Oceanside Inspired by New York City

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?