Doug Hormann
Let me guess. You were cited into North Plains municipal court, right? North
Plains has been notorious for strict enforcement for as long as I've lived
here. Like many small towns they supplement the bottom line with traffic
citations and as they cite into their own muni court and not circuit court,
they keep all the money. Years ago, they got into trouble for running
traffic on Hwy. 26 and on Glencoe Road miles from their city limits and
still issuing cites into their court.
If they try to slam you for the full bail, appeal it into circuit court.
Doug
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org]On
Behalf Of cowperth@hotmail.com
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 10:51 PM
To: Tim Schauer; obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Hefty fines levied against cyclists
inWashingtonCounty
Tim - I had a similar experience with the same intersection not so long ago.
Personally - if I thought they'd ever devoted an iota of effort to enforcing
safe passing of cyclists etc. by drivers in their jurisdiction I wouldn't
have minded so much. But the overall impression one is left with is that
these guys haven't got a clue about the realities of cycling in Washington
County and what we deal with on a regular basis. They need to get out of
the patrol cars and on a bike some day for a ride around our beautiful
county. Hopefully they'd gain a bit of perspective on what the real hazards
are for cyclists.
Dave Cowperthwaite
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Schauer"
To:
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 9:48 PM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Hefty fines levied against cyclists
inWashingtonCounty
> Wow!!
>
> Today.....I was part of a three man group who also got $335 tickets apiece
> for "in the officer's opinion" ignoring the 5-way stop. I disagree. We did
> not ignore it. Early this morning in route to the coast by bike, we were
> heading west and rolled up the intersection and slowed to less than a
> walking pace, looking both ways. No cars, no bikes, no peds in sight. I
> did not track stand. I did not put my foot down. He has a point that we
> may not have performed a perfect stop. But this version of a stop was not
> unlike what I do in my car every day. I feel that had I been in my car it
> would have seemed reasonable to debate it a little more at the time. My
> point is not to argue the technicality of my "stop" or lack there of. But
> the reasonableness of the fine and strange view that this will help
> contribute to reducing the bicycle/car fatalities in Washington County
> given that our experience with the officer in North Plains was similar to
> the one described. We were told during our sto
> p before getting tickets, that there had been a lot of bicycle/vehicle
> fatalities out in this area and a lot of bicyclist activists groups and
> bicyclists have been complaining that cars need to share the road. And
> that these activists want bicyclists to be treated as equals with equal
> right to the road. And, that if we want to be equal we are going to have
> to find a better way. Independently, these statements have validity. But
> how are they appropriate to our infraction? It was like this was a plain
> and simple message. Equal meant a new heightened attention to bicyclist
> traffic infractions and much steeper fines.
>
> At first, we were all feeling embarrassed about being pulled over and
> stopped. Feeling guilty for bringing shame to our culture and all. What we
> were shocked at was the lecture about bicyclist activist politics and the
> amount of the fine. $335??? My impression was that we were being informed
> that this an attempt to solve some of these bicycle/vehicle fatalities.
> What??? I felt as if we were being told that cyclists need to change to
> prevent these fatalities. Huh???? What??? Were these recent fatalities the
> bicyclists fault? I guess in some way it might reduce the conflicts of
> bicyclists and cars in North Plains, in that maybe fewer bicyclists ride
> through their town. I will certainly consider an alternate route next
> time.
>
> During the rest of our ride to the coast we discussed amongst ourselves
> the $1005 in fines we were levied with compared to the $1100 in fines
> levied against the driver who hit and killed the cyclist recently. Do
> those two incidents seem remotely comparable? It truly is a strange world
> sometimes....It turns out to have been an expensive lesson in traffic
> regulations, politics, and that the divide between many drivers and
> cyclists looks to be a tough bridge for either side to make anytime
> soon....
>
> -Tim Schauer
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org on behalf of Greg Crane
> Sent: Thu 7/5/2007 8:50 PM
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Hefty fines levied against cyclists in
> WashingtonCounty
>
>
>
> Boy do I feel safer now that the cops are cracking
> down on cyclist. I was almost killed just the other
> day in my Xtera by a cyclist not following the rules
> of the road.
>
> Lucky for me I was doing 15 over the speed limit and
> was able to get out of the very dangerous situation I
> was placed in by a thoughtless person on a bicycle.
>
> Greg
> --- Mike Manning wrote:
>
>> Just thought I should forward this message on to the
>> rest of you.
>> Mike Manning
>>
>> Fellow Cyclists- FYI, on a note I received from a
>> Tri-athlete who rolls in our neighborhood!
>>
>> Part of a group I was riding with yesterday was
>> ticketed $335 apiece for rolling though the stop
>> signs at the intersection of North Plains Rd and
>> Glencoe. The officer indicated that the north plains
>> PD has stepped up ticketing cyclists in the area
>> since the rider was killed a few weeks ago. Beware.
>>
>> Lindsay Kandra
>> Portland TriClub
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>
>
>
>
>
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