SE riding alert

[micb]

Attention all SE riders--traffic sting appeared to be in progress this morning on the central circle of Ladd's, I and several other bikes got $242 tickets for failing to stop at stop signs. Officer Fort was handing out the tickets, the sorry thing is he gave me a ticket for the same infraction on the South Park Blocks last May. In both cases there was no traffic to speak of, other than me--but mea culpa, I was breaking the law. Still, it's hard to stomach, that's a lot of $, and it really stings.

You have been warned!

Also, since I have the option to create a poll, I will....see below.

[Anonymous]

I also saw a bicyclist get pulled over by a motorcycle cop this morning, I assume for running that useless stop sign on Ankeny at SE 6th. Honestly, why is that a four-way? I dunno if she got a ticket, but it looks like there's something going on.

[Jonathan Maus]

and don't miss the discussion on this on the Shift email list. thread starts here.
http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/shif.../msg00295.html

[RobCat]

I voted "less than", since almost certainly the cyclist would be the only one seriously injured unless he/she barreled into a pedestrian. But (heh) that's more than enough to encourage caution at stops.

[thinpaperwings]

What is considered a legal stop on a bike? I had thought that if you slow down, look both ways, and basically took just as much time as a car that had stopped, then that was okay. Do you need to make a full stop such that your tire stops rolling? Do you need to unclip and put your foot on the ground?

Thanks for the input.

[Jonathan Maus]

Originally Posted by thinpaperwings

What is considered a legal stop on a bike? I had thought that if you slow down, look both ways, and basically took just as much time as a car that had stopped, then that was okay. Do you need to make a full stop such that your tire stops rolling? Do you need to unclip and put your foot on the ground?

Good question. The basic legal requirement for a stop is that all you must cease forward motion. If you can stay clipped in, more power to you! The important thing is that your wheels stop moving...even if just for an instance.

here is a quote from Commander Bill Sinnott of the Portland Police Traffic Division:

“Trackstands are fine. The law requires the wheels to stop moving in order to be considered a stop. However, it’s very rare for a police officer to cite someone just because the wheels don’t “completely” cease movement.”

hope that answers your question.

[thinpaperwings]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Maus

hope that answers your question.

Splendidly, thank you.