Bicyclist fights traffic obstruction ticket and wins

[Leoner]

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/03/cyclist_wins_traffic_obstructi.html

[Blown Reek]

And that's why you never "try to reason" with a cop.

[bikinchris]

Don't argue with a cop. Unless you can cite exactly where they are wrong. I did in the past. A sheriff deputy pulled me over and told me to get off the road. I asked where should I ride? He said "on the sidewalk." I said "Louisiana revised statutes title 32, paragraph 194 states "Cyclists are granted all of the rights and subject to all of the duties of motor vehicles." After that, we could talk. We agreed I would ride the back roads "until he could "check that out."

[ultraman6970]

It is impossible for a cop to know it all, in a matter of fact nobody knows it all. And they know that, making it really hard to reason with a "know it all cop".

BTW would be good to ride with a copy of those statutes just in case tho.

[Tony T]

What's ironic that the patrol car was impeding traffic while he was giving the cyclist a citation for impeding traffic.

[Tony T]

BTW would be good to ride with a copy of those statutes just in case tho.

Not Really. He lost the first case. ("Although a Livingston County District Court judge initially ruled against Panagis, they appealed in Livingston County Circuit Court. Judge David Reader dismissed the ticket, saying Panagis complied with the law…")
I cannot understand how he lost, but it was great that he appealed the ruling and won.

[SlackMan]

Don't argue with a cop. Unless you can cite exactly where they are wrong. I did in the past. A sheriff deputy pulled me over and told me to get off the road. I asked where should I ride? He said "on the sidewalk." I said "Louisiana revised statutes title 32, paragraph 194 states "Cyclists are granted all of the rights and subject to all of the duties of motor vehicles." After that, we could talk. We agreed I would ride the back roads "until he could "check that out."

When I was a younger man, sometimes intent on pushing boundaries, I carried a copy of the Louisiana Criminal Code (several hundred pages) with me in my car. I won't go into the details, but it came in handy for one very intense and stressful situation involving me and many police officers. Sadly, they were unconvinced with my knowledge and seemed to resent it. OTOH, the police chief and judge understood that I was correct, and told them to drop all charges. The punchline is that I'm unconvinced knowledge is much use against officers in real time, but it is indeed useful for an individual to know the law very well.

[oldpotatoe]

It is impossible for a cop to know it all, in a matter of fact nobody knows it all. And they know that, making it really hard to reason with a "know it all cop".

BTW would be good to ride with a copy of those statutes just in case tho.

"The trooper, however, appeared to disagree.

"Now, that to me, gives me the impression that you want to be a smart aleck," he said in the dash-cam video from the patrol car."

That's why the cop pulled him over, and gave just him a ticket. It had nothing to do with the 'law'.

[sitzmark]

Sometimes LEOs don't know the laws and just make $&it up. I fully respect LEOs and the difficult and dangerous job they do, but c'mon making up laws and not thinking they'll be called on it??

Two weekends ago:
Hi team,

Two of us had a friendly encounter with a member of Carlisle’s Police Department this morning as we zoomed around the Charlie Baker loop. The officer pulled us over (which was exciting, he used his loudspeaker) to let us know that the local laws in Carlisle prohibit riding two abreast. This differs from, and supercedes, the general Massachusetts laws, which allow riding two by two as long as cars can pass (http://massbike.org/resourcesnew/bike-law/).

The officer said that they are trying to spread the word now, as it’s early in the season, but will soon be ticketing cyclists riding two-by-two on Carlisle's roads. He said they will simultaneously be ticketing drivers who come too close to bikes or do other dumb things (he was refreshingly critical of people’s driving abilities), and that the goal is to reduce the number of cyclists who are hit by cars, apparently there were a lot of accidents last year.

I tried briefly to find where in the Carlisle bylaws this is written, but failed, so will give the town offices a call this week just so we know the exact rules, and will send another email if I learn more. Meanwhile, I wanted to share the information so we can all avoid tickets, keep the Carlisle cops happy, and stay safe.

Many more were "warned" and word got back to MassBikes, who followed up with the Carlisle Police Chief. Needless to say MA law is Carlisle law. http://massbike.org/blog/2016/02/24/update-this-weekend-in-carlisle/