Since when was Texas a nanny state?
I got a traffic citation for riding a bicycle
I’m gonna keep this short and sweet because largely this is a personal matter, but I thought it was a uncommon one, and therefore interesting.
A little over a week ago I was crossing town on a bicycle and I received a traffic citation for running a stop light and a warning for bicycling on the left side of the road.
The stop light that I was charged with running was on a separated two-way highway. Identifying gaps in traffic there is easy, so I see little reason to inconvenience multiple drivers just to reduce my legal liability.
Similarly, bicycling on the left side of the road enables me to easily see & react to oncoming traffic. I was pulled over in a parking lot because I identified oncoming traffic from both front & behind & I decided to minimize my risks by getting off the road.
The law enforcement officer made the argument that, even if bicycling on the left was safer, I was still in the wrong because breaking the law made me legally liable. I’d rather be legally liable and not get into an avoidable collision than have a distracted driver run up on me from behind!
Also, using a consequence of breaking a specific law as justification for enforcing said law seems like oddly circular reasoning. It also reminds me of the rumors I read about how walking in the street was criminalized following lobbying by the motor vehicle industry to reduce the legal liability of drivers in the early 1900’s.
My argument is that bicyclists should be prosecuted for reckless endangerment or public nuisance, if they are indeed doing or being such. Maybe even for failure to wear appropriate safety equipment or failure to signal (I’d have to plead the 5th if anyone asked about this, but for some reason, neither of these issues are listed on my citation, even though these issues are the ones most likely to affect my safety)... But laws against specific actions, such as running stop lights and requiring bicyclists to ride on the right side of the road are unnecessary and may even be harmful.
Anyway, as always, let me know your thoughts!
I hope to hear from you soon!