As the city launches a bike- friendly “Street Smarts” campaign, cops have simul- taneously been ticketing hundreds of cyclists $75 apiece for riding on the sidewalk and breezing through stop signs and red lights.
Lt. Ray Hassett (pictured) said he and two of his officers have handed out almost 300 tickets to cyclists for traffic violations in October — a departure from the police department’s past practice of ignoring cycling violations.
Since he began ticketing cyclists, Hassett said, “I have seen a change in behavior — people stopping at lights, people not riding on sidewalk, riders giving hand signals.”
Bicycling advocates applauded Police Chief James Lewis’s promise to crack down on traffic-law violators — specifically, drivers of cars who exceed 25 miles per hour on city streets, run red lights, and endanger cyclists. Lewis has assigned more officers to traffic duty and put a sergeant in charge of the unit. The number of tickets is up substantially over last year to more than than 10,000 so far in 2008, including 1,202 in September.
Many cyclists also support enforcing traffic laws that apply to themselves as well, especially when violations threaten public safety.
Hassett’s crackdown on cyclists coincided with the city’s feel-good Oct. 19 kick-off of the Safe Streets/Street Smarts campaign. Some cyclists said the cops should have preceded the ticketing campaign with warnings and an education campaign. Yale police, for example, have also been giving out “tickets” to cyclists who ride on the sidewalk or violate other laws, but for the most part they have been warnings without a fine attached.
Some cyclists ticketed by Hassett’s team have been sticker-shocked at the $75 fine for sidewalk riding and even higher fines for other violations.
“I’m not giving warnings,” Hassett said.
“We’ve had a flyer printed up which I present along with the ticket, showing some of the violations and some of the fines,” he added. “I made a lot of informational flyers and gave some out before I started ticketing.”
The ticketing of cyclists is not a police department-wide effort. “This is my project,” Hassett said. “I mentioned it to the chief and he OK’d it, and we went forward.
I’ve always had an interest in bicycles. [Click here for a story on Hassett’s initiation of a police escort for the Critical Mass monthly bike ride.] I think it’s an excellent way of transportation and previous to this it’s been unregulated.
“A lot of people believe they are above the law, that if they are cautious they can ride on the sidewalk.”
Hassett said the majority of tickets to cyclists have been for riding on the sidewalk. He’s also nailed them for riding the wrong way on city streets and for going through red lights and stop signs. “There are so many flagrant violations,” he said.
His district is the Dwight neighborhood, just west of downtown. But many cyclists have been ticketed downtown. “We did wander down a little closer to the center of city,” Hassett said, adding that he tickets whomever he comes across violating the law. “I’m not looking to target anyone in specific.”
Justin Elicker (pictured) supports enforcement of traffic laws — even for bicyclists like himself. But he said he wonders if there’s been a disproportionate emphasis lately on enforcing the letter of the law over concerns about safety for all road users.
He was recently handed a $114 traffic ticket for turning right at a red light on College Street, right in front of Hassett’s squad car. In an email message, Elicker wrote, “I stopped and when I checked to see that it was safe to pass the police vehicle, slowly rode around the police car. Knowing that there had been tickets given out lately, I rode especially slowly (2 – 3 mph), making a right turn in front of the officer’s parked cruiser and literally rolling onto Chapel, feeling that I was in no way violating and in some part wanting to confirm that the police were not unfairly targeting cyclists when they were riding safely, slowly and on the road. A block later I was pulled over. I really support what the city and police are doing regarding traffic, they’ve done a fantastic job so far, that cyclists must obey the law, but at the same time the roads must ultimately be safe for everyone and balance is what is key here — for both cars and cyclists.”
Hassett’s response? “There was no right turn on red.”
He said he has no objection to lowering the fines that are now on the books for cycling violations. “We’re trying to change behavior,” he said, echoing the mantra of Chief Lewis. “If a lesser fine can do the trick, fine.”
Even cyclists who support the enforcement effort called the fines excessive and called for much more emphasis to be placed on stopping the potentially lethal violations by motorists. In that vein, they support strict enforcement against dangerous cycling behavior like riding fast or too close to pedestrians on the sidewalk or riding against traffic in the street.
David Streever is an organizer with the Elm City Cycling activist group. After learning the extent of the ticketing of cyclists, most for sidewalk riding, he said, “I think the best thing to happen now is to hand out Street Smarts brochure to all cyclists who are committing an infraction and let them know they’re not being targeted because they’re bicyclists but because it’s a safety issue. I think it would be best for the tickets to become warnings, except where the cyclist is behaving in a careless, dangerous way.
“You want to encourage people to bike, to incentivize cycling instead of disincentivize it. Cyclists are unaware of the impact they’re having on pedestrians. It’s the same mentality drivers have who drive dangerously. Getting involved with cycling advocacy made me realize the negative impact my behavior had on others and the negative reputation we were creating for cycling in general. Some people would change their behavior without being ticketed, but not others. I would like to see more done to reach people who would get it first, though,” by receiving a warning.
Unfortunately, the 25,000 “Street Smarts!” brochures the city got printed — while including helpful tips for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists — don’t say a word about the sidewalk ban on cycling. City Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts (pictured) said the ban came up during planning meetings but was not included because “we couldn’t include everything.” He also said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Streever said some cyclists at the meetings specifically opposed including it, wanting to keep the tone of the piece positive and not appearing “to tell cyclists what to do.”
Some cyclists are adamantly opposed to the ticketing blitz. One got a $75 ticket for, he said, riding less than a block on the sidewalk as he pulled off the street up to his apartment.
“It’s taken the joy out of riding,” he said, declining to be identified because, he said, he feared being targeted by the police.
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