• Home
  • News you will not see in Maryland

Google

Undercover Houston Cops On Bikes Are Nabbing Drivers Dangerous To Cyclists

Be careful which bikers you buzz by super closely on Houston's streets. One of them might arrest you.

By SYDNEY BROWNSTONE, Fast Co.Exist

In Houston, cops are taking a novel approach to arresting jerks who cut off cyclists. They’re going undercover on two wheels, and when things get too tight for the law, they're calling in for support.
...

<a href="http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028416/undercover-houston-cops-on-bikes-are-nabbing-drivers-dangerous-to-cyclists">http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028416/undercover-houston-cops-on-bikes-are-nabbing-drivers-dangerous-to-cyclists</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Oakland law would let cyclists, pedestrians sue abusive drivers

By Matthew Artz Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND -- Abusive drivers who take aim at cyclists and pedestrians might soon face retribution far more severe than a middle finger.

Councilwoman Libby Schaaf introduced legislation Tuesday that would make Oakland the nation's fourth city to allow aggrieved cyclists and pedestrians to take their vehicular tormentors to civil court. If victorious, Oakland law would let cyclists, pedestrians sue abusive driversplaintiffs would be entitled to at least $1,000 and attorneys fees.

Bicycle advocates and Schaaf, who is running for mayor, acknowledged that cyclists are not always docile victims on the streets of Oakland. But they said the additional protections were warranted because both cyclists and pedestrians are far more vulnerable to serious injury.
...

<a href="http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_25418959/oakland-law-would-let-cyclists-pedestrians-sue-abusive">http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_25418959/oakland-law-would-let-cyclists-pedestrians-sue-abusive</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

[Cecil] County police bike patrols begin this week

[B' Spokes: I also hear Baltimore County is also doing bike patrols, while all that is nice could we have some more please.]
**********************************************************************************************************************************
By Jane Bellmyer, Cecil Daily

...
Starting this week, however, several agencies are adding bicycles to their equipment in the name of community policing.
...

“We’ll be using the bikes in some of our high crime areas,” said Russell, who was promoted and assumed command of the barrack on April 16.
Russell said the bikes will allow law enforcement to not only be more approachable to the general public, but also to go places a motor vehicle cannot.
John Peters, director of construction and facility maintenance for The Cordish Company, which owns the North East Plaza, looks forward to that aspect.

“If (a suspect) runs into the woods, they can go right behind them,” Peters said. “In a car, it just doesn’t happen.”
...

“This will definitely keep our customers safer in this area,”Rabuck said Friday. “They’ll be able to patrol quicker and more effectively.”
...

<a href="http://www.cecildaily.com/news/local_news/article_9f118f4e-e32d-5010-b4dc-6b0843c6e930.html">http://www.cecildaily.com/news/local_news/article_9f118f4e-e32d-5010-b4dc-6b0843c6e930.html</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

School bus used to crack down on distracted driving

[B' Spokes: Clever idea but well we ever get the police around here to leave their cruisers?]

<a href="http://www.kare11.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/11/school-bus-distracted-driving-minnesota-ramsey-county-law-enforcement-crackdown/7607733/">http://www.kare11.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/11/school-bus-distracted-driving-minnesota-ramsey-county-law-enforcement-crackdown/7607733/</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Naples police to enforce three-foot law

By Jim Spiewak, ABC-7

NAPLES, FL -
Bicyclists are still getting hit and a law protecting them is still not being enforced. In light of our investigation into why the three-foot law is not widely enforced, the Naples Police Department is now cracking down in a unique way.

During the last three years only three tickets have been issued by all law enforcement agencies in Southwest Florida for violation of the three-foot law. That's where drivers must give cyclists a three-foot buffer when passing. The Naples Police Department hasn't issued even one such ticket.

But Officer Buddy Bonollo thinks that's about to change.

&quot;If we're going to see firsthand we have to be part of this,&quot; Bonollo said.

Wednesday, Buddy turned in his uniform for riding gear and joined a group for their 30-mile ride. Cops can only write a ticket for the three-foot law if they see it. With Buddy along for the ride, now the Naples police can.
...

<a href="http://www.abc-7.com/story/24768808/naples-police-to-enforce-three-foot-law#.UwYl_PldWYC">http://www.abc-7.com/story/24768808/naples-police-to-enforce-three-foot-law#.UwYl_PldWYC</a>;
*************************************************************************************************************
[B' Spokes: When was the last time you saw a police officer on a bike or on foot prepared to address issues you care about as a cyclists or pedestrians?]
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Bridge Redesign a Victory for Pedestrian, Cycling Advocates

by ABERGRENMILLER, Planetizen

The furor started last fall, when the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) unveiled designs to retrofit the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge. The proposal lacked accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists, instead suggested expanding vehicular lanes, removing one sidewalk, and installing a central “crash barrier,” Damien Newton writes.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Enrich L.A., and other local organizations—together with plenty of individual walkers and cyclists—protested the move. As a result, the LADOT last week presented three new proposals, each of which include dedicated bike lanes and a road diet.
...

<a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/67196">http://www.planetizen.com/node/67196</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Police Bicycle Patrol Pedals Ahead Despite Snow, Frigid Weather

B' Spokes: Heck I would settle for some bike patrols around here just in the good weather. (Filed in news you will not see in Maryland.)

<a href="http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/01/18/columbus-police-bike-patrol-pedals-ahead-despite-snow.html">http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/01/18/columbus-police-bike-patrol-pedals-ahead-despite-snow.html</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Attaching bicycle-pedestrian structure to Blanchette Bridge considered

[B' Spokes: This came up in my news feed and I really wish this was happening in Maryland, too many of our bridges here that are uncomfortable to bike across, challenging to bike across or flat out banning bikes from crossing. It would be nice if there were at least some discussions on this topic.]

<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/attaching-bicycle-pedestrian-structure-to-blanchette-bridge-considered/article_93bfb241-66b8-5354-a7e6-38495f4c4197.html">http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/attaching-bicycle-pedestrian-structure-to-blanchette-bridge-considered/article_93bfb241-66b8-5354-a7e6-38495f4c4197.html</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Joseph Rose: Trying to make sense of Oregon's hit-and-run epidemic

By Joseph Rose, Oregonian

...
&quot;It really is a very selfish crime,&quot; Portland Police traffic Sgt. Todd Davis told me as he sifted through this week's two-inch stack of reported hit-and-runs.

Selfish. Immoral. Rampant.

In Portland alone, police take reports on more than 5,200 hit-and-run crashes, from fender benders to serious injuries and fatalities, each year. That's 100 a week; that's mind-boggling.

Without the resources to investigate them all, the police have to perform triage. Still, in a typical year, only about half of Oregon cases where a driver leaves the scene without rendering aid to an injured or dying person end in an arrest, court records show.

So, maybe it's time state lawmakers diverted some of their tough-on-traffic-crime efforts away from distracted driving to slow what is becoming a social epidemic.
...

<a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2013/11/joseph_rose_trying_to_make_sen.html">http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2013/11/joseph_rose_trying_to_make_sen.html</a>;
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)