it was necessary at some time.

[avjudge]

I believe guests or deliveries to the signed street would qualify as an abutter's use. The point is, if you enter the street when it's so signed, it's supposed to be because you're stopping on that street, not using it to pass through. (Not saying they're signed that way, just that that's the intention behind the sign.)

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Does the law say so? Do the cops know about this policy?

And should visitors and deliveries have to negotiate with a hostile police officer to prove they have a legitimate reason to use a public road in the United States?