Stop sign sting
I saw one of the stop sign stings for bikers this morning on Wells Street. It was pretty obvious as to what it was, but people were still blowing through the stop sign.
Anyone here get caught? Any thoughts on this?
One thing that I thought was funny was this girl who passed me while I was stopping, and then was flagged over and still tried to go. The police stepped in front of her...it looked like she was going to make a break for it, but she ended up stopping.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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I'm not an anti-car evangelist. I happen to own and drive a couple of them. I've also driven professionally. As truck driver I'm certain that there are cars that are out to get people. That is totally true and quite obvious to anyone who puts 200k or more a year on the road professionally. You see things...
Keeping traffic moving for all the people on the road helps EVERYONE at it isn't really that hard to do if people just work together. Fewer IC engines idling in traffic would be better but having them idling less and getting where they are going without sitting and burning needless millions of gallons a year would be a noble goal indeed.
Yes, when I'm in the crosswalk I do hurry it a little bit. I see A-hole peds who sneer at cars and purposely drag their fat asses across the road as slow as possible to hold up traffic. I see this all the time. People are rude and uncaring about anyone else and only see things from their own perspective. This is true both for car drivers and bike riders.
Congestion is bad. It hurts everyone and wastes precious resources like fuel and time and puts undue wear and tear on equipment that will have to be replaced or serviced sooner -also putting more drain on our limited resources. Getting along and working together to keep traffic moving (all traffic and that includes ped, bike, auto, and commercial/delivery) makes the world a better place.
As John Lennon said,
"You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
(or being a radical anti-car "let's tax gas at $6/gallon" nutball -who most car drivers feel are trying to steal their independence, mobility, and Freedom)
Don't you know you can count me out
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow."
Wise words. The pro-biking community could learn a little bit by reading some history.
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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on
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Nice post, James, but:
(or being a radical anti-car "let's tax gas at $6/gallon" nutball -who most car drivers feel are trying to steal their independence, mobility, and Freedom)
Boo hoo.
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We all have activities that we love to be involved with that someone out there thinks is wrong/despicable/evil and should be taxed out of existence.
The next time you and your friends who do X activity start bitching about how those A-holes are legislating or taxing you to hell remember that you are part of the problem, not the solution.
An eye for an eye leaves us all blind.
H3N3 said:Nice post, James, but:
(or being a radical anti-car "let's tax gas at $6/gallon" nutball -who most car drivers feel are trying to steal their independence, mobility, and Freedom)
Boo hoo.
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I won't rehash my reasoning here (tired of posting the same thing and being ignored) but I have been outspoken against increased gasoline taxes as a method of discouraging driving. I also personally feel that taxes are necessary for the basic services we're provided, and speak up about that when it comes up too. So I don't understand why you think "me and my friends" would take such a simplistic position (i.e. the statement starting with "X-activity"), beyond my suspicion that you're just another person who thinks that anyone who can't see that we need cars must be stupid and simplistic.
This discussion seems to have deteriorated beyond the point of meaningful communication . . .
No response from active trans re: stop sign law yet.
James Baum said:We all have activities that we love to be involved with that someone out there thinks is wrong/despicable/evil and should be taxed out of existence.
The next time you and your friends who do X activity start bitching about how those A-holes are legislating or taxing you to hell remember that you are part of the problem, not the solution. An eye for an eye leaves us all blind.
H3N3 said:Nice post, James, but:
(or being a radical anti-car "let's tax gas at $6/gallon" nutball -who most car drivers feel are trying to steal their independence, mobility, and Freedom) Boo hoo.
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Perhaps I should just answer this with your self-same simplistic and pejorative "boo hoo" since you don't want to re-hash your "reasoning" here.
I'll leave it to the casual reader to determine where "This discussion seems to have deteriorated beyond the point of meaningful communication."
H3N3 said:I won't rehash my reasoning here (tired of posting the same thing and being ignored) but I have been outspoken against increased gasoline taxes as a method of discouraging driving. I also personally feel that taxes are necessary for the basic services we're provided, and speak up about that when it comes up too. So I don't understand why you think "me and my friends" would take such a simplistic position (i.e. the statement starting with "X-activity"), beyond my suspicion that you're just another person who thinks that anyone who can't see that we need cars must be stupid and simplistic.
This discussion seems to have deteriorated beyond the point of meaningful communication . . .
No response from active trans re: stop sign law yet.
James Baum said:We all have activities that we love to be involved with that someone out there thinks is wrong/despicable/evil and should be taxed out of existence.
The next time you and your friends who do X activity start bitching about how those A-holes are legislating or taxing you to hell remember that you are part of the problem, not the solution. An eye for an eye leaves us all blind.
H3N3 said:Nice post, James, but:
(or being a radical anti-car "let's tax gas at $6/gallon" nutball -who most car drivers feel are trying to steal their independence, mobility, and Freedom) Boo hoo.
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Boo Hoo to the "stealing our independence, mobility, and freedom," specifically, not the gas tax.
If I might like to buy a Sherman tank next time there's a military surplus auction; I wouldn't expect anyone to feel sorry for me that my "right" to drive it around town "freely" is not being respected by current transportation laws.
If people can't set their own limits and make environmentally responsible choices, I have no problem with government stepping in and doing so for them.
Also-- "pejoritive?" After calling everyone "nutballs?" Really?
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Permalink Reply by Dan Korn on
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Just a few headlines from the current Chicago Tribune homepage at http://www.chicagotribune.com/ :
3 cops hit by vehicle; 1 suspect shot, killed on South Side
Updated 5:58 a.m.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/08/police-officer-struck-by...
1 killed as cab hits utility pole
Updated 6:51 a.m.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/08/1-killed-as-cab-crashes-...
Motorcycle-semi crash closes Ryan for 3 hours; 1 killed
Updated 5:49 a.m.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/08/accident-on-dan-ryan-clo...
Nothing yet about cycling-related injuries or fatalities.
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Permalink Reply by Rick norris on
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It seems that this discussion has gone throught many changes and subjects and has been pretty interesting to watch... and now my opinion one issue that has been overlooked:
The stop sign sting and the up comming safety awarness program where they will be handing out "free" headlights are leading up to one thing, and that is soon bicycles will be "taxed" in the form of tickets issued for violations. There has been a leak of sorts in the news about parking ticket quotas not bringing in enough revenue. So probably some city mayor while sitting in his limo saw a couple of bicycles eat a stop sign and realized that while taxing bikes in the form of city stickers would prove to be wildly unpopular, pushing the enforcment of the current laws that allow cops to ticket bikes would probably be pretty popular with drivers, especially drivers that have been forced to slam on their brakes after already stoping once, when a bicyclist blew a stop sign.
We can discuss diss, dat, an' every uder ting...but it will all come down to $$$$
I wish I knew how much revenue ticketing bicycles will bring in this year, and how much will be brought in next year. I would bet a shinny new bike bell there will be a big jump....
Just could be pairaniod and cynical, but in the city I don't ever see the laws changing a stop sign being treated as a yield.
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I'm sure there would be an initial revenue jump until many bike commuters just plain stopped riding and went back to other options. It's been observed that bike riding has dropped significantly in areas that mandated helmet use. I don't think this would be any different.
If the city's goal was to cut down on the number of riders on the street, this would be the perfect way to do it (perhaps combined with a helmet law that was primarily enforced).
Rick norris said:I wish I knew how much revenue ticketing bicycles will bring in this year, and how much will be brought in next year. I would bet a shinny new bike bell there will be a big jump....
Just could be pairaniod and cynical, but in the city I don't ever see the laws changing a stop sign being treated as a yield.
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I don't think the city wants to STOP cycling, just increas money from it.
I don't think enforcment of laws will STOP that many people from commuting, just make it a bigger pain than it already is....there might be a temporory drop in riders but I would think it would pick back up after a short time.
James Baum said:I'm sure there would be an initial revenue jump until many bike commuters just plain stopped riding and went back to other options. It's been observed that bike riding has dropped significantly in areas that mandated helmet use. I don't think this would be any different.
If the city's goal was to cut down on the number of riders on the street, this would be the perfect way to do it (perhaps combined with a helmet law that was primarily enforced).
Rick norris said:I wish I knew how much revenue ticketing bicycles will bring in this year, and how much will be brought in next year. I would bet a shinny new bike bell there will be a big jump....
Just could be pairaniod and cynical, but in the city I don't ever see the laws changing a stop sign being treated as a yield.
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Response from active trans:
Here's an overview of how the Active Trans legislative agenda is determined. We typically work closely with LIB on determining our legislative agenda and there are usually efforts we partner on and efforts we each approach separately.
I do know that we'll be surveying our members soon to get their input on next year's legislative agenda. So, our members, LIB and Active Trans board/staff help set our agenda. The next step is then determining what legislative pieces we can secure sponsors for and trying to get them passed. Some times there will be efforts we are interested in but cannot find sponsors to support.
I've cced Dan Persky, our policy and education director, who may be able to provide more input.
When I wanted to have a voice in how LIB and Active Trans prioritized their efforts, I joined both organizations.
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And further response from Dan:
es, we will be surveying our members for the 2011 agenda. That survey will go live at the end of September. We will have further member engagement on the agenda at our Annual Member Meeting on Nov 8. Then Nov and Dec are spent securing sponsors before the legislative convenes in early January. We always welcome ideas for specific legislation. Please feel free to contact me with any such ideas.
Dan Persky
Director of Education and Public Affairs
Direct (312) 427-3325 Ext. 229
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