FeParamount

Article and video of cyclist being ticketed by a Michigan State Trooper.

Keep in mid if you don't read the linked article;

* The cop is wrong about the law.
* The ticket had to be appealed because a lower court judge sided with the cop.
* The prosecutor told the other riders in the group if they testified on behalf of the ticketed cyclist they would be charged as well.
* The appellate judge opened the case by asking "who appeals a civil infraction?" which to me speaks volumes about the three previous points.

Biker Obstructing Traffic? Nope ? Roll the Videotape! | Bike Law

genec

The cop doesn't know the law, the sitting judge doesn't know the law... how in the world do we expect motorists to have a clue.

Our driving training in the US is simply NOT teaching proper driver behaviour around cyclists... and perhaps only barely touching on the laws... which older drivers (and LEOs and judges) have no clue about.

rydabent

It was a good deal that the cyclist took it to a higher court and got justice.

wphamilton

I am impressed by the cyclist's restraint, correctly deciding that it is pointless to argue when the cop is being that ignorant and aggressive. It's not easy in the heat of the moment.

trailangel

Yes, good on the biker for not escalating the traffic stop. That cop was looking for any small reason to do a "throw-down" and make an arrest. What a dick that cop is.....not was... still is a dick.

Poor road conditions too, I can see it. Road is broken up.

genec

I can't help but wonder if the cop learned anything by all of this...

RedRockRider

Yet another big man with a badge and a gun.

And cops wonder why they are so disliked.

plodderslusk

Stupid people should not work as cops !

bikemig 

That's called a contradiction in terms. That cop is not the brightest bulb in the room.

genec

Well, the cop is just parroting what a lot of driving public believes are the laws. Again... if the public is not taught that cyclists have the same rights to the road as other road users... the result is exactly this sort of "dim bulb" response that the driving public gives a lot of cyclists.

Talk to folks that don't know you as a cyclist... ask them if they know how to drive around cyclists and what the laws are regarding cyclists on the road... you will likely find that most folks (IE most drivers) simply do not have a clue. You may also find some rather negative opinions also... the whole "motorists own the roads cause they pay road tax" thing... SIGH

dynodonn 

A considerable amount of intimidation was used by the lower judicial court and LEO, and this one particular incident adds another cog to why transportation numbers by bicycle are very low in the US. Thank goodness for video cameras.

wphamilton

You'll be charged if you testify? I've never heard of witnesses being threatened like that by a prosecutor in a traffic infraction hearing. Is that even legal?

dynodonn 

I am not a law expert, so I would not know. Luckily that the cyclist was informed enough to lawyer up on this one, and that the law enforcement agency had a "working" patrol car camera.

genec

And yet there are some here that would argue that there is no bias against cyclists...

LesterOfPuppets

Now if only we could cite that trooper with an unsafe pass ticket.

FeParamount

Being from Michigan I had to laugh when the cop said, "what poor road condition?"

Chris0516

The phrase 'Get your mind out of the gutter', comes to mind. EXCEPT, This officer needs to put their mind in the gutter, in this instance. So, He learns to appreciate, where he is demanding a cyclist ride regardless of the severity of the road conditions.

I hope he had a full course dinner of crow. So he learns his lesson.

CliffordK

I wonder if the video is truncated.

The officer states that he riders were travelling 4 abreast, and that he had previously warned the cyclists.

I see nothing indicating that these warnings occurred, so they apparently were edited out of the video.

As far as passing? So cars can pass each other, but cyclists can't?

Poor road conditions? I'd like to see the police officer judge the road conditions that the cyclists are riding over.

At least in the snippet of video & audio, the officer was extremely RUDE, and a poor government representative.

Minnesota Expat

Let's see, looks to me like Univ of Michigan cycling kit, Google name of cyclist, lives in Ann Arbor, is an auto engineer and rides or coaches with U of M club. U of M has one of the top 5 law schools in the country. Yup. Doesn't surprise me how this turned out, not at all. Good on them and hopefully Deputy Dawg learned something.

FeParamount

I wondered the same thing. To me it "looks" like they are 4 abreast-ish rolling through the light and at this point and until just before the officer exits the vehicle there is no audio on so I'm assumed he gave the verbal as he rolled up on them with his PA system or through an open window. I could be wrong about that.

CliffordK

Certainly from the clip, the police officer is overly sensitive if he thinks it is rude for a group of cyclists to pull to the right and wave a car past. But, again, what wasn't included?

dpeters11

In many ways, the appeal was a good thing, at least since it went the right way. It carries more weight from a legal standpoint for the future. We had a case on impeding traffic in Ohio that went to appeals as well.

B. Carfree

I had a very similar encounter with an Oregon State Trooper. He got on his loudspeaker and told me to move to the right on a climb with nine-foot lanes and obstructed sight lines (only for about four-tenths of a mile, after which there is a fully rideable shoulder which I happily use). I yelled back something provocative (but not obscene), at which time he gave me the lights and siren. We had an animated discussion, but since I was quoting him chapter and verse verbatim from the vehicle code, he decided to call my bluff. He went and got his statute book, I told him the statute numbers to look up and he then thanked me for educating him. He still wasn't totally convinced that I was safer to ride in the center of a nine-foot lane rather than hugging the edge, but he at least acknowledged that what I was doing was legal.

(For CliffordK: this took place on Fox Hollow just above Donald.)

The key difference for in my case is likely that I'm an old fart and was wearing what my wife and I jokingly call a newbie vest (ANSI Class 2 reflective vest) and the cop was decades younger than me. I think that caused him to give me more slack and credit than the OP encounter with a younger well-kitted cyclist and older cop.

02Giant 

That is one Cop who has no business being such.

dksix

The cop had a bad attitude, was obviously wrong but the system worked as it's suppose to. The cops are only is enforce the law, them possibly being wrong is why we have courts and judges. The shame is that the first judge wasn't able to set aside his views and be impartial in his court. The prosecutor who stopped witnesses from testifying should have charges brought against him.