Luciano bailey
I think the prospect of increasing the number of citations for cyclists is
totally ludicrous. Why not focus of the potential killers in this case ,out
of control, cell phone latte sipping motorist. PPD is never around when life
is at risk. I for thirty years have narrowly escaped the stupidity of said
drivers who's best reason for almost killing me is they are late for an
appointment or in a hurry to get to a soccer game.Be for real what we need
is a public forum similar to what KATU started by getting on air opions of
cyclists and motorists to see where the real confusion lies. So excuse me if
I am not a believer and don't want to be hit by one more car only to have
PPD tell me they don't respond to those sort of accidents. This may only be
my opinion but the 350,000 non racing miles in cities across the country
gives me an honarary Doctorate from the Urban Cycling University. Sorry I
only meant to give two cents but who uses penies anymore.
From: "Schreck, George" <george.-@pacificorp.com>
Reply-To: george.-@pacificorp.com
To: OBRA <ob-@topica.com>
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Meeting with Portland Police
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 13:03:30 -0800
Below are the notes from a meeting between the Lloyd District cyclists
and the Portland Police. The police are committed to making the City
safer for cyclists, with the corresponding requirement that we behave in
accordance with the traffic laws. It seems like a reasonable tradeoff,
and we should obey the traffic laws if we want to use the roads in any
event. It does appear that there will be greater enforcement of the
traffic laws, which is long overdue in my opinion, so start obeying the
laws or there may be costly consequences. Of course, there probably is
no need to tell that to OBRA members as we always obey all the traffic
laws (it is those other cyclists whomever they are).
POLICE COMMANDER SINNOTT MEETS WITH CYCLISTS
The Portland Police Traffic Division Commander shares his thoughts on
bicycling the streets of Portland.
In the wake of a number of highly publicized bicycle fatalities in
Portland over the past summer, members of your LDTMA Bike Committee
sought out a dialogue with the Portland Police on the subject of
bicycle/auto safety. The result was a December 6 presentation by
Commander Bill Sinnott of the Portland Police traffic division. His
message: that Portland will have more bicycles on the street in the
future and that the traffic division must commit to addressing their
safety needs.
Commander Sinnott began with a sobering presentation of the magnitude of
the traffic problem and the meager resources at hand to deal with it.
There are a mere forty-one police officers assigned to the traffic
division; it is so short-staffed that until now the only accidents
investigated are those in which a person is injured badly enough to be
entered into the Oregon Trauma Registry. This standard omits the
possibility of investigating most auto crashes including, crucially,
most bicycle/auto accidents.
However, Commander Sinnott expressed dissatisfaction with this standard
and vowed to create a system that would account for the disparate danger
faced by the cyclist in traffic. The focus of the traffic division,
Sinnott said, is changing from one that is focused on cars to one that
looks at how cars, bicycles and pedestrians share city streets. He
stated that the Portland police needed to look at traffic more
"holistically" and that such an approach has never been tried in
Portland before.
However, he cautioned, more attention to bicycle activity will also mean
an increase in the number of tickets written to cyclists who fail to
obey the law. Already the Portland Police have set up sting operations
in key areas and have cited cyclists who violate laws to the degree that
they endanger themselves and those around them. The fines can be steep;
for example, riding at night without a light could incur a $94 fine.
Sinnott reminded cyclists that Portland has a hotline for reporting
dangerous traffic situations. He urged cyclists to call 823-SAFE (7233)
and report any areas in which dangerous activity occurs. Sinnott
assured the audience that every report file is investigated as time
allows.
Accompanying Sinnott for the presentation were District Attorney Wayne
Pearson, Commander Bret Smith of the NE Precinct, Sgt Dan Parks of the
traffic division and officers Traynor and Alderman of the NE Precinct.
The presentation turned to bicycle theft, and Commander Sinnott noted
that there had been a drop of greater than 50% in bike theft in Portland
since 2003. A map of the Lloyd District was distributed that marked the
hot spots where most of the 46 bike thefts this year had occurred; half
at the Lloyd Center. Officers from the NE Precinct warned cyclists that
bike thieves are by no means sophisticated and that most of them sell
the bike they steal for the ten dollars needed to purchase drugs that
day. Police also noted a decline in the number of cyclists who do not
know their bicycle's serial number and who do not use local and national
bike registration services. Without such information, it is impossible
to return a recover bike to its rightful owner.
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