Oceanside Inspired by New York City
Posted By Sam Ollinger on January 30, 2011
The City of Oceanside in Northern San Diego County has decided to borrow the worst pages from New York and has begun handing out tickets to bicyclists.
From an email I received,
“Today I got stopped along with two other people by a cop in an unmarked car wearing a jacket covering his uniform for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign in Oceanside. Apparently starting last weekend and for the upcoming weekends, the O-side cops are out in mass to give cyclists tickets. He told us they gave out about about 100 last weekend and who knows how many today. So watch out!
Have you been ticketed? Can you write in about your experience? Is there a crackdown? If so, what triggered it?
My contact in North County, Paul, had these very good questions as well,
What kind of relationship do we have with the OPD? Why was the committee not asked to engage in an educational program in conjunction with the crackdown? Is this merely a new funding source for the city? Was there any history of accidents or incidents involving cyclists to precipitate this crackdown? What can our committee do to avoid such draconian police behavior?
Did the cyclists that received tickets stop at the signs? If they didn’t, what’s their complaint?
This one’s a no brainer.
I was awarded a ticket in Oceanside last year during a 100 mile ride from Temecula. I completed a Trial by Declaration form sent in my money went to court in Vista and had the case dismissed and the money refunded. We can bog the courts and the cops down in paperwork which they hate doing by as many as possible following this legal system. We could of course also stop at all the stop signs!!
Dear readers:
Please be advised that if I see you stopped by the side of the road receiving a traffic citation or a good tongue-lashing from our local law enforcement community, the likelihood is quite high that I’ll take a picture of you and your situation for use here, the “Chainguard” (the bimonthly newsletter of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, http://www.sdcbc.org) or another cycling-specific article hosting site.
That said, I have a lot of sympathy for riders who do follow the rules but get ticketed for a perceived but non-existent violation. For example, there’s an old law enforcement official’s tale that bicyclists must put down at least one foot in order to be at a stop. I am unaware of any California Vehicle Code provision or legal decision to that effect (although I am not a lawyer in community theater, much less in real life). Then there’s the occasional confusion about what to do with a defective traffic signal — besides complain to the municipality or other operator/installer.
I never really have that problem