It appears that it is mostly warnings that are being issued, but some tickets and fines have been handed out as well. The police are often apologetic; they know that this is BS, but they have their marching orders.

 

Why is this happening? It's very simple. There are some vocal residents around the North Shore who complain loudly to their Village governments and police chiefs about "lawless" cyclists. (By which they mean, really, any cyclists on the roads, who they perceive to be "in their way.") These people are probably relatively few in number, but they are increasingly vocal. More vocal than we are. And that's pretty much the entire explanation, right there.

We all know where the lawlessness and risk is: from drivers who operate motor vehicles while texting and who run red lights, speed, and drive aggressively. Stand at any suburban intersection. You won't have to wait long to see this. Reckless driving often results in death. The statistics on this could not be more clear. (If you want some stats on this, look at my piece from back in August in the suburban edition of the Tribune.) 

 

Hey, this is the Internet age: it takes three minutes to find the email addresses and phone numbers of your police chief, deputy chiefs, your village mayors and managers, and local trustees. (I've now reduced that time to 10 seconds by putting most of these links at the bottom of this message.) With one e-mail, copied to everyone, you can politely but firmly let them know what you think of this nonsense, and remind them that we vote and pay taxes too -- and there are a lot of us. You should also pick up the phone and call some of these officials. 

Ask them for the safety statistics they have that form the basis of this effort, e.g., all of the injuries being caused by cylicsts. Ask them if they collect and regularly review statistics on injuries caused by motor vehicles, and specifically, incidents of cyclists and pedestrians being struck by motor vehicles. Ask them to send you this data. Let them know that the enforcement priority should be ticketing reckless drivers and, specifically, enforcing state and local hands-free driving laws. When drivers break these laws, people get killed. The current law enforcement effort reflects priorities that are completely upside-down and inconsistent with any sensible risk-adjusted approach to public safety. It is simply a response to quiet some complainers.

 

 

You have to make your voices heard. Often. I know everyone just wants to go out and ride, but in order for riding to continue to be an enjoyable and safe activity, there's a certain amount of ongoing work to be done. Please do it today.