Alexandria cyclist ticketed for speeding; another tried to flee scene

I know a few cyclists who might want to frame this ticket, had they gotten it.

It may have been a first in the annals of law enforcement for the city, according to the Alexandria Police Department. Earlier this month, a city cop issued a speeding ticket to a bicyclist who was clocked going 31 in a 25. Alexandria Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Hildebrandt says the enforcement measure is part of a stepped-up effort to crack down on bicyclists flouting the laws on the streets of Old Town.

"We’ve been receiving a lot of complaints," said Hildebrandt. "So we’ve increased enforcement."

I have to wonder if they're ticketing drivers going 31 in a 25. If this cyclist was speeding, they deserve a ticket, but I question whether this is time well spent.

On the other hand,

The unusual speeding ticket comes on the heels of another incident in which a bicyclist hit a pedestrian and tried to flee the scene. But a band of citizens chased the hit-and-run biker down and detained him until authorities showed up to arrest him.

If true, this cyclist deserves to have the book thrown at them.

Comments

[Bilsko]

I'm curious how the cyclist was "clocked" doing 31.

My basic understanding of radar/laser speed assessment equipment is that it needs a pretty large, flat surface to reflect the wave accurately. I can't imagine that a cyclist is a very easy target to get a reliable read on.

Then again, I suppose they get motorcycles with radar, so its not too much of a difference to get a cyclist.

[washcycle]

I don't know, they can clock baseball's right? Neither large nor flat.

[dan]

just thinking that if I hit a ped on my bike and the ped(s) got angry and chased me I would ride fast outta there like 31 in a 25!

[Chris]

Issuing a ticket to me for speeding on my bicycle would indeed be worth the effort, because I would gladly take the ticket and frame it with pride.

[washcycle]

Chris, I'm with you, especially if it were the first one in Alexandria history.

[CyclingFool]

The part of this story that bothered me when I first saw it was this: "We’ve been receiving a lot of complaints," said Hildebrandt. "So we’ve increased enforcement."

While there are grounds for legitimate concerns regarding cyclist behavior, this makes it sound to me like some anti-cyclist cagers decided they wanted to exact some toll on cyclists and just started complaining. It's hardly a plague.

I mean, I hear about hit-and-runs all the time, here and other places. There never seems to be any specially targeted enforcement of motorists as a class of road user b/c of the transgressions of a few.

So, I wonder. If we, as cyclists, start an organized campaign to complain about cars speeding, rolling through stops, failing to signal, and double parking, etc., will Alexandria Police "increase enforcement" for that?

[Joe]

If cars were pulled over on a regular basis for only 6 mph over the speed limit I wouldn't have an issue with this.

I have a major problem with this:

"We’ve been receiving a lot of complaints," said Hildebrandt. "So we’ve increased enforcement."

Yes non cyclists would rather bicycles not be on roads and trails, but that is taking away the freedom from for people to choose.

There are scaflaw cyclists drivers and peds. Inforcing rules and laws with bias only creates anomosity between groups leading to much bigger problems. If rules and laws are inforced on equally then there would be much less of a problem.

Side note: Last time I road through down town Alex. I had a City worker walking almost run into me. I cam to a complete stop at a stop sign as I always do. He cross out side of the crosswalk and had to stop to keep from running into me. Legally he should have used the crosswalk.

And of course there is the vast majority of drivers that treat the stop signs yields in this area that makes it dangerous for everyone.

[contrarian]

BlindPilot, I think you would have much more effect just asking for plain fairness. Rather than targeting enforcement on a certain class of road users, target certain violations and certain areas.

A couple of years ago Alexandria announced a crackdown against cyclists and I called the contact on the press release and explained why targeting certain road users was unfair. She quickly saw my point and agreed with me; I honestly think that it had never occurred to them to think about it that way.

Whether this made any difference in the way actual enforcement happened is another matter, but I believe with enough repetition they will get the point.

[Catherine]

Joe, I live in Old Town and the City vehicles are just about the worst ones out there (exception: anyone driving on Rt. 1 during the evening rush).

Just the other day, I was walking across Prince at Columbus (Prince is a two lane one way street there) and a City worker in a City vehicle turned right on red, without stopping first, from the left lane, with me, a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

[CyclingFool]

@contrarian - Rather than targeting enforcement on a certain class of road users, target certain violations and certain areas.

You're totally right. But that's what irks me about this story, or at least the way it was presented, where it's stated that they were cracking down because of complaints. It seems only logical to read that this as "because of complaints about cyclists".

So, why was the Alex. PD spokesperson's response that they're targeting increased enforcement efforts at cyclists because of complaints? Why not simply state that there would be increased enforcement of all traffic laws for all road users?

I'm probably overreacting, but it just seems to me that this is a case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease, and in this case, the squeaky wheel is not of the 26" or 700c variety, but that of a group of motorists annoyed by cyclists being on "their" roads.

[Brendan]

Is it fair to give a cyclist without a spedometer a ticket for speeding?

[SJE]

I have no problem with this, provided that they are also ticketing motorists going 6mph over the limit. I also hope that we cyclists can spin this as further evidence that we are vehicles that deserve to be on the road. And, of course, when we complain about harassment from cars, we can ask for "increased enforcement"

[Steve O]

Twice in my life I have received warnings for speeding. At the time I was happy to get away with a warning. But now perhaps the pride of having that framed ticket on my wall would have been worth the fine. I had never thought about it that way before.

[washcycle]

Brendan, you bring up an excellent question. How is a cyclist to know they're speeding?

[Chris]

Rate of Perceived Exertion?

[contrarian]

Wash, you have a duty not to speed. It's up to you now you satisfy that duty. If you can't do it without a speedometer, then you need to get a speedometer. It's like any other duty when you're driving, part of the duty is having the necessary equipment, and lacking the equipment is no excuse.

[Mike]

This makes no sense. Drivers have lots of problems with cyclists, but speeding is not one of them. If the cops were really targetng cyclists because of complaints they should target cyclists for things like running lights not speeding. Drivers usually complain bikes are too slow...

[Allan]

"We’ve been receiving a lot of complaints," said Hildebrandt. "So we’ve increased enforcement."

Code words for "we're doing the right thing here."

I would feel like I'm in nirvana if the cops started ticketing people for going 5 mph over the speed limit, including bicyclists. Reducing our speeds while driving would be the single most effective way to make our streets safer for everyone.

[SJE]

"I would feel like I'm in nirvana if the cops started ticketing people for going 5 mph over the speed limit, including bicyclists."

Exactly!!

[Joe]

I agree I would be happy if road rules and laws were EQUALLY inforced, but it sounds like that is not happening in this case and only cyclists are being targeted and thats nothing but dicrimination.

[Froggie]

I can only think of 3 places where a cyclist could reasonably get up to 30 MPH in Old Town. And all of them involve main drags. So I gotta wonder about the "lots of complaints"...unless those complaints are coming from drivers and not from residents...

[Paul Johnson]

When I was in middle school, I was stopped by a Washington County, Oregon sheriff's deputy on Oregon Route 210 (Scholls Ferry Road) in Progress, Oregon just west of McKay Elementary. I was stopped for doing 42 (long hill) in a school zone (20 mph), because I was a child, and therefore, children were present in the school zone. We successfully fought the ticket on the grounds that children have to be external to any vehicles travelling to be considered "present," thus I wouldn't have to slow down for myself and other drivers wouldn't have to slow down to comply (not that it matters, 210 is usually a standstill save for the bicycle lanes and middle schoolers commonly pass cars with a 30+ MPH speed difference on that hill). The ticket was overturned stating that I was, in fact, doing 42 in a 45 zone.