In September, I conducted a class for the Columbia Police Department about bicycling law. We covered what the laws are and what they mean, and I even gave each officer a laminated card they could keep in their ticket books for reference.
The theme to the training could be described as “bicycles are vehicles.” In keeping with that theme, we talked about how bicyclists need to be pulled over and ticketed if they are breaking traffic laws. I asked, “If you saw a Ford Explorer driving at 2 a.m. without lights on, would you pull them over? What about a bicyclist doing the same thing?”
If law enforcement, motorists and bicyclists thought of bicycles as vehicles, many of our problems would disappear and the Trib Talk section would be much shorter.
The results of that class exceeded my wildest expectations. The police department designated October as “Operation Share the Road.” During that month, officers stopped more than 100 bicyclists to issue warnings or tickets. We had bicyclists coming into the office talking about getting pulled over and wanting to know what the laws actually are. Bicycle shop employees told me bicyclists were purchasing light sets and telling stories of being pulled over for the first time in years.
Because I spend so much time and energy trying to get bicyclists to obey traffic laws, I am sensitive to the notion we should not share our roadways with bicyclists. Imagine if I said the same thing about motorists. Many drivers in Columbia speed, and some must run red lights or else there would be no need for those controversial red-light cameras. But even though some motorists disobey laws, it is no excuse for bicyclists to scream or curse at them.
