hotbike

I have to wonder if they are out of their minds ???

https://patch.com/connecticut/westha...ycle-operators

"....
No person shall operate a bicycle without due regard for the safety and rights of pedestrians and drivers and occupants of other vehicles as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person while in the lawful use of streets or sidewalks or any public or private property without exercising reasonable and ordinary control over such bicycle by trick riding, or weaving, or zigzag course unless such irregular course is necessary for safe operation in compliance with the law...."

or zigzag course unless such irregular course is necessary for safe operation in compliance with the law ???

Kind of negates the idea of taking the lane, or this is a very large FRAP piece of crap...

Are we to believe that cyclists must zigzag between potholes to comply with the law ? But other wise, zigzagging is illegal?

Tell me what you think, I can't believe this nonsense...

raqball

How does that prevent taking the lane? I don't see a problem with the wording you put in bold lettering. Why would you need to zigzag if there is no road hazards to avoid?

hotbike

"zigzag course unless such irregular course is necessary for safe operation in compliance with the law"

It just sounds like they want their old FRAP (Far Right As Possible) law back in effect, doesn't it ? What does it sound like to you?

raqball

It does not sound like that to me as that's not what it says. zigzagging and FRAP are 2 completely different animals.

brianmcg123

Doesn't sound that way to me.

debade

It sounds like there are cyclists who do maneuvers with their bikes in public areas. The town seems to want an ordinance to eliminate these types of behaviors. If a bike park does not exist, perhaps this would be an opportunity to get one built so everyone wins.

As for interfering/changing the behavior or commuting and recreational cyclists riding on town road, I do not see that this would impact CTDOT regs.

hotbike

Okay, I see your point, this is aimed at teenagers. Teens to stupid things, a lot of them figure on ditching the bike as soon as they turn 16...

FRAP ? I may be mistaken , but I thought there were 2 FRAP's :
1) Far Right as Possible
2) Far Right as Practicable

and I though this was discussed before , and what I got out of it was "Far Right as Possible" means you are expected to zigzag around obstacle, while "Practicable" means taking the lane , but moderately, as far left as needed to skirt the potholes without zigzagging... to ride in a straight line ?

That's what I thought, you may correct me if I'm wrong.

I only quoted part of the bill , did you follow the link and read the rest of it?

unterhausen

I just saw a cyclist zig-zagging today. Wouldn't want anyone expressing the child-like joy of riding a bike, would we? Gets in the way of every road being a de facto freeway

FBinNY 

A misplaced prepositional phrase.

They mean that one can't zigzag recklessly without a specific reason, such as avoiding a pothole, to do so.

Probably proposed in response to children and others riding recklessly all over the road. For practical purposes normal riders who ride holding a line as most typically do are unaffected.

IMO an unnecessary law, but maybe they have a specific local problem they're trying to address.

hotbike

All we need is for motorists to take the law into their own hands , "i saw the guy zigzagging" .... More like the bike wobbled a little bit...


https://www.flickr.com/photos/1162998...7639939606343/

CB HI

You are right, a local problem, revenue collection. $100 immediately and $25 a day added on.

CB HI

Does the town impound cars for speeding or improper lane change violations?

Clearly the other problem the town has, is bicyclist in the town are killing people and not motorist.

rydabent

Here is another ignorant ordnance passed by b'crats that probably hate cyclist. The wording of which negates the point of the whole thing.

indyfabz

Yep. The new big thing here in Philly is for groups of kids to ride through busy downtown doing tricks and weaving all over the place. A group of them recently rode on a section of I-676 that cuts through center city. One kid organized that ride for his birthday. They are a dangerous menace, but things have calmed down some now that school has started back up and it's getting darker sooner.

This ordinance is clearly aimed at minors primarily, as evidenced by this:

"Whenever any minor under the age of 18, years of age operates a bicycle or motorized bicycle in violation of the following City Ordinance Codes, the bicycle may be seized by any member of The West Haven Police Department and impounded. A bicycle or motorized bicycle so impounded shall be surrendered to the owner, or if the owner is a minor, to the parents or guardians of such minor. A full explanation of the reason for the impounding shall be made to the owner. A complete record of each such impounding shall be kept in the office of the chief of police."

Tony P.

I must say, the ordinance doesn't sound particularly egregious to me. After all, I assume the ordinance wasn't written for fun. In all likelihood, problems existed so the ever-wise town regulators believe others would benefit from the rule.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were correct.

TheLibrarian

Is this simply don't be a jerk around other people or are wheelies and everything fun and good illegal always?

elocs

Just for the halibut, what percentage of all cyclists do you think "take the lane"? I live in a city of 50,000 and I'm pretty sure I've seen it happen, I just can't remember how many years ago that might have been.
I mean it has such an elite sound to it: "Well I was out cycling today when I decided to 'take the lane'" or "Pay attention drivers, I'm about to 'take the lane'"

mr,grumpy 

You guys are kidding me right? It's about kids hucking downtown and crashing into cars and babies and "flying out into the street". It's got nothing to do with grownups peddling around. I mean, a conspiracy theorist can certainly see the "slippery slope" but y'all are kinda freaking out about nothing.

Paul Barnard

I wonder what rights they are concerned with.

No person shall operate a bicycle without due regard for the safety and rights of pedestrians and drivers and occupants.

CB HI

Because laws like this get used by cops to pull adult cyclist' over for drug inspections. FRAP pullovers on narrow roads are bad enough. CT has lots of narrow roads.

mr,grumpy 

And the tin foil hat crowd has arrived

jon c. 

This is a significant practice in Tampa and I expect they're not alone in this.

CB HI

So you are saying you put your tin foil hat on.

Rollfast

Police are aware of those risks and cyclists are subject to being stopped and searched lawfully as drivers are. Other traffic must yield to traffic stops and if the road is too narrow for safe two way traffic they must allow traffic direction.


When the police request that you stop, you stop. They stop behind you and if there are two units probable ahead of you, and that would be tp avoid a possible flight attempt. Police even guide the person to a safer place to park if they can. But you can't just go by a cop like that any more than a school bus stopping to let kids out who will be crossing the street.


I've been a passenger in a vehicle pulled over for a broken taillight that turned into a DUI arrest, and I while I was dismayed for not realizing he was drunk I was glad to find out, and since I was licensed but without a car on that day I was asked to drive the car to the police station, stay while he took the breathalyzer test and I drove his girlfriend home and then myself back to the next city where I lived and I returned it to the owner (she worked for a karaoke outfit, it was her bosses van) the next day.


I learned a lesson that day too. Ride to karaoke if the car was in the shop or don't go. When I no longer drove and sold the car I often rode my bike to karaoke, and that was for a few years until shuttle service to and from the bars there was started, and the driver was always sober, he was employed by one of the bars in an effort to prevent DUI arrests.


But I do digress. Kids don't have the full rights adults have, they are our legal dependants as such and we are responsible for their safety.


We'd prefer they get to grow up.

Dchiefransom

Sunds like someone on the town council was driving in a lane next to a zig-zagging cyclist and was afraid to pass because they had no idea what the cyclist was going to do.