rgilliam2004

It seems that complaints have recently been heavy from the citizens of Parker to the Police Department. The Police Department will start writing tickets immediately.

Here are the rules that they have stated they will enforce:
1. All riders must carry ID.
2. Riders must be a maximum of two (2) abreast -- never more.
3. All riders -- each and every rider -- must stop at all stop signs.
4. At stop signs two (2) riders, abreast, must fully stop, then go. Then the next two (2) abreast riders must fully stop, then go, and the next two (2) and so on through the group.
5. Bicyclists are NEVER to go into an intersection and direct traffic. They will be ticketed for impersonating a police officer.

raqball

I don't live in Texas but I say this is a good thing.. I get tired of seeing cyclist behave badly and acting like they own the road. In my opinion, it gives us all a bad name. Maybe a few $$ in fines will put a stop to it..

I wish the PD here would do the same.

My .02 flame away!

kc4sox

I agree. I'm tired of being yelled at etc... because of the behavior of a few ****** nozzles that call themselves cyclists

1986raleigh

Whew.... I just went through Parker in Johnson county not Dallas county. Population 15...
The only thing in there that would be challengeable in those would be all riders must carry I'D. There is nothing in state law requiring it. You would be required to provide name DOB, address whhen detained, just not required to carry I'D, although it is a good idea in case of incapacitating accident. stop sign rule fall under traffic regulation in general and bike specific regulation.
This is what happens when groups blow stop signs with no regard for cars who stop per state law the law applies to both. Cars and bikes.

03tr

It's a good thing that they are now enforcing the law. I see cyclists disobeying laws all the time. It's like they think they are above the law or something. There are many examples on youtube.

Northwestrider

All seem reasonable to me, except # 1, I don't see how that will hold up in court if it ever goes there. But times have changed, but carrying I.D. while on my bicycle seems not very far away from being required to carry it as a pedestrian .

wphamilton

Some of your politicians or town leaders out of control, there in Parker? Must carry ID, impersonating a police officer

raqball

I agree with the must carry ID part being a bit silly and I'd assume that would get shot down in court if you were ticketed for it. But I don't know TX law, so who knows?

Impersonating an officer would also be a bit sketchy but I do see the point behind it. I've seen fools who do this. One person gets off his/her bike and stops traffic so the rest of the fools can blow the stop sign or red-light..

bikemig 

Maybe TX can require proof of citizenship if the cops stop you . . .

daihard 

Agreed.

B. Carfree

Just out of curiosity, do any of the motorists actually stop at the stop signs in Parker? When I lived in Lubbock, I never saw a single motorist make a legal stop at a stop sign and, after fourteen years, I've only seen eight do so here in Eugene, OR.

I do fully support the enforcement of traffic law, but I don't support singling out a group without some compelling cause like, oh maybe the 2.4 million injuries caused annually be a certain class of road user.

bikemig 

This is an important point. I too support enforcement of traffic laws and some cyclists are clearly jerks. That said, this is driven by animus towards cyclists. I'll bet anything this was caused by some local yokels who got mad at cyclists who were following the rules and had influence with local law enforcement. This is simply selective enforcement of the law and one that is pointed towards a minority that the majority--at least in some localities--really dislike.

raqball

The police target motor vehicles 99.9% more often than they target cyclists.

Radar enforcement, DUI check lanes, Seatbelt enforcement check lanes ect. are all very common occurrences in larger cities. Radar is obviously enforced daily and DUI check lanes happen every Friday and Saturday night in just about every large city across the nation.

The City sees a traffic problem / concern and directs the police to take whatever action(s) are deemed necessary and appropriate. Be that vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic, skateboarders, cyclist ect..

The unsafe and bad actions of cyclists are being target in this instance. Not because the City or the police are out to get the cyclists, it's because the cyclists have brought this upon themselves by acting foolishly..

bikemig 

Actually you don't know that. Although you are speculating on why the police decided to selectively enforce a whole host of restrictions on cyclists, you may be right that this is simply the cops going after a few bad apples. Nonetheless, the list of things the police are looking for is very long and goes far beyond simply going after a few bad apples (you don't need to require an ID, you don't need to require that each and every cyclist come to a complete stop at a stop sign, you don't need to require that only 2 cyclists can go through an intersection at one time, etc.) When law enforcement gets this heavy handed, there is a good chance that they're going after a group of people because some locals got mad.

Unless, of course, you believe that drivers never get mad at cyclists who follow the rules of the road . . .

raqball

Selectively enforcing a whole host of restrictions on cyclists?

LOL! It's called enforcing the law.. Just because you don't like it does not change that fact.

Nonetheless, the list of things the police are looking for is very long and goes far beyond simply going after a few bad apples

The list is not long at all.. It's actually nothing more than what is enforced on vehicles.

you don't need to require that each and every cyclist come to a complete stop at a stop sign, you don't need to require that only 2 cyclists can go through an intersection at one time, etc.)

If the law says 2 abreast and if the law says you must come to a complete stop then yup it can and it should be enforced!

When law enforcement gets this heavy handed

LOL.. Heavy handed? Enforcing the laws are now considered heavy handed? I suppose every motorist who has ever received a stop sign ticket was the result of 'heavy handed' police action.. Oh my..

Unless, of course, you believe that drivers never get mad at cyclists who follow the rules of the road . . .

Now you are just being ridiculous and trying to put words in my mouth and start some type of juvenile argument..

bikemig 

Actually I gave you my reasons for disagreeing with you.

Sometimes laws get selectively enforced because citizens get mad.

Neither you nor I know whether this happened here or not.

But for what it's worth, I know something about how laws get selectively enforced. I think this may be what happened here. But perhaps not and you're right.

We'll find out.

raqball

You may be right in that assumption. Perhaps this is being enforced because upset citizens complained to the city..

However,

This happens ALL the time with vehicles.

• Cars speeding through a neighborhood for instance. Several residents call and complain. The police stick a traffic officer there and several tickets are written. Is this harassment of the motorist? No.. Was the enforcement action taken based on complaints? Yes
• Cars failing to slow down in a school zone. Several parents complain. The police stick a traffic officer there and several speeding tickets are written. Is this harassment of the motorist? No.. Was the action taken based on complaints? Yes
• Cars failing to stop at a stop sign downtown. Business owners complain to the City. An officer is sent and several tickets are written. Is this harassment of the motorist? No.. Was the action taken based on complaints? Yes

I can go on and on and on but you get the point...

At any rate, I digress as it's time for my bike ride!

bikemig 

Enjoy your ride. My point was a little different. Motorists sometimes get mad at cyclists who obey the law because they do not like sharing the road responsibly.

rms13

All of those things seem reasonable to me. The only one that seems to be unenforceable is the ID part. I don't think they can legally force you to carry an ID but I can't think of one reason that I wouldn't want to. If anything ever happens to me I would like it to be easy to identify me for my family sake. But I carry my wallet in my jersey pocket (really more like a rubber banded bunch of cards). I want to have my ID, health insurance card and at least one atm/credit card in case of emergencies.

dbuhler

This is not the Parker in Johnson County, it is in Collin County between Plano and Allen. Reports on Facebook that 3 cyclists from a large Plano organization who were off the back of their group were ticketed today in excess of $200 each for failing to stop. Both Plano and Allen have been very receptive to the many people who cycle through their cities, particularly on Saturday's but Parker has had issues with it for years. That being said, I do agree that as cyclists we need to obey the same law as vehicles.

wphamilton

I lived there about 40 years and I never heard of that.

That may be impeding traffic, and I'd even seen statutes elsewhere in TX that said you can't stand in the middle of the street blocking traffic! But what it's obviously not is "impersonating an officer."

These are measures designed to be nuisances, not to enforce the law. Because these two aren't laws, and the others aren't especially reasonable even if they are legal.

rms13

I live in Los Angeles where there is a lot of cars to say the least. It's a constant battle here but at the end of the day bicycles are considered vehicles (at least in CA) and we have the same rights as cars and right to the lanes etc. But that also means we have to stop at stop signs and traffic lights and obey all of the other laws that cars do. I feel like by obeying the laws it makes us look better to motorists and maybe they won't get so pissed when they have to pass us and it will avoid some of the stupid confrontations that happen when drivers try to intentionally run cyclists off the road or throw things out the window at them.

WalksOn2Wheels

I've grown up in the DFW area and I had to look up Parker on a map. Wow. What an inconsequential town. If I were part of a group that were somehow riding through there, I'd just alter the route and steer around it. Not worth dealing with.

Quite honestly, in a group of 20-ish or more people, stopping 2 abreast at a stop sign and then leaving 2 abreast, it's a complete waste of time, breaks up the group, and further causes traffic issues if one or more cars ends up in the middle of the group (if there ARE cars at the stop, the considerate thing to do is wave them through before your large group departs). Not to mention, completely pointless if this is a Saturday/Sunday early morning ride with virtually zero traffic.

I understand that they are acting on behalf of the residents who have a right to ask the officers to enforce the laws down to the letter, but I also understand it's BS and I don't have to like it and can just not bother ever stopping in Parker for a gas station stop ever again. I won't question the legality of it, but I will say that it's nitpicking and I don't need to waste time on a morning ride with nitpicking law enforcement when I'm not endangering any lives with my actions.

There is the letter of the law and there is common sense and common courtesy. Laws are important, wasting tax dollars is not.

Flame away.

03tr

Anyone have a link to where the local PD states what was posted in the OP?

03tr

Work to change the laws if you do not like them. I've been cited for rolling through stop signs when it was clear and did not like it.