Boise Police to crack down on scoff-law bicyclists.

In a recent press release, Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson said that he is asking his officers to pay more attention to bicyclists who violate city and state traffic laws and start issuing more warnings and/or citations.  In general we applaud the Chief's actions.  We have all had problems with some bicyclists who ride against traffic, or ride at night without lights, or blow through traffic controls without yielding.  As the great statesman Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!"  It's hard to demand respect from others (motorists) if we as a class of road user don't give respect first.

It's not like we haven't been asking for enforcement.  Last year TVCA met with an officer from the Boise PD to express our concerns about traffic enforcement regarding bicyclists.  TVCA member bikeboy reports that he has called BPD to ask for stepped up enforcement.  In both instances BPD has expressed little interest in traffic enforcement for bicyclists.  In one recent statement from BPD about a non-injury collision between a wrong-way cyclist and motorist, they noted that this sort of incident actually happens frequently - several times a week - on city streets.  With that kind of frequency of these incidents, we have to wonder why it took the recent tragedies for BPD to start paying attention. 

While we applaud the Chief's efforts to educate these bicyclists in the rules of the road, we have to wonder about the timing of this enforcement effort.  From most reports it sounds like in at least two of the three tragedies the cyclists were riding legally and as safely as possible.  Unfortunately the Chief's timing makes it appear that this is a "blame the victim" type of response which does not sit well with many cyclists.  We are certain that this was not his intention and we hope that to balance this the Chief's efforts will extend to educating motorists in the laws as they apply to bicylists.

We also have to ask who will train the officers as to what the laws are for bicyclists?  From personal experience, I think I can safely say that not all officers are familiar with how the rules of the road apply to bicyclists.  While my experience was with an Ada County Sheriff's deputy, shortly after that TVCA member Bob T reports that he was stopped by a BPD officer who told him that he needs to be as far right as possible, even though the right lane was too narrow to safely share.  With the BPD crackdown, can more of us look forward to being pulled over because we aren't riding in the gutter just because the officer feels that would be safer? 

I fully respect police officers and appreciate their efforts, but I also realize that there are hundreds of laws on the books and it would be unreasonable to expect the officers (or anyone else for that matter) to know every detail of every law. I would hope that the police officers also realize that and will be willing to listen when we offer to help them learn those details.  TVCA is working on organizing a Safe Cycling Summit to involve government leaders, law enforcement, and the cycling community.  Hopefully the police will take an active role in the summit with an interest in making the streets safer for all road users, not just more convenient for those in cars.

Should the police be cracking down on bicylists?  Go to our discussion forum on this topic to add your opinion.