Bicyclists fined $195 for stop sign violations

[urb1]

Boy a lot of bike haters on here. First of all, yes I do roll through stop signs on my bike if no one is coming. It is just a lot easier. I always make absolutely sure no one is coming, because if someone hits me, I am pretty sure I will take all the damage. Now, lets flip the coin. I see people in cars roll through the stop sign in front of my house at 10-15 MPH all the time. Isn't that against the law too. Also, when I ride on the road I stay as far to the right as I can, so people can get around me. I would be fully within my rights to ride right down the middle and back up traffic for miles, but I don't because it is stupid and dangerous. I have been knock off the rode by morons trying to squeeze by me and oncoming traffic before, riding down the middle is like inviting someone to run me over.

My point is that cyclist routinely give up most of the road so they are not slowing traffic, but are expected to come to a complete stop at stop signs when no one is approaching , when almost no one in a car does?

This. I always slow down at every intersection, stop sign or not, and am prepared to stop if there is a car. But I'll admit I roll through if there are no cars coming. Regardless of whether the car stops, I will stop unless I make eye contact with the driver and they wave me through. Most cars do not see bicyclists, and I will most likely lose if we hit.

But I also know that most cars do not come to a complete stop, maybe one out of four. Some slow down while others just roll on through. I am not going to take a chance and is why I always slow down. Even if a car stops, if I am on their right, and they are making a right turn, they probably won't have seen me because they were looking left the entire time.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Note to self: If you are ever tempted to bike in Iowa other than RAGBRAI get a GoPro mounted and CCW bike holster. From the comments here it sounds like it might be a dangerous road ragin' place






kinda, maybe

 

[cyclonespiker33]

I have no problem with bicyclers rolling through stops. Never been close to hitting one or had a car hit me while riding. What's the big deal? There is a not a wave of law suits when the cyclist is at fault. Sounds more like the non-riders griping as there is a real misdirected antipathy directed at bikers. What is with that? The flip side for me is drivers who fail to signal their turns.

Getting brushed off the road purposely by drivers (many times) or half empty pop containers thrown at me is my beef - I have a way with dealing with these people that comes to, I hope, a lesson to them.

Story time?

 

[ImJustKCClone]

As someone who just got back from Eurobike convention, this is the biggest difference between cycling in the US and EU. Less cars on the road to ease traffic is good for everyone and the environment. I dont know how anybody can be against biking to work.

I'm 60, I live 10 miles from where I work, and it's freakin' cold in the winter & freakin' hot in the summer. Not everyone can be fabulously green.

 

[Tri4Cy]

I can't believe you people would want to ride a bike on the roads where 80% of the automobile drivers are not paying attention, texting and such. Just stupid.

Because those same people are crossing bike paths and sidewalks and are still not paying attention. At least I am optimistic that they are occasionally looking at the road.

 

[Tornado man]

This. I always slow down at every intersection, stop sign or not, and am prepared to stop if there is a car. But I'll admit I roll through if there are no cars coming. Regardless of whether the car stops, I will stop unless I make eye contact with the driver and they wave me through. Most cars do not see bicyclists, and I will most likely lose if we hit.

But I also know that most cars do not come to a complete stop, maybe one out of four. Some slow down while others just roll on through. I am not going to take a chance and is why I always slow down. Even if a car stops, if I am on their right, and they are making a right turn, they probably won't have seen me because they were looking left the entire time.

Yeah, if only a decent percentage of bicyclists do this...they don't. If they would only "slow roll" through stop signs, as you say most cars do. But most bicyclists don't. It's too much work...

 

[SaraV]

In Colorado, you can get drunk driving on your bike & lose your drivers license... that is a stupid rule

No, it's not. You're operating a "vehicle" on the road. If your drunken-self suddenly swerves into the path of a car, whether oncoming or behind you, you'll be in a world of hurt.

 

[besserheimerphat]

I'm nearing the end of a 3 week work trip in the Netherlands, where I've been staying in a studio apartment and biking a couple miles to work everyday. It's been enjoyable, though kind of a pain in the balls. Every one here rides a bike. Every major street has a 2-3 foot bike lane along both sides, and even thought it's not marked on the smaller roads it is automatically given by anyone in a car when they approach a bike rider. They allow moped to ride on the bike lanes so long as they stay below 20 mph. The sidewalks are pretty exclusively reserved for pedestrians.

 

[CYdTracked]

Funny because I was just ranting about this topic this morning while watching the morning news where some guy got buzzed by a pickup passing him and the truck then hit the gas and blew diesel smoke once he got around him. I'm fine sharing the road with cyclists as long as long as they are being smart by obeying the same traffic laws cars do and dressing appropriately if riding in less than ideal conditions such as when it is still somewhat dark or foggy. Too many times I see bikes ignoring traffic signals or if there is not a bike lane on the street going by cars on the right or left side that are backed up at an intersection.

I realize in some cases there is not a bike trail nearby convenient to where they are headed but I think busy 4 lane streets or county roads are horrible places for bikes to be. Too much traffic and especially out in the country you could come around a blind curb or hill and not see a biker until the very last second. Bad situation for the biker too because how many hit and runs do you hear about and out in the country not only could you be no where near anyone but you may not have another car come by for awhile too.

My wife got called in for jury duty a couple years ago and had to sit in on a case that was a car vs biker accident where the biker was suing for pain he was still having a year later. She learned more about bike laws than she ever knew! Took 2 days to hear the case that turned out to be pretty open and shut case once all the evidence and testimony was submitted as the bicyclist was at fault for the accident for failing to stop at an intersection while the vehicle was already making a left turn in the intersection and on top of that it was at night without proper clothing and lights and he had been over at his buddy's place for a few beers so his sobriety was also brought into question. Plus it came out that he had suffered work related injuries since the accident too so he could not prove his pain was caused by the accident. This one of those examples how why I will respect someone's right to bike and share the road but it's people like this who think that just because they are on a bike they don't have to obey traffic laws and even in his case possibly been somewhat impaired from drinking too that I have my reservations when they bring up the topic of adding more bike lanes to already busy streets in town.

 

[isufbcurt]

This is interesting... http://www.bikeiowa.com/News/6806/m...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Not taking the drivers side, but I'm not sure what he exactly did wrong there to receive a fine. He moves over for the biker (obviously he could of gotten over further, but is that a law?). The question is how fast was he going? DId he slow down a little bit while passing the biker, and speed up once he got around creating the smoke plume, or did he step on it to be an ******* and create the smoke plume?

I saw this on the news last night. I don't know what the truck did wrong, 1) he passed the biker in a double yellow line zone and if that was me I wouldn't have gotten all the way over because of the double yellow lines and 2) he is clearly passed the biker when he steps on the gas to accelerate (as evidenced by the black deisel smoke).

 

[BoxsterCy]

I saw this on the news last night. I don't know what the truck did wrong, 1) he passed the biker in a double yellow line zone and if that was me I wouldn't have gotten all the way over because of the double yellow lines and 2) he is clearly passed the biker when he steps on the gas to accelerate (as evidenced by the black deisel smoke).

Was he "rolling coal" with a deliberately modified exhaust? There is a sub-culture of redneck dickheads doing just that. Have seen a couple up here.

http://www.a****log.com/2014/07/10/rolling-coal-americas-political-divide-reaches-roads-video/

 

[isufbcurt]

Was he "rolling coal" with a deliberately modified exhaust? There is a sub-culture of redneck dickheads doing just that. Have seen a couple up here.

http://www.a****log.com/2014/07/10/rolling-coal-americas-political-divide-reaches-roads-video/

No idea. But even without a modified exhaust a deisel engine will puff out black smoke if you try to speed up from a slow speed and are in to high of a gear.

 

[baller21]

No, it's not. You're operating a "vehicle" on the road. If your drunken-self suddenly swerves into the path of a car, whether oncoming or behind you, you'll be in a world of hurt.

Couldn't a drunk person walking down the street cause an accident just as easily? But if you're walking you wouldn't lose you're license to drive a car. Riding a bike drunk is way different than driving a 2000lb+ vehicle while drunk.

 

[Rabbuk]

I knew a dude who got a speeding ticket on a bike.

 

[baller21]

I knew a dude who got a speeding ticket on a bike.

I've had an officer in his cruiser pull up next to me while riding on a city street and say " Going kinda fast. ". I slowed down a bit and he drove off.

 

[BigBake]

As pointed out a couple times these tickets will likely get thrown out. The stop signs on the trail don't fall under the same jurisdiction as city streets. Kinda like blowing thru that Stop sign in the Home Depot parking lot.

 

[00clone]

As pointed out a couple times these tickets will likely get thrown out. The stop signs on the trail don't fall under the same jurisdiction as city streets. Kinda like blowing thru that Stop sign in the Home Depot parking lot.

But I'd be interested to see how they were written. IIRC, it said it was a DNR officer writing them? If so, and it's a DNR managed trail, they might have jurisdiction. Kind of like getting a speeding ticket in a state park?

 

[IAStubborn]

Couple things here, first I didn't know a DNR officer could issue speeding tickets. Pretty sure I've passed DNR vehicles on highways, probably going 5-10 over.
Second, I've always wondered if you could get a ticket on a bike. I've seen plenty of them fly through stop signs while I'm coming to a stop in my car.

Pretty funny that one of the guys is on the Board for that trail. Tried to get out of the ticket with a good ol "don't you know who I am".

http://www.kcci.com/news/bicyclists-fined-195-for-stop-sign-violations-on-trail/35078464

Issuing officer is Jeremy King who is Steve King's nephew fwiw. Should tell you all you need to know.

 

[IAStubborn]

I dont think enough people are reading the article. Of course a biker should get a ticket if they ride through a stop sign/signal on a street. The 'stop' signs referred to in this article are rural crossings on the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

Secondly, a vast majority of these crossings are in areas where you could see on-coming traffic literally a mile away. I'm not stopping if I can clearly see in both directions and nothing is there. Most of these crossings are still loose gravel as well which, on a road bike with 23mm tires, are no joke when traversing slowly.

This guy is a jerk. For all intents and purposes, cyclists treat THESE stop signs for what they really are, yield signs.

Yep

 

[ThatllDoCy]

As a pedestrian in Chicago, both cyclists and motorists are $%^&s. Walking my dogs I don't know which group is worse. Both ignore stop signs, lights and ignore traffic law.

Honestly, this isn't a cyclists vs motorists thing, this is people being people.