I also chose to believe that the police do care about biker safety. The worst brush-by I've experienced was on a trip around Lake Mendota a few years ago. I was in Middleton on Century Avenue/Hwy M and was shocked to almost be run off the road by a car in right hand lane as I was pedaling up the hill. A few seconds later a cop car appeared, put on their lights and pulled the car over in front of me. I changed lanes to pass and shouted thank you to the cop as he waved to me.
It's possible the car almost swiped me *because* they saw a cop car in their rear view mirror and weren't paying attention to traffic ahead, or that they were pulled over for a different reason, but I'm glad that driver at least got a talking-to about rules of the road. Thanks for sending the traffic complaints form. It's nice to know those resources are available. -Kristy On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 12:28 PM, Kathryn Kingsbury < [email protected]> wrote: > My experience differs (regarding whether the police care or do not care). > The ticket to the cyclist in the case you mentioned was dismissed, and the > reason it made the news was precisely because it was unusual. If the police > were out every day ticketing cyclists for getting sideswiped, that case > would not have made the news. > > > > -- > Kathryn Kingsbury > Director of Communication, Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin > www.bfw.org > 608-251-4456 > > <http://www.bfw.org/> <http://bikefed.blogspot.com/> > <http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#%21/bike.fed.wi?ref=ts> > <http://twitter.com/search?q=BikeFed> > <http://delicious.com/network/BikeFed> > > > > On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 12:19 PM, burleigh chorus.net < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> My understanding is that the police just don't care. At best, they will >> ignore you. >> And in one recent case, where the motorist did hit the cyclist, they >> ticketed the cyclist. >> >> >> >> On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 9:51 AM, Kathryn Kingsbury < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I am surprised they sent you a self report form; those are generally not >>> used for traffic violations (see >>> https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/selfreport/selfReport.cfm). Maybe >>> we just have a difference in terminology, though. >>> >>> Online, traffic complaints within the city of Madison should be reported >>> via https://www.cityofmadison.com/reportaproblem/traffic_enforcement.cfm. >>> MPD doesn't usually follow up with the reporter for traffic violations, but >>> they are required to keep a record of them and they report that their policy >>> is to send a letter to the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the >>> violation. I would encourage people to use the online self-report form. >>> Sometimes I've been contacted for follow-up and sometimes I haven't; they >>> generally to contact for follow-up only if there's something unclear about >>> the report or they want the reporter to take some action (maybe if they need >>> you as a witness?). >>> >>> You can also call 911 if it's an emergency - for example, the driver >>> actually grazes you or you have reason to believe that they're on a rampage >>> and pose an immediate danger to other road users. I called 911 once when >>> there was a motorist speeding down the Missing Link path. MPD can dispatch >>> officers to track down the offender or send out a bulletin with the license >>> plate number so officers can keep a lookout. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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