I have a twist on this theory. By and large, about 99% of all speeding infractions even result in a ticket. Anyone who drives (like myself) can tell you that from personal experience. Also, only the most egregious speeders generally get whacked.
The practice of bicycles going through red lights hardly ever gets ticketed. So my theory is basically, a bicycle going through a red light is the equivalent of a car speeding. Common infractions that are sparsely ticketed and I would argue, rightly so.
Interesting. But clearly there are those who don't see this equivalency - if bikes want to be treated like cars, they must obey the rules like cars. This does not differentiate "a common infraction for a car" from "a common infraction on a bike" - an infraction is either a common one that is sparsely ticketed, or it is not. Running a stop sign - ticketable, always, no gray area. Speeding - common infraction that is sparsely ticketed - on a bike or in a car. Ergo, stop running the stopsigns, but feel free if you are on your bike to go ahead and speed.
Or perhaps not
Posted by Angela Hey, a resident of the Portola Valley: Brookside Park neighborhood, on Jun 13, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Today I passed a bicycle doing more than 35 mph down Alpine Road - speed limits apply to bikers too. Can the police please cite people who speed on bikes or break the traffic laws in other ways?
My all time favorite internet forum post.
Posts
3 comments:
Oh, that's destined to become an oft-referenced classic!
That Portola Almanac story you linked to is a treasure trove of eye rolling justifications to speed for safety.
Do I understand this right? The CYCLIST was speeding, yet she was still compelled to pass him? That is truly amazing. Stupid, but amazing.
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