I rode past this scene on my way into work this morning. The woman had been stopped by a Tucson Police Department officer on Mountain Avenue just south of Glenn Street.
I’m not sure what the stop was for, but would be surprised if it was for anything other than a stop sign violation at the intersection.
TPD was awarded a grant to focus their enforcement of pedestrian and bicycle violations.The uncreased enforcement will run until May, 18th.
that is not a happy looking dude…
I ride through that intersection every day to and from work. And yes, I stop at the stop signs. If there are no cars, I do a rolling stop. The main reason I stop is to show motorists that not all bicyclists ignore rules, in hopes that if we show them respect, they show us more respect. That woman deserves her ticket.
“… in hopes that if we show them respect, they show us more respect.” Hope is the right word in this case: something you do without a shred of evidence for its efficacy.
They switch to white shirts when the weather gets warm…
A rolling stop?? Still a violation, I believe.
Something I’ve noticed: The Tucson Fire Department guys and gals look fit. And I do mean f-i-t.
But the cops? Uhhh, guys and gals in blue, you could stand to work on the fitness, and I don’t mean spending even more time buffing up in the weight rooms down at the precinct. I mean taking a page from the fire department’s book and getting into shape. That could include putting more of you on the bikes. (I sure hope it does include that.)
You either stop or don’t stop. A rolling stop isn’t stopping, it’s rolling. I stop at every stop sign, but I don’t put my feet down. What’s wrong with ticketing people for running stop signs?
You’re lucky you’re not in jail or the hospital Mike, as that’s not an uncommon police reaction to being photographed.
http://www.pixiq.com/contributors/carlosmiller
I live right near this intersection and go through it everyday multiple times on a bike and in a car. Not only do many cyclists roll right through, but it is a notoriously bad intersection for cars blowing through for some reason. I think a few people have been killed there in recent years, so they installed the flashing red light, which hasn’t seemed to help all that much. I just wish TPD had decided to monitor here and put the focus on cars instead of ticketing “harmless” cyclists.
Then again, if you’re not paying enough attention to stop in front of a cop, maybe you should get a ticket!
Yep photographing police has become a hot legal battle in and outside of the media. Its amazing what the police have been trying to pull.
Matt, I think that is why cyclists get so upset with these types of things.
Many cyclists wonder why the money doesn’t go toward ticketing motorists who aren’t stopping.
Last time around they ticketed a lot of motorist for getting into the bike lane on Mountain and Grant and a lot of motorist who didn’t obey the HAWK signals, but you never see them hit cars who don’t stop at stop signs.
It shouldn’t be a hot legal battle and doesn’t seem to be so in the Old Pueblo. The officer was out there in public, on public roadway (so by definition doesn’t have privacy) and was also in his workplace, a place where employers are not required to consider employee privacy.
Rolling stop or a stop, who cares? The important thing is to have the judgement to apply the correct action for the circumstance. If there is nobody at a four way stop, say 5:30 am, why would one do anything other than a rolling stop?
The cops could spend their time at intersections with stoplights, like the one where the woman with her kid in the SUV ran a red light (clearly red, mine was green) this afternoon on my commute home from work.
So, I am the one in the picture receiving the ticket. Thanks to the man who took this picture I have all of you posting your comments and passing judgment on a situation you were not a witness to. I did stop at the stop sign. I was going south as can be seen from the photo. When I arrived at the stop sign a car was coming from the west and made a left turn to head south on Mountain. Then there was a car coming from the East on Glenn that made a left turn to head north on Mountain. My feet did not touch the pavement, but I did stop to wait for the other motorists ahead of me and balanced. Also, the cop was not even at the stop when I began to go through the intersection. As far as I am concerned I did not make a rolling stop, but a complete stop and the cop really did not see my stop. I am very cautious when I am cycling, because I value my life and do not trust motorists. So I was paying enough attention. More attention than the cop who gave me the ticket.
You deserve a ticket to if you do a rolling stop whether there is a motorist there or not. The law does not apply when you think it should, but applies all the time. I am the woman in the photo. You can look at my post to Matt Griffiths below where I explain what happened. I always show motorists respect. It burns me when I see cyclists all the time giving the wrong right turn signal and using the crosswalk instead of waiting for the red light. More than frustrating, it is dangerous when some cyclists do not obey the laws, because it confuses motorists. You have your right to your opinion, but you deserve a ticket as much as I do, if not more since you obey the laws when you think appropriate. I stop even if there is no cars, because one could come barreling through or a shrub/tree could block a car from view. Balancing is not a crime. Who or what are you respecting when you do that?
One more thing from the woman who received the ticket. The best part of the whole situation is that I have note received a ticket even in my car in over 7 years. You would think if I was really that wreckless of a driver and cyclist the police would have given me a few more tickets?!
Thank you for commenting and telling us what happened.
I’ve always secretly hoped I would get a ticket for not putting my foot down or “track standing at a stop sign.”
It’s something I’d like to try to fight in court. Are you planning on fighting it or taking the diversion course through the county, which is free and will prevent you from having to pay the ticket?I’m sorry if you felt like people passed judgement here, that wasn’t my intention, but happens.
How people act at stop signs are probably one of the most controversial aspects of cycling. There seems to be very little agreement. You can find a thread on here where we got into a whole discussion about stop signs on a post about a bike move. Again, thanks for commenting. Please feel free to contact me at tucsonvelo@gmail.com if you’d like to chat more.
The rules of the road were written with automobiles in mind. A bike can not cause anywhere near the damage that a 2000lb car can. To say that bikes should be treated the same as an automobile under the law is illogical. To waste police resources ticketing bikes is even more illogical. If Tucson is serious about reaching Platinum bike city status, this type of police behavior must stop.
The worst part is when TPD targets safe bike routes such as this one. I can speak from personal experience. The amount of bikes getting ticketed on the 3rd st bike route discouraged me for using it to get to and from work. I began to take Broadway instead. On Broadway I was hit by a truck that took an unexpected right turn, with no signal, when I was right beside it.
What’s more dangerous, not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign on a bike when on a quiet road where the bike can clearly see that there’s no traffic, or riding on a busy road where divers seldom check for bikes before making erratic maneuver?
The City is not investing what is needed to make bicycle commuting practical, safe, and efficient. The least that can be done is to not compound the problems of bike commuting with misguided law enforcement efforts.
I wish the police would focus enforcement on people who were a danger to others rather than on people who are a danger only to themselves. While this cop was ticketing a cyclist, he could have been ticketing a speeding motorist. And which lawbreaker poses the biggest public hazard? Well, it surely ain’t the cyclist.
This focus on pedestrian and bicycle violations has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with motorist entitlement.
The rules of the road were written with people in mind – not cars or bicycles. That’s why the rules of the road give equal priority to cyclists. We would be traveling down a dangerous path if we started demanding different rights based on our reduced potential to kill.
It is not illogical to treat cyclists the same as drivers, but that’s not what’s happening here – cyclists are being singled out for special attention by a police force that is clearly unable or unwilling to address the real dangers on our roads.
The rules of the road work just fine as long as people follow them and as long as they are enforced rationally and fairly. In cases like this, where people are targeted for minor and harmless infractions, the system breaks down. If cyclists posed a huge public danger by running stop signs, I’d be right on board with the police crackdown. But this is ridiculous.
TFD folks aren’t wearing Kevlar tm vests. Don’t be mean Martha.
I’m not being mean.
I’m pointing out something that I’ve observed in many cities, not just this one. And that is that there seems to be a higher number of cops carrying unnecessary poundage as compared to their colleagues in the fire department. Back in Pittsburgh, the obesity of the police department got to the point where it was a running joke all over town.
Now, let’s go back to the TFD. I don’t know about you, but I often see them doing fitness runs on the UA mall. When was the last time you saw police officers doing the same thing?
Yeah it hasn’t become and issue here, but is in other places recently.
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=legal+cases+photographing+police+#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=arrested%20for%20photographing%20police&oq=arrested%20for%20phot&aq=1&aqi=g2g-K2&aql=1&gs_l=serp.11.1.0l2j0i30l2.9298.14301.2.16909.20.19.0.0.0.6.245.2751.8j8j3.19.0.eqn%2Cfixedpos%3Dfalse%2Cboost_normal%3D20%2Cboost_high%3D1000%2Ccconf%3D0-95%2Cmin_length%3D2%2Crate_low%3D0-006%2Crate_high%3D0-006.1.0.0.lo-8rUJ9VtM&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=df41ee306381e0bb&biw=1231&bih=583&pf=p&pdl=300
personally, subjectively I think it’s mean to talk about a group of people’s weight and body size and it is not at all germaine to the topic at hand. Oh and by the way not only do they write tickets but they’re fat? Fire Fighters are athletes, no way around that. Hot Shots are even more so in that direction.
“The City is not investing what is needed to make bicycle commuting practical, safe, and efficient.”
That’s why we loose people to Calgary.
“I did not make a rolling stop, but a complete stop and the cop really did not see my stop”
When the cops receive money for the ‘focused’ enforcement, there is pressure to write these tickets.
That’s why this style of ‘enforcement’ stinks.
Yep
May not have been this guy, but this morning a dude that looked just like him (could’ve been the uniform and bike) was *lane splitting* at a red light, without emergency flashers, on Grant EB at Park, then proceeded to turn into the property just west of Mountain Ave.
I thought last years lane splitting bill was vetoed. Does enforcing the law mean you do not have to uphold the law? Or perhaps it is legal for police to lane split? Or there may be an officer patrolling that area in the AM who is of a character not befitting an authority figure?
If you ride in that area I would suggest riding like you’re being watched by someone being paid to write you a ticket, not exercise prudence.