Ticketing cyclists to slow 'em down? Good luck!

The American River bike trail, a phenomenal regional asset though native riparian forest, gets a lot of weekend use. That’s when all uses converge: Bicyclists of all levels from kids on trikes to office organized road bike pelotons riding at high speeds. Add in walkers, joggers, distance runners, dog walkers and baby strollers and you have a bike trail with hopelessly clogged lanes. Because of all the traffic, and the occasional fast road bike riders, Sacramento County has decided it will deploy officers armed with speed guns to enforce a 15 mph speed limit on all cyclists.

The idea is to make it safer for everyone. And no doubt, that’s a good motive to sell, since crashes, including head-ons, have been on the upswing on crowded weekends. Complaints have been primarily over bike club pelotons riding through crowds at speeds estimated at up to 30 mph. The idea is to get those fast riders off the trail and on to open roads, said chief ranger Stan Lumsden in the newspaper story on the planned enforcement.

The county thinks it threw a bone to cyclists on the trail last week by erasing most of the stop signs on the trail, giving cyclists the right of way instead of telling them they’re supposed to stop. But let’s be real, that change will have no effect. The original stop signs were never heeded by any cyclists in the first place! Because when there is no cross vehicular traffic, it makes no sense to stop your bike. Why would anybody riding along do that? So, of course, nobody ever has. Brilliant county move!

In the newspaper story, Lumsden declined to reveal where on the bike trail the speed guns would be used by county rangers. Cyclists that get clocked on the guns over 15 mph will get a $50 fine for the first violation – after a warning. And if they get stopped after that, it’s $100 for a second violation within a year.

One cyclist interviewed in the story said this amounts to fast riders being forced onto highways where many drivers are more often than not, unwilling to “Share the Road” with them. But let’s face it, most serious road cyclists don’t even bother riding on the bike trail on weekends. On weekends, it’s all but impossible to have an unobstructed ride on the bike trail. It’s a carnival obstacle course with accidents constantly waiting to happen. I’m among many cyclists I’m sure who make it a point to stay off the trail on weekends.

A complaint voiced in the story was that the enforcement program is only a new revenue source for the county, and that resources should be redirected to anti crime measures on some of the seedier parts of the bike trail.

But even if this is an earnest attempt by the county to make the trail safer on weekends, it doesn’t appear to have been thought through.

So, just for a minute, let’s assume it’s a crowded Saturday morning on the trail, and a ranger lurks in the bushes armed with his trusty radar gun. He or she clocks a cyclist at 17 mph. Then what? Does he or she hop on his or her motorcycle to chase down the speeder? Or jam on his or her electric bike? Or his or her road bike?

Now, think about it, if the trail is crowded, he or she will be faced with having to move fast to get on the trail and speed after the law breaking cyclist to make them stop and receive their warning or ticket.

Think about it. This is is anything but a safe scenario. This could lead the ranger into an accident trying to avoid a stroller, a dog, a slow rider, or something else in the lane, while on the fevered chase. If this happened, and injuries resulted, the whole program would be called into question as attempting to improve safety, with unsafe actions.

“Park ranger runs over three power walkers in pursuit of speeding cyclist” the headline would say. “Cyclist escapes.”

So if I’m a radar-equipped ranger hiding in the bushes, to avoid that ugly headline, I’m going to wait until the path is free and clear of crowding to clock a rider going by faster than 15 mph. So if this is the case, the stupidity of this whole program is revealed. Riders that get clocked, stopped and fined, will most likely be riding on an open trail causing no danger to anyone. And how are they supposed to ticket a speeding peloton of riders? Chase them down (good luck), then command them to stop with a siren or a bullhorn? Then set up a card table alongside the trail and have all the peloton riders form a line so they can get their tickets?
If the county, and the rangers thought this through, maybe they wouldn’t be trying out such a joke of an attempt at improving safety on the crowded weekend trail.

Hey county, hey rangers, here’s an idea! How about doing something that actually makes a crowded bike trail safer? Like giving late weekend mornings, early afternoons to multi use of the trail, and early and late weekend hours to cyclists without any unenforceable, ridiculous speed limit enforcement. That would, uh, make a little better sense, no? Other good ideas could also work.

But then, government policies aimed at things like improving public safety rarely employ simple logic. These are bureaucrats that really don’t care. They just want to point to something they’re doing to make it look like they’re doing something positive, even if the action is doomed to failure. Meanwhile, all this is tough luck for serious cyclists riding the trail without a radar detector.

Haarrrumph! It’s time to organize and let these park rangers with their seriously misguided solution hear some sensible alternatives that will actually improve public safety conditions. Maybe solutions that don’t include handing out tickets that rip off riders while supplying revenue for, who knows what, radar guns? Staff birthday parties? This is wrongful bashing of cyclists using what is supposed to be, uh, oh yeah, a bike trail!

And now, a tip for cyclists

Ever have your rear derailleur get out of whack, so your shifting gets rough and balky? Check this out, it’s a great tip to follow before heading to the bike shop to get charged for something that is often an easy self fix:

Until next time, remember to strap on a helmet every time you get on the bike. Then, you know the drill. Keep the rubber side down!

-- Mark Eric Larson

Mark Eric Larson has written two books of essays, "The NERVE...of Some People's Kids," and "Don't Force it, Get a Bigger Hammer. To read, visit: 
http://www.scribd.com/Mark%20Eric%20Larson/shelfHis blog of personal essays is at: http://marksmuzings.blogspot.com/