HazardBiker

I'm not very active here because of forum rules - no promoting personal sites/blogs, and no discussion of issues involving law enforcement. But please indulge my bending the rules a bit because I feel this is important to share.

After a couple of years of trying to correct law enforcement in one of the cities I ride in, of their misunderstanding of cyclists rights on the road, I have had some success. Basically, I finally took it to the top. I recently had a meeting that included the mayor, the chief of police, the city attorney, and the commander in charge of traffic enforcement.

The main issues were officers misinterpreting the right to "take/control the lane" here in California as permitted in the vehicle code for "substandard width lanes". Also discussed was the possibility of using "citizens arrest" to accomplish what law enforcement is prohibited by law from doing, that being issuing citations for infractions they do not witness in person.

Too many officers and even command personnel seem to be under the mistaken impression that bicycles must always get out of the way of traffic even on narrow lanes where passing within the lane is impossible.

The issue of citizen arrest arose due to an incident of road rage I experienced and had clearly documented on video where officers happened on scene and had contact with the driver. Yet, no charges were filed, so I attempted to invoke my right to citizen arrest, yet was denied saying I wasn't allowed to for infractions. (FYI, this incident is different from the one where my video was discussed here previously)

I was pleased to learn that at this top level of government, there was genuine concern over the nature of my interactions with law enforcement in attempting to bring justice to egregious and dangerous drivers.

In summary, both the chief and his commander agreed that I am correct in my interpretation of the vehicle codes and the right to citizens arrest. I requested that this information be filtered down through the command personnel and on to officers so that they may be better informed for the next time they are called upon to assist a cyclist who has been the target of a road rage or a driver who intentionally endangers them on the road. I have been assured that these efforts will be made.

I realize I'm basically a "nobody". I'm just one cyclist with no affiliation or assistance from any organization. Yet on my own I was able to arrange this meeting and have my concerns addressed. Although I may be motivated mainly by protecting my own skin on the road, I sincerely hope that my efforts will benefit other cyclists in my area as well.

I feel it is important to share this story because it shows what perseverance can accomplish from even one person. If like minded individuals can work together on the common cause of awareness of cycling issues, even greater results could be achieved.

Thank you everyone for your time. Ride safe!

Brian

rydabent

Thank you for helping the cyclist in your city.

genec

OC CA? Is there not a cycling organization that you can take this to... that will give you a "wider voice?" I know in San Diego I have used the San Diego County Bike Coalition to pressure "officials" to do the right thing.

This gives issues more than a single person "record," and gives you, the individual a larger voice through official channels. This also gets the word out to the larger bike community.

You might try contacting these folks... or one of the clubs on their list. OC Bike Clubs | Orange County Bicycle Coalition

Take this to a higher level.

Paul Barnard

Wow. If you got a face to face with the mayor and those high ranking officials, I salute you. That's quite an accomplishment, and I know it took persistence on your part. Be sure to follow up to see how the information is being filtered down to street level officers.

CB HI

Although it may not still be occurring, the local advocacy group was able to get a short time block, by an experienced cyclist, with each police academy class to explain the law and why so many cyclist take the lane.

That made a huge difference for cyclist with dealing with the new police officers.

Chris0516

You are not a 'nobody'. You may not have had any organizational backing. But you still made a difference!!!!! Kudos' to you!!!!

By 'OC CA', do you mean Orange County?

trailangel

OC is a county, so what city are you referring to?

HazardBiker

The city in question is Westminster.

In my experience the problem of law enforcement not understanding cycling related laws is systemic. Perhaps it's just that they have so little experience with them. It's understandable if they simply don't know the laws. But it goes beyond basic ignorance and into active dismissal of cyclists rights. Over the years I have attempted to report egregious drivers in several cities and in nearly every case the officers are ignorant of the law. It seems the only ones who are aware happen to be cyclists themselves. But furthermore, when attempting to enlighten officers of laws they may not be aware of, I have too often been met with willful ignorance if not an outright bias against cycling.

Case in point, and one that comes up quite frequently, is a complete misunderstanding of VEH21202 and its clearly stated and defined exception for "substandard width lanes" when requiring cyclists to stay to the right. The law gives wide latitude to cyclists to determine their safety needs, but points out specifically "substandard width lanes", further defining such as "a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane."

Wanna know how law enforcement interprets this? The jist of their argument is that all roads are designed to engineering standards, therefore all lanes are standard width lanes, therefore there are no substandard width lanes. They are obviously confounding the meaning of the word "standard" between its usage in the phrases "standard width lane" and "engineering standards". Besides, VEH21202 clearly defines what a "substandard width lane" is.

But I did my due diligence on this topic. I obtained and researched the very engineering guides and manuals that traffic engineers use. There are certainly minimum lane width "recommendations", but no such thing as a "standard width lane". In fact, these manuals and guides make reference to the vehicle code definition of a "standard width lane" as a criteria to consider for road safety and the use of signs and markings.

So instead of the mistaken idea by law enforcement that the law refers to engineering design, it is in fact engineering design that refers to the law!

Pushing for this meeting in Westminster was simply because, by the nature of my riding routes, I have had the most problems with this city. Again, it is by no means limited to just Westminster. As the need and situation arises I may be attempting the same or similar effort for other cities I ride through.

I plan to write a blog entry to detail my research.

Ride safe, everyone!

Brian

trailangel

That's a lot of work.

Paul Barnard

That's a well written and spot on post Brian. We are up against 2 barriers. One is education and the other is attitude. Officers need a block of instruction on bicycle specific laws. More often than not, riders understand the law better than cops. Many officers share the same disdain for cycling as many motorists. It's unreasonable and it's unhealthy. It starts with education, then we can only hope with time that attitudes shift.

berner

Good job. If we don't insist on rights, there are plenty of people willing to trample over those rights.