Opinions on this interaction between police officer and cyclist

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Permalink Reply by V W on September 19, 2016 at 11:57am

Why do you seem bothered that I posted this? Just interested in the reactions. While the cyclist's actions are certainly not advisable here, I question how much that municipality is doing to encourage cycling. People often bike on the sidewalks in the absence of bike lanes. Also there's stuff like this https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/18/in-fl...

Sometimes I have to question the priorities of police when it comes to who they're stopping and arresting, and how often they are ticketing cyclists and not ticketing those who door cyclists (in other words using the law to harass cyclists and choosing to not enforce the law when it's an opportunity to protect cyclists).

I can see the parallels between the no sidewalk law and helmet laws. The intention is good but the net effect may be bad. Personally I think it should be legal to ride on the sidewalk (as it is, say, in Seattle) as long as you don't attempt to buzz by pedestrians and keep a reasonable low speed and as long as there is a busy street and no bike lanes. I've seen enough of California and its urban sprawl and car culture and strip malls to know it's not the most bike friendly place.

I also find, and this is purely my own personal anecdotal experience - a higher proportion of African Americans (especially in poorer neighborhoods) biking on the sidewalk in such a fashion (seated low and going slow).

So those are some of the other issues I'm getting at here.

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Permalink Reply by V W on September 19, 2016 at 4:26pm

Wow very interesting article, thanks for sharing that. And I agree with you about California (not a fan of that)!

My issue is broader than that.

I think biking is inherently a net positive for the environment and that should go without saying- but my point is there's a nexus between bike advocacy and environmentalism, and by extension a nexus between bike advocacy and issues of environmental justice. But as we advocate for the environment and advocate for cyclists, issues of racial inclusiveness and environmental justice often get lost in the shuffle. I wonder if the sentiments of the first response in this thread would be shared equally among viewers across the color spectrum, or if on average a minority would be more likely to sympathize (even if only in some tiny way) with the biker here (not that he wasn't breaking the law and maybe being reckless, but that it is a "broken tail light" or "failure to signal" of sorts in the grand scheme of things).

Much like the recent concept of "white feminism" ( http://www.bustle.com/articles/120684-7-things-feminists-of-color-w... ) I go to many environment related events where I don't see a whole lot of diversity, and with that I think comes an insensitivity to environmental (and by extension bike advocacy) issues that may be more particular to minority communities. And again, just like feminism, environmentalism in this country has a long and well documented history of being almost entirely white. Yet even to this day it seems to escape us when those who have a "seat at the table" are mostly white and those who suffer the impacts of the decisions made at that table are disproportionately not white.

Also my point is - let's not ignore that when police crack down on cyclists that it's not unreasonable to have a concern about the net effect on making people not want to ride bikes as much, and it's not unreasonable to have a concern that the law being enforced may be having a disproportionate impact on certain communities, and isn't being enforced evenly.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 20, 2016 at 9:18am

I haven't spent much time in California.  Did you find that the traffic enforcement made for a safer streetscape?  Obviously, the infrastructure (# of lanes, crosswalks, speed limits) plays a part.

I wonder if enforcement of laws has conditioned drivers in California to be safer.  I wonder if such enforcement would have that effect in Chicago.

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