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Ok, I do think it's helpful to have cyclists aware of the laws just as I think it's important for Illinois to adopt the Idaho stop. That said, this "enforcement" is a joke if it is meant to keep cyclists safe. What about drivers that put cyclists in harm's way? Why can't they be forced to take a class and a quiz about 3-feet buffer and sharing the road?

I feel like this push for enforcement wasn't really about cyclist safety as much as it was about keeping the impatient drivers happy. 

http://wgntv.com/2015/10/19/new-way-for-cyclists-to-get-out-of-a-ti...

Easter egg: find the typo in the article (about the only thing in this article that made me giggle).

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95 perfect :-)  Actually that program is similar to the Traffic Safety School that is available to drivers getting a first traffic ticket.  It does not get them out of paying, but does keep them from having a ticket on their driving record.

Good catch! :-) I hope the Traffic Safety School class does a decent job of educating motorists laws related to cyclists (but worry that it doesn't). 

It's a way to get you to pay more money to the state/county instead of the insurance company.

The training is a 'test' you pay about $100 take on your own computer that uses a delay mechanism to ensure you spend at least four hours answering the same kind of questions you find in a written exam. Wrong answers tell you what the right answer was and you move to the next question. Your 'first ticket' lasts six months, so if you get a second ticket more than six months later you can take the class again to avoid notifying your insurer.

At least the state doesn't take your driver's license anymore. Photo ID is needed way too much these days for that practice to survive.

You don't need a driver's license or insurance to ride a bike. Has anyone gotten a state ID and used that when stopped?

@Tricolor, are you talking about moving violations for motorists? The article says that for cyclists taking the test the cost is reduced to zero. 

This subtopic is about the Traffic Safety School for drivers, so yes. Cycling traffic school may be free now but never miss an opportunity to make money out of people you can find a way to legally blame for something.

What bothers me is applying cycling violations to your driver's license. You don't need a license to bike and hitting your insurer (which bikers aren't required to have) or registration (which bikes also aren't required to have) is only a burden to some of the people ticketed, so it's not being equally applied.

It'd be like getting having a jaywalking charge result in higher auto insurance if you also happened to own a car.

Typo: drivers eductation

I sure didn't like the tone of that article.

"95 perfect of them did." heh. 

It's certainly not about keeping cyclists safe, it's more likely to be about those high-income towns placating angry residents.

This is also about weekend bike club pacelines, and while not wanting to defend angry drivers, it is true that the pacelines sometimes go through stop signs as a unit, rather than as individual vehicles. I haven't much to say about that, except that the physics of bike riding are so different from cars and trucks that there should be an update of laws that take that into account. 

So +1! The Idaho Stop would be a logical improvement to the law. 

(Easter egg typo:) correction - The Pumpkin patch typo: How about, at least I hope it's a typo, $120 in fines plus court costs up to $350. YOW !

I hope all those NIMBY people are comfy in their SUV's while catching up with the Kardashian's on their devices.

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