staggerwing
05-07-2013, 09:58 AM
I’ve been a little hesitant to publically post this, but the positive reaction from one of Cincinnati’s finest deserves mention. :banana:
The location was Mt. Lookout Square, in urban Cincinnati, just this past Saturday afternoon. Despite the name, it is actually an irregular, two-lane, football-shaped loop, about 300 feet long, with a pair of roads, intersecting both the south and north ends in a “Y”. It is an old, village like, business district, with numerous restaurants, boutiques, and the like surrounding, and generally filled with pedestrians on nice afternoons. There are no less than 5 traffic lights, and 8 marked crosswalks all within a very compact area. A Google Map of the area (http://goo.gl/maps/4jhlH)
I entered the loop from the southwest on Delta Ave. Due to the narrow roadway, and street parking, the safe path through is to take the lane. It has never been an issue prior, and as the loop is only a few hundred feet long, it is impossible to impede traffic for long. However, the gentleman behind me must have felt that I was seriously hampering his afternoon, as he promptly started honking at me immediately after clearing the light. I looked back, but held my position, as I was going to continue on Delta as it exits the northeast side of the loop. The exit is a single lane pinch point, but quickly opens up to two lanes within 100 feet. Again, the gentleman was angered, and bleated out a quick succession of horn blows. As we hit the two lane portion, he laid on the gas, cutting sharply around me.
The Lexus driver was so fixated on me, that he must have failed to noticed the fully marked, Cincinnati Police cruiser in the position directly behind. Apparently, the officer had seen enough, and hit his light bar and siren as soon as the Lexus driver jerked around me, pulling him over within !00 feet. I voiced a “Thank You” to the still seated officer as I was pedaling past, and noticed him shaking his head at the man ahead. As I passed the driver, he screamed out “you must obey the law too!” Couldn’t help but mutter back, “I thought I was,” but left it at that. I did not stop.
I don’t know if the guy was ticketed, or just lectured. I’ve seen a lot of stupid stuff from motorists pulled in direct view of local officers without consequence, so the reaction was pleasantly surprising. Cincinnati does appear to be taking cycling safety seriously. :banana:
It should be noted that on the Saturday just four weeks prior, another Cincinnati officer, this one on bicycle, pulled into the driveway of a motorist that cut me off only moments prior. I had met her just a minute or two before, and after a pleasantry, continued North on MLK, a four lane urban arterial, with full bike lanes. She lagged behind doing the patrol thing. Several hundred feet on, a white SUV approached from behind, accelerated hard, laid on the brakes, and cut hard across my bow into their driveway, on the right. It wasn’t that close for me, although I did have to brake, and swing out of the bike lane a bit. I was thinking “just another bonehead… it wouldn’t have taken another 3 seconds to duck in behind me. “ Ironically, there wasn’t another vehicle to be seen heading the same direction. Nevertheless, a little further on, I notice the trailing officer ducking into the offending bozos driveway. Again, I don't know what transpired, but I was a little surprised by the reaction. :banana:
I did send a polite "Thank You" letter to the precinct captain.
The location was Mt. Lookout Square, in urban Cincinnati, just this past Saturday afternoon. Despite the name, it is actually an irregular, two-lane, football-shaped loop, about 300 feet long, with a pair of roads, intersecting both the south and north ends in a “Y”. It is an old, village like, business district, with numerous restaurants, boutiques, and the like surrounding, and generally filled with pedestrians on nice afternoons. There are no less than 5 traffic lights, and 8 marked crosswalks all within a very compact area. A Google Map of the area (http://goo.gl/maps/4jhlH)
I entered the loop from the southwest on Delta Ave. Due to the narrow roadway, and street parking, the safe path through is to take the lane. It has never been an issue prior, and as the loop is only a few hundred feet long, it is impossible to impede traffic for long. However, the gentleman behind me must have felt that I was seriously hampering his afternoon, as he promptly started honking at me immediately after clearing the light. I looked back, but held my position, as I was going to continue on Delta as it exits the northeast side of the loop. The exit is a single lane pinch point, but quickly opens up to two lanes within 100 feet. Again, the gentleman was angered, and bleated out a quick succession of horn blows. As we hit the two lane portion, he laid on the gas, cutting sharply around me.
The Lexus driver was so fixated on me, that he must have failed to noticed the fully marked, Cincinnati Police cruiser in the position directly behind. Apparently, the officer had seen enough, and hit his light bar and siren as soon as the Lexus driver jerked around me, pulling him over within !00 feet. I voiced a “Thank You” to the still seated officer as I was pedaling past, and noticed him shaking his head at the man ahead. As I passed the driver, he screamed out “you must obey the law too!” Couldn’t help but mutter back, “I thought I was,” but left it at that. I did not stop.
I don’t know if the guy was ticketed, or just lectured. I’ve seen a lot of stupid stuff from motorists pulled in direct view of local officers without consequence, so the reaction was pleasantly surprising. Cincinnati does appear to be taking cycling safety seriously. :banana:
It should be noted that on the Saturday just four weeks prior, another Cincinnati officer, this one on bicycle, pulled into the driveway of a motorist that cut me off only moments prior. I had met her just a minute or two before, and after a pleasantry, continued North on MLK, a four lane urban arterial, with full bike lanes. She lagged behind doing the patrol thing. Several hundred feet on, a white SUV approached from behind, accelerated hard, laid on the brakes, and cut hard across my bow into their driveway, on the right. It wasn’t that close for me, although I did have to brake, and swing out of the bike lane a bit. I was thinking “just another bonehead… it wouldn’t have taken another 3 seconds to duck in behind me. “ Ironically, there wasn’t another vehicle to be seen heading the same direction. Nevertheless, a little further on, I notice the trailing officer ducking into the offending bozos driveway. Again, I don't know what transpired, but I was a little surprised by the reaction. :banana:
I did send a polite "Thank You" letter to the precinct captain.