Mike Ball, himself an avid bicylist, ponders the ramifications of a City Hall statement that Hizzona Himself wants bicyclists to stop for red lights and wonders if the new enforcement will also involve going after signal-disregarding motorists as well:
Given the adversarial and disdainful attitude of many non-cyclists here, a well-handled education program should be amusing all around. To hear the anti-cyclist types tell it or read their comments on newspaper and other websites, every single cyclist is a crazed scofflaw who terrorizes the aged, toddlers and law-abiding motorists and pedestrians.
Yet, if the Mayor's release is right, a very overdue crackdown on red-light runners, crosswalk blockers, and those who don't yield to walkers or other vehicles (including bikes) should follow. Motorists, whose tickets for moving violations are considerably higher than $20 and can come with license suspensions and multi-year insurance surcharges, will be in for a much greater shock than cyclists.
Ed. car karma note: This morning, I was approaching the city's worst intersection, where Morton Street and Gallivan Boulevard slam together, to get onto Gallivan from Morton, when I had to hit the brakes because some jerk on the other side blew through the stop sign and barreled onto Morton. This was followed almost immediately by the sound of a police siren and the sight of flashing blues as a cop waiting by the hardware store took off behind me after the miscreant.
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