This is, sadly, not that unusual
As the 23-year-old D.C. resident rode on the north side of the Capitol, through the parking area along Constitution Avenue, a regular pathway for cyclists, she collided with a car as it turned into a parking spot.
...while Estus sat in the emergency room, a U.S. Capitol Police officer arrived and handed her a speeding ticket.
“I was less than thrilled,” she said. According to Estus, the officer’s explanation for the ticket was, “if I had not been speeding I would have been able to slow down.”
A police report on the April 23 accident said Estus “stated she was traveling too fast to stop.” Estus couldn’t remember what she told police, noting in the interview that “everything was a blur” and that she didn’t believe she exceeded the speed limit. The ticket was ultimately dropped when, according to Estus, the officer failed to appear at a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing, where she contested the ticket.
Rollcall links this incident to Capitol Police, but it happens with MPD too.
The issue of officers who are not as well-versed in D.C. bike laws is prevalent throughout the city, according to biking advocates. The District is home to 26 different law enforcement agencies, which presents a potential challenge to bicyclists who are becoming an increasing presence on D.C. roadways.
“Bicycling has exploded in this city,” said Greg Billing of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “It’s grown by about 450% in the last decade. … We need the agencies to be more educated on what the current law says.”
Billing said WABA has been working to set up meetings with federal agencies, but has not had much success. He noted it had been at least a year since the group had reached out to the Capitol Police.
Stories like this really upset me
Posted by: Atlas | July 15, 2015 at 05:13 PM
And the problem is that the ticket, if it stands, would have barred any sort of damages from the driver.
Posted by: SJE | July 15, 2015 at 10:09 PM
Cyclists are The Other. Even, often, to bike cops.
Good, upstanding regular normal people drive GMC Yukon Denalis. What is WRONG with us?
The Other must be demonized and persecuted.
Posted by: Mr. Carlin | July 16, 2015 at 10:33 AM
The north side of the capitol building is a place where many of my fellow cyclists go way too fast in my opinion. There are lots of peds and cars, but it so tempting to stay off the brakes as you fly downhill!
This cyclist ended up going over the hood, that likely means she was riding in the blind spot of a driver who was looking for parking. Not a good riding position.
Posted by: UncleJed | July 16, 2015 at 11:16 AM
That's some serious dedication by the officer. Serious, effed up dedication.
Do police officers normally travel to the hospital to give citations to offending drivers? If so, I take that statement back.
Posted by: DE | July 16, 2015 at 11:30 AM
Truth is, cyclists bomb down that hill, on the north side of the Capitol, next to Constitution.
If you try to bike slowly down, cyclists will ride your ass or pass you at high speeds and without much room.
Just goes to show all humans act stupid when they have the opportunity to go fast, in a car or on a bike.
Posted by: JR | July 16, 2015 at 12:33 PM
I like how when cyclists tell an officer that a driver did something wrong and should get a ticket the officer says, "Can't. Didn't see it." But officers are too often willing to do exactly that to a cyclist in a hospital. All of a sudden they're Perry Mason accident reconstructors.
Posted by: Brendan | July 17, 2015 at 07:44 AM
Beware of parallel parking vehicles. They never look back to the roadway to see if other vehicles/cyclists/etc may be impeded by their sudden and often unindicated (ie, no blinker) movements.
Of course the cop followed her to the hospital. What could a Capitol Hill police officer have to do otherwise, leave his gun in the bathroom? Oh, yah, they do that too.
Posted by: T | July 20, 2015 at 01:58 PM
16 police agencies in DC and this is what the city gets.
I think that the city should disband all of those police agencies and keep the MPD since all of the rest of the agencies serve as glorified security guards or those who stand in the middle of the road to guide traffic. Police work appears to be way down the list for these so called 'Police.'
Posted by: cyclistinthecity | July 21, 2015 at 12:15 PM
Assuming she was in a parking lot/parking area, not on the public street, it's not a matter of exceeding the speed limit, but going too fast for conditions. Parking lots generally don't have speed limits. You go as slow as necessary for safety. I don't know if there's a posted speed limit there or a regulation limiting speed, but I doubt it. So it's quite possible she was guilty of just what the officer cited her for.
Also, cops sometimes go to the hospital to give motorists tickets too.
Yes, cops can get the law wrong when it comes to cycling, or even be jerks about it. But we cyclists sometimes just assume a cop is wrong or vindictive whenever they blame a cyclist. It sounds to me like the cop was right.
Posted by: old biker | July 21, 2015 at 03:09 PM
What makes you believe the cop was right? All we're told is that a car turned into a parking space and both collided. The cop made his decision based on testimony from the cyclist that was given under what I might call "challenging circumstances", i.e. she'd just been hit by a car and was so badly injured she needed to go to the hospital. If such a person were a witness to a crash you were involved in, how much would you want police to rely on their testimony? Based on what we're told, the best I can say is that I don't know who was at fault.
Posted by: washcycle | July 21, 2015 at 03:24 PM
Yes, the car that was turning into the spot might have done so without yielding to the oncoming cyclist. What I meant was the cop was right about the interpretation that a cyclist could be going too fast, even if not exceeding the speed limit.
Posted by: old biker | July 22, 2015 at 11:02 AM