Here’s a question from a Road Warrior reader:
With all of the focus and conversation on the bicycle vs. cars issues, are there any statistics on the number of citations issued to bicyclists in the county?
I know some jurisdictions have random “maximum enforcement” events regarding bicycle riding infractions. I’m more interested in getting a feel of the average, not necessarily the random spike.
My “feeling” is that if say a bicyclist is observed blowing through a stop sign with no traffic around, a peace officer would probably not do much. An automobile doing the same would probably be ticketed all the time.
Yes, autos and bicycles are not equal. As a believer in the “Law of Gross Tonnage,” my stock argument with the “hard core” bike riders is that:
1. You don’t want to die.
2. I don’t want to kill you (or even hurt or scare you).
3. If we all obey the rules of the road, the chances of #1 or #2 happening are greatly lessened.
Michael
The answer comes courtesy of the Sonoma County court system. About 850 tickets were issued to bicyclists in the year ending June 30, with some cyclists being cited for more than one violation. So no total number of cyclists cited was readily available. Of the citations, the top violation was 214 for not riding on the right side of the road and then 150 for equipment violations, such as not having a light or a reflector. One was for speeding. No details available there.
Among the county’s police agencies, Santa Rosa handed out the most at 310, followed by Petaluma at 112, Rohnert Park at 38, the CHP at 23 and Windsor at 6, Sonoma at 4, the Sheriff’s Office at 4 and Healdsburg at 3. Other agencies issued one or two.
Here’s another question from a reader:
Is there anything a normal driver can do about other drivers blatantly fl0uting the law.
The specific example that bugs me the worst is during commute hours. I frequently see cars driving along the right shoulder of northbound 101, particularly from Novato to the Redwood dump, but occasionally all the way up to the county line. While the rest of us creep along at 5 – 10 mph
Option 1) Pull over to the breakdown lane and block them, forcing them to go the same speed as every one else. This is stooping to their level, probably just as illegal (since you are driving in the breakdown lane), and could result in an accident either from road rage or if you blocked them before they had a chance to slow down.
Option 2) Take a picture of them. Usually not enough time to grab camera, illegal and dangerous since you are using a cellphone while driving (even at 5 mph) and where would you send the picture. Then there’s the fact that you would have to testify in court that you took really took the picture, and it’s not photoshopped, etc, etc.
Option 3) Grit your teeth and hope there’s a CHP officer somewhere up ahead to catch him. But knowing deep down that some jerk just got away with cutting in line and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Eric
The answer comes from CHP Officer Eric Hohmeister of the Marin County office.
He says it’s “highly unadvisable” to pull over to block another driver. Instead, he says, call 1-800-TELL-CHP and report the violator, giving the license plate number, description of the car, time and location.
Hohmeister says the CHP does get calls about drivers passing on the right shoulder on Highway 101 north of Novato, as well as elsewhere in Marin. He says not only is it illegal but it’s dangerous because such drivers could run into broken-down cars or emergency vehicles on the side of the road.
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Paulo Barros
I have noticed the HOV lanes on the new widened 101 between Santa Rosa and Petaluma does not mention “Motorcycle OK” as all the others around the bay area.
I am wondering what is the reason for the omission or is it illegal for motorcycles to use the HOV lane on this stretch of 101?
August 11th, 2012 10:12 am
Arider
One of the main problems with this article, is that the police (and CHP) don’t do anything if you report a reckless driver. I had some guy in a truck trying to run me off the road while I was on a motorcycle, and when I called the police – they didn’t do anything about it, claiming that if he didn’t hit me he hadn’t committed a crime. A large part of the problem with cyclists and motorcyclists being injured or killed, is because law enforcement doesn’t protect them. Something needs to be done. Law enforcement can’t be selective, and only for “easy” cases.
August 11th, 2012 12:25 pm
paul
My computer won’t let me type this article slowly without refreshing it out of existence, so my comments will not be completely defended. I did not see any citations for rolling stops for bicyclists. Not that there should be, but think how much as we would save if rolling stops were legal. The economy has been primarily hampered by the cost of gas and money saved by drivers enerally oes directly back into the local economy, so money lost citing drivers is being offset by the recirculating extra money.
The rules would not be that hard to implement as the courts ive the chp and cops expert witness status, and and typical riht of way rules work on rural roads. Varying allowable speeds for conditions could be learned quickly, like mph max in busy but safe periods, 5 or 6mph with only one other vehicle present, and 10 mph when the lone driver. That is a lot of gas saved, maybe even 2 or 3 % overall.
worth discussing
August 11th, 2012 3:54 pm
paul
sorry for the missing letters and typos but this acer computer and int exp refresh and wipe out typed comments if longer than a couple of minutes and my keyboard is sticky and crunchy, no time to correct.
August 11th, 2012 3:58 pm
Crytal
Does anyone know the minimum or maximum fine that can accompany a ticket for driving off the right shoulder of a freeway close to the freeway exit? Thank you.
August 14th, 2012 7:54 pm
Bob Shanteau
Motorcyclists and bicyclists are often the victims of intentional intimidation or harassment. Police officers who say they must witness an infraction to issue a ticket are correct – it’s part of the penal code. But a deliberate attempt to intimidate or harm someone is assault, which is a misdemeanor, not an infraction. The testimony of the victim of an assault should be enough to trigger an investigation.
September 2nd, 2012 8:23 am