One of the members of my cycling club sent out an email to the group the other day, warning of police ticketing cyclists who failed to stop before turning right on a red light. It seems there were three squad cars, all writing out tickets.
Now, this kind of thing has gone on before, but I haven’t heard a lot about it in several years. And what struck me as odd about this instance was that it took place on a Wednesday morning, at about 11 a.m. That doesn’t strike me as a busy biking time, but apparently there were enough wayward bikers out there to keep the police busy for a little while.
The intersection in question is one I go through all the time. And I’m guilty of making the right turn on red without stopping, too. I do it if no traffic is coming from the left. If there are cars coming through the intersection, I stop.
But what got my goat about this incident was that the guy who wrote the email said just 100 feet away from the enforcement effort, he was nearly hit by a teenage girl in a BMW, texting. While not stopping at a red light is not a good thing to do, texting while driving is a whole lot worse.
I wonder if the police ever set up texting stops?
I’ve seen them do seat belt checks but never texting or talking on hand helds.
Here in Jefferson Co., law enforcement seems to have given up on enforcing the Texas Motor Vehicle Code. I see numerous violations every day — even right in front of an officer! I must confess, I’m a bad little cyclist too. I try not to stop, only give signals to keep drivers from freaking out, ride on the side walk, etc.; and I’ve done it right in front of police officers. Now, it could be they’re thinking “Well, up on the sidewalk he won’t get plastered by a car, and I won’t have to fill out a 9 page report, so I’m not messing with him”; but when you observe officers blatantly disregarding almost all moving violations… Well, just makes you wonder. I know our officers have a lot better things to do than hand out tickets, and I’m certainly glad to have them around; but if your patrolmen over there are looking for something to do, send them over here — we’ll keep them busy.
In Iowa, it’s illegal to text while driving, but one can’t be stopped for texting; only if the person is stopped for something else. Weird way to write a law! The cyclists were wrong and, legally, deserved the tickets, but it’s still rather dumb I guess.
Was it at escarpment & convict hill or Davis ?
I rarely see apd south of slaughter so three cars seems overkill .
It was at Escarpment and LaCrosse.