Cops cracking down on light-running cyclists in Kendall Square
By adamg - Tue, 08/26/2008 - 8:41pm.
Stacie reports getting a warning from a cop this morning:
... I did a typical bike thing--I ran through an intersection instead of stopping because it's easier--and I got caught. Had I been fined, I'd have paid it and (believe it or not) I wouldn't have complained about it. When you're wrong, you're wrong. ... Now, how about handing out some tickets to people in cars who (1) park in the bike lane and/or (2) run red lights?
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I've seen it happen
As a commuter in that area (riding past it in the 85 bus, as well as going through that intersection when I ride my bicycle to work) I've been noticing the cops standing there, and it has been impacting when I go through the intersection.
The question comes when pedestrians have the walk sign... do us bikers get to pedal our way through at that point, or do we have to wait for the green light like cars?
When I learned my rules of the road way "back in the day" I remembered something about people on bikes having to get off their bikes and walk with the walk sign through any road crossing. Now, for a cop to give a ticket cause you're doing that, but while on the pedals seems a bit much for me.
simply put, I think a red light should mean a time for no cars to pass, while a walk sign should allow unmotorized passage.
Pedestrian Mode
Nobody can stop or ticket you if you simply hop off the bike, walk it across the street in the crosswalk with the walk light, and remount on the far side. It works for left turns when you have one of those "all ways stop/all ways cross" lights. Ditto for hopping off to walk a bike on the sidewalk.
I do this all the time to take a short cut to get to the garage in my building. It saves about 4 blocks of riding to convert to ped mode, walk half a block down the sidewalk, and jump back on to descend into the belly of the building. WHeeeee!
Otherwise, you have to wait for the green light like the cars. I'll do this most times that I could do ped mode because I tend to hit all the lights most days and sometimes I like a break to guzzle half my water bottle and stretch my hamstrings. As a cyclist, you have some options that other vehicle operators do not - but you have to decide which mode you will take and follow those rules.
Makes perfect
Makes perfect sense...
Sometimes in the Back Bay I wish I could jump out of my car and cross a sidewalk with it, epsecially at those false dead ends where a sidewalk splits the street in two!
Pedestrian thoughts
I believe the law is intended to be that, on your bike, you're considered a vehicle, while off your bike, you're a pedestrian.
As such, while on your bike, when you approach any traffic control (or sign) or pedestrian, you must obey the same traffic laws as a vehicle. While off the bike, you must heed to the same laws as a pedestrian.
But no matter whether you're a vehicle or pedestrian, you must always observe the laws of physics (ie, two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time) ...
;-)