An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Police: Just another dumb obstacle to steer clear of, sadly


An interesting article came across my desk this morning. It's an academic article from Law & Order -- not the TV show, but the journal of law enforcement professionals. The piece, written by a former police officer, was a stinging indictment of cop incompetence in dealing with bikes, bicyclists, and accidents involving them. In "Bicycle Crash Investigation," Officer Kirby Beck, retired from the Coon Rapids, Minnesota police force writes,

The state of the art in specialized bicycle crash investigation and reconstruction is rudimentary at best. Focused training in bicycle crash investigation is rare, if it exists at all. In virtually every state, bicycles have most of the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle operators. Many officers don't seem to know, or care, that they do. Training in bicycle traffic law is virtually non-existent in police academies and crash investigation courses. Unfortunately, many serious road cyclists know and understand traffic laws regulating bicycles far better than most street cops.


Well, I don't want to say I told you so. But this does explain a certain incident from last summer. The problem, of course, is not so much police ignorance -- though of course that is a problem. The problem is the often-aggressive nature and expression of that ignorance, from a person carrying a gun and a ticket-book.

3 comments:

dvicci said...

I'd be very interested in reading the entire article. Is it available anywhere?

Pinchie said...

You can find a PDF of a reprint of this article here:

http://www.ipmba.org/newsletters/Bicycle%20Crash%20Investigation%20Part%20I.pdf

Part 2 is here:
http://www.ipmba.org/newsletters/BicycleCrashInvestigationPartII.pdf

Pinchie said...

Not sure if you'll be able to copy and paste those links.

You find the links at the top of the index on this page:

http://www.ipmba.org/newsletters/