The Chainlink

Barrington Hills Bike Ordinance

A lot of this news being tossed around various blogs and message boards, but the one think I can't find is the actual survey that Barrington PD claims is the reason for this ordinance?

http://bryanmcvey.blogspot.com/2009/02/share-road.html

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Permalink Reply by Weir's beard on February 11, 2009 at 8:54pm
"A 2008 Barrington Hills Police Department survey indicated that bicyclists were a major concern for members of the community."

My bet is the "survey" probably consisted of a village meeting where there was a show of hands or something like that.

I've got a couple of friends who live in Barrington Hills. I'll ask them if they know anything.
Permalink Reply by Matt AKA Jimbo/BMXican on February 12, 2009 at 1:01am
Like the fact check.
Permalink Reply by Norm Hansen on February 13, 2009 at 9:01am
Ride Single File is that all. We should not take up the whole road. If you want to take up the whole road get a big ol' SUV. Thats their purpose! We all have a right to share the road.

If the road is to narrow stay off of it. And for people who by gas in Cook county, where is there gas tax going. It's not the cyclist falt that Cook County Roads are not wide enough. Up here in Lake County the Roads are wide and have Shoulders to Ride on.

I never liked riding in Barrington Hills because of the narrow roads, Hills and big expensive cars in a hurry. Riding in Northwest Cook County in MY OPINION SUCKS ANYWAY. Roads are not well kept up well and there is no shoulder.

How about the Problem of Young Drivers Getting Killed on these Roads.
Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on February 13, 2009 at 12:48pm
A local Bicycle Task Force might have been able to prevent this ordinance.

If there are any Barrington Hills bicyclists who are interested in starting a BTF to improve bicycling opportunities and explore overturning this ordinance (a very difficult challenge), please contact the Active Transportation Alliance's West Suburban Coordinator, Pamela Brookstein.

pamela@activetrans.org or 312.427.3325 x242.

Thanks much,
Active Trans

PS: Pamela will be on vacation next week in Puerto Rico (we're jealous too) but will get back to anyone upon her return.
Permalink Reply by Anne on February 13, 2009 at 5:30pm
An even more disturbing detail that Luke over at ChicagoBikeRacing has pointed out; see attached .pdf of the Village minutes from November 08.

I deleted much of the six pages of the original text and added highlighting.
Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Anne on February 16, 2009 at 10:16am
wow, that sounds ridiculous. Were they also stopping cars? If not, I'd call that unreasonable search. I see goose-stepping next!

M.A.R.K. said:
Barrington Hills have been watching cyclists for sometime now.. Here's part of a post from another group sometime last year around may. Im a little confused on why an ID was required, and what would happen if you did not have or present one.

My friends Jean and Andy report that on Saturday they were stopped (while biking thru Bgtn. Hills Hills) by the Barrington Hills Police. The police setup a safety check roadblock and stopped all bicyclists. This was in the vicinity of Oak Know and the country club. It was a thorough check; even required a valid ID. Andy said his helmet ID (issued by AHBA several years ago) was sufficient.

The police explained that they will be keeping a close watch on all cyclist in Barrington Hills.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on February 16, 2009 at 12:52pm
IMHO the problem with B.H. is that it's too close to Algonquin. IIRC the Harmon Hundred quit going through that area years ago due to overzealous policing;(the Algonquin PD was ticketing for speeding (!) and some other riders were stopped for R.W.B....) Barrington Hills may have taken a page from its neighbour across the Fox?

Maybe it's the local water?

i've heard rumblings lately that many of the local constabularies in that general area are out to clamp down on cyclists. There are a few group training rides that cross that part of the world. i know that many groups play a little loose with the traffic laws, but this is starting to look like a strategy of revenue -generating on the part of these townships.

Any ideas for countering these P.D. tactics?
Permalink Reply by Richard on February 16, 2009 at 2:56pm
I wonder if this is the onset of a wider trend as municipalities search for new revenue streams. However it seems like just plain old harassment. Elected officials saw an easy way to score political points by targeting a group which they perceive wields little influence in their community. Kristian's point of postive engagement with politicians and law enforcement demonstrates that advocacy is the way to prevent this from becoming the standard. Ongoing coverage of this issue is appreciated.
Permalink Reply by Jay Stanton Goldstein on February 17, 2009 at 3:17pm
Our North Suburban advocacy group was started as a result of a hit-and-run accident in Barrington Hills last summer. A pickup truck towing a horse trailer (without a license plate on the trailer) aggressively passed a group of seven riders on Bateman Rd. and took two down, fortunatly only broken bones and surgery required. The group of riders at the time were traveling not much below the 35 MPH speed limit. The victims felt the department was not too interested in finding the motorist, though the particular BH police officer seemed thorough. Our group's next meeting is 7PM, March 10 at Alberto's Cycles in Highland Park, all are welcome. Active Trans has just appointed a North Suburban Coordinator who we expect will be advocating for us with these villages.

read about the work at http://cyclingadvocacy.blogspot.com/
Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on February 17, 2009 at 8:42pm
Maybe someone legally savy could tell us if they could make ordinances trumping state law? Like a cyclist's curfew.
Permalink Reply by The Locomotive on February 18, 2009 at 6:50am
When this mess was first posted I did call the officers # that is posted and to my surprise he called
me back after a couple of days !!

Please if you have any concerns call him, he is also a cyclist and is very cool.
Barrington is not out to get anyone unless you are doing something stupid and risking the lives
of other cyclist or yourself.
He informed me that last year there was an accident between 2 bikes at an intersection, both did not stop
or slow down and they hit one another.
Now that's bad !!!
Permalink Reply by Jim "Niterider" on February 18, 2009 at 10:54pm
Nice to see the cops are trying to help for a change instead of trying to find new ways to bug ya. If you run a stop sign, well yes it could be a problem. Were both cyclists injured needing to be hospitalized because of not following the rules? It sounds like if you are going to be dumb, you have to be tough! I see this out in Pleasant Praire all of time and in Zion. People runing lights and stop signs will get you pulled over by most cops. They are doing their job when you start behaving like a dumb-ass. They would rather be giving you a warning instead of puting you in a body bag! I was stopped in this area last year at 3:30 a.m. out on 9 th street by Lake County Sherif. He thought it was odd that I was not doing something illegal for being in the sticks at this time. Always good to have some form of I.D. with you Chainlinkers when dealing with the police so the can let you go. Hopeful the Village Board will make an informed decission since this will affect lots of people in the next upcoming months. The curfew item has to go. I am an adult of 35 years old and if I am riding at night well who is to tell me when I can and can not ride. This isn't rocket science. As long as you are lit up with plenty of lights, obeying the rules of the road, who is to say. I work third shift and I am not going to change my riding habits because of some ordinance telling me I have to. Keep all of us informed of what becomes of this.

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