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September 7, 2007
Beverly Hills Cycling - a Hint of Optimism and a Dose of Reality!
Capt. Curtis of the Beverly Hills Police Department appeared before the BH Traffic Commission to address one issue, the “SUV vs. Cyclist” incident on August 21, 2007 that resulted in a citation for the cyclist and nothing for the motorist.
Also in attendance were 8 local cyclists, none having met the cited cyclist before but all committed to supporting his fight for justice and all committed to fighting for equal access to the streets for cyclists and equal support of law enforcement for all modes of travel, not just motorists.
Capt. Curtis acknowledged that this incident had generated significant activity on the internet which resulted in a large number of people contacting the Department by mail, email and telephone, including calls from as far away as Australia. He expressed a desire to present the Department’s side of the story.
He reported that a third party complaint immediately after the incident prompted an internal investigation into the incident and that “the incident was handled appropriately and professionally.” The cited cyclist later testified that the “thorough investigation” did not include interviewing him.
There was a brief discussion of the incident but the focus quickly shifted to a discussion of traffic, safety and opportunities to work together to create a walkable, rideable, livable Beverly Hills.
Six cyclists testified, including the cited cyclist whose position is that the citation is patently absurd, citing him as a pedestrian and for impeding traffic, that the citing officer failed to listen to his complaint of assault, and that the SUV driver was in fact at fault.
The other cyclists urged the Commission to join the cycling community in fighting for safer streets, full support of law enforcement for all modes of travel and the creation of a Bicycle Advisory Committee to ensure an integrated approach to multi-modal transportation solutions.
The Traffic Commission was responsive to the positive suggestions made by the cyclists and there was discussion on mechanisms for creating a safer environment for pedestrians, cyclists, mass transit passengers as well as motorists.
Commission Chair Richard Seff pointed out that Beverly Hills is a small town (30,000 population) with big city problems but he is optimistic that out of something bad they can create something good.
On this note, Capt. Curtis and the cyclists left and had a significant conversation in the hallway. Ultimately, the investigation will be reopened, the cited cyclist was introduced to Lt. McCann, the head of the Professional Standards Unit, and the Commission and the Police Department have agreed to create a BAC.
Capt. Curtis is to be commended for his positive and accommodating hospitality. The cited cyclist was guarded in his optimism and seemed wary as he navigated the complaint process with Lt. McCann. The results will speak for themselves.
As the cyclists said their goodbyes in the sun-baked Spanish Renaissance courtyard, it all seemed to good to be true. Capt. Curtis was a charming host, Lt. McCann seemed genuinely interested in resolving the incident, the Commissioners volunteered suggestions and ideas on funding, committees, actions and programs…
And then…three of the cyclists take off, riding single file eastbound on Santa Monica Blvd., only to find themselves in front of “Road Rage Guy” driving a huge rig loaded with building materials and hauling a forklift, laying on the horn and accelerating at the cyclists.
The cyclist in the back found herself squeezed into the curbside bushes as the driver demonstrated the narrowness of the lane by scraping the brush with his truck. The cyclist’s scream alerted the next cyclist who held her line on the non-shareable lane only to have “RRG” accelerate at her. All this on the approach to the red light at Doheny where everybody had a moment to calm down and listen to "RRG" scream that the cyclists were in his way. “You gotta get out of my way!”
Unfortunately for “RRG” the incident took place a few blocks east of the Beverly Hills Police Department and a few blocks west of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station. He was long gone by the time the two departments responded but the cyclists wanted to go on record, simply as a matter of principle.
45 minutes after the incident, “RRG” drives west on Santa Monica Boulevard and as he passes the cyclists he sticks his arm out the window and points at them, perhaps so delusional that he thinks the Police Officers and Sheriff’s Deputies are citing the cyclists. To his surprise, they all jump into their vehicles and chase “RRG” down, cuffing him as he explains that he was only honking because the cyclists wouldn’t get in the bike lane. (There is no bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard between Wilshire and Doheny!)
See you on the Streets!
Top Photo by Artanis Knarf via Flickr
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What I want to know is if the officer in question was cited/looked into at all. As I recall, his behavior was unprofessional and uncalled for.
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The Beverly Hills Police Department will be initiating a new investigation into the original incident. In addition, the cyclist is filing a complaint against the Citing Officer and against the SUV drive.
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My bet is he'll get a slap on the wrist and made to promise he'll be a good boy in the future. Why is it cops who break civil rights laws are never treated as bad as those whose rights they violated?
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I almost hit a cyclist today turning left on 2nd from Alameda... he totally surprised the shit out of me on my right hand side and made the left turn right next to my car. I say fuck cyclists who think their way is always the right of way.
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Comment #4,
People get surprised when they are distracted so I'm assuming you were not paying attention to the road and the activities on the road next to you and behind you. (That's what your mirrors are for in case you were wondering, not for checking how you look.) You must have been surprised because you were talking on the phone or eating or checking your ipod. Otherwise nothing should be a surprise except if something falls out of the sky.
Cyclist get ahead of cars at intersections because their acceleration is slower then that of a car so they need the extra room and the extra time. In many parts of Europe this behavior has been taken into consideration when they redesigned the streets to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians. Cyclists and pedestrians have a separate traffic signal and they get the green signal ahead of the drivers and they get the red signal after the cars have already stopped. So they have more time to cross. I wish they would do that here!
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i am still amazed at the hostility exhibited towards cyclists, even in these posts where it is clear the cyclists are well within the law.
please share the road.
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I am commenter number 4 and i'm all for cyclists and i do not own an ipod. i was not even listening to the radio and was the 3rd vehicle from the intersection. the cyclist materialized after i had already accelerated and was way too close to my car. regardless if it is legal it fucking surprised the shit out of me.
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roads are for cars
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Quoting:
"I almost hit a cyclist today turning left on 2nd from Alameda... he totally surprised the shit out of me on my right hand side and made the left turn right next to my car. I say fuck cyclists who think their way is always the right of way."
Just wait until an elderly woman with a walker "surprises" you, or maybe someone with a child "comes out of nowhere".
Face it - you weren't paying attention, you almost killed someone, AND you have the nerve to blame the other party!
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There should be more bike lanes for the benefit of all. It IS dangerous to keep an eye out for them while you're trying to drive, with some hogging lanes but slowing everyone down, then going down the middle or off to the side, you can't predict.
In Westwood, the Homeowner Associations who are NIMBY's about anything new opposed the adding of bike lanes that students and others wanted, making it more dangerous for all and preventing some cars from getting off our roads. IF there are safe bike lanes it's a good idea to build them, and encourage as many people as possible to use them for the environment, traffic and their health. I've seen some who must be in the 60's with totally toned legs.
Don't know if Beverly Hills has similarly rejected bike lanes for NIMBY reasons, but there should be one continuously through Beverly Hills into WLA, maybe starting somewhere in Hollywood if possible, around La Brea or even east to Highland. (Don't know if it's safe for bicyclists further east just in terms of criminal targeting.)
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Let's see, this is after the long delay of "improvements" on Santa Monica Blvd. in the West Hollywood area, Beverly Hills area and the West LA area (hope I got them right), and there's parts of Santa Monica Blvd that doesn't have a bike lane? I wish the people responsible for making the decisions on this "improvement" sees this story. Please please please for anyone that knows who to make this aware to, please do so. If there was an accident where someone got hurt or killed on Santa Monica Blvd., why wouldn't and shouldn't the city be liable for neglgence?
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NIMBYism is one the prevailing themes in L.A. history. I was at the meeting and one of the commissioners mentioned that Beverly Hills residents were up in arms when they had proposed widening their stretch of Santa Monica Blvd. It's too bad, since Santa Monica is one of the best streets to go through because it cuts through diagonally.
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I don't understand how drivers can be annoyed by a cyclist slowing them down. The roads are already gridlocked from cars not from slow cyclists. At least when you see a cyclist it's one less car in front of you.
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"Face it - you weren't paying attention, you almost killed someone, AND you have the nerve to blame the other party!"
I wouldn't be too quick in blaming the motorist, as I've a seen quite a few idiot cyclists who do really stupid unpredictable things.
I'm a cyclist in the city who obeys traffic laws and I gotta say that there a lot of knucklehead cyclists out there who do stupid sh*t that DOES surprise motorists. Just as there are polite courteous drivers and idiot jerk drivers, there are the same extremes when it comes to cyclists.
Whenever I see a cyclist do stuff like cut across streets in front of oncoming traffic, weave through all lanes of moving cars, run red lights and stop signs, make left turns from the right lane, etc... I'm sure to yell out "Hey you're a f*'in disgrace to other cyclists!" It's idiots like them who give the rest of us a bad name.
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This statement is just so obvious
"I've a seen quite a few idiot cyclists who do really stupid unpredictable things."
I think in Los Angeles we have all see people in cars do stupid retarded things, we have see people on motorcycles do stupid things, we have see people walking do stupid things. Hell Ive even see people on horses doing stupid things (in chatsworth). But that does not mean they have no right to be on the road and that others should make their use of the road more dangerous by yelling screaming and honking at them.
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In response comment 15, I'm a cyclist myself and we have rights to the road same as cars. I never said we didn't, and I'm sick of idiot drivers as well.
But my point is that you can't be too quick to assume that the fault was with the motorist being distracted and not paying attention. Is it not possible that the cyclist did something illegal, unexpected, or unpredictable to suddenly surprise the motorist? There are a ton of f*ckhead cyclists out there who DO seem to think they own the road and that they can do whatever they want.
To them I say FU the same I would to a f*ckhead motorist.
It's common sense folks. If you're a cyclist, don't do anything unexpected or unpredictable that might be a surprise to motorists. If you're a motorist, we're entitled to the road same as you.
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"Commission Chair Richard Seff pointed out that Beverly Hills is a small town (30,000 population) with big city problems..."
Shucks. I almost forgot to go down to Tiffany's to pick up silverware for tonight's supper.
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Side note: Another great post from LAist. I love that you took enough interest to actually follow up, do some research, and attend the meeting. My own -ist here in Chicago settles for a cut-paste from the Tribune or the Reader and adding a few ill-informed, snarky, dumbass comments designed to attract flames. They don't inform or contribute to discourse. You guys have repeatedly shown them up.
God work!
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I am a regular bicycle commuter, and I have found a couple of things that improve my situation.
The First thing is to put the European dynamo lights on your bike. Don't use any blinky lights, it just irritates people. Large steady solid lights makes people treat you like a car. Motorists are used to seeing motorist-style lights. It's very effective!
http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/parts.shtml
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/
Second, get upright-style handlebars and stem like on the dutch bikes and some old 3-speeds. This puts you sitting straight up like you're standing. Not only is it much more comfortable, but it's much more friendly to everyone around you. Instead of just seeing your ass, they see an upright friendly person. This totally changes everything! I recommend the Nitto Technomic Road Stem, in combination with the Nitto North Road Bar. Looks like this: http://sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-competition/pages/07-handlebars-rear.html
Last, take off the helmet. People calm down and treat you like a human rather than a traffic cone (which would seem to be the greatest hazard). This is very effective in combination with an upright seating position. Bike helments only have about a 5mph crash rating anyway, which isn't going to save you from a car. Bikes are already very safe, but decent lights will do a lot more for you than a helmet. More recent studies show helmets actually increase neck injuries. Keep in mind that a cyclist without a helmet, getting hit by a car, has exactly the same odds of dying as a SUV driver getting hit by a car. Exactly the same odds, based on actual crash data all around the world. Nobody ever wants to believe it.
If anything, an upright, friendly, and properly illuminated cyclist would seem to have a better experience. The average US motorist is used to seeing nothing of cyclists but they lycra on their asses. Go to a city where cyclists have reached a majority, and you will see that the winning style of cycling is bolt-upright, with lights on the bike and normal street clothes, no helmets to be found. This is the winning recipie.
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Thanks for the story Stephen.
Please clarify. You mentioned that the cyclist got run into the bushes on one block. The driver that ran the cyclist into the bush drove off.
The cyclists reported the incident to the BHPD. As the officers were taking the report, the driver that ran the cyclist into the bus happened to drive by, honking car horn, yelling something out of the window and sticking arm out of window pointing at them. The officer's then chased the SUV driver down.
So your saying that the officers issued a traffic citation to the cyclists, having not witnessed the infraction, based on interview with the SUV driver? And that, had the bicyclist not reported the incident, there likely would not have been any citations issued, since no one other than the cyclist reported the incident?
And that since the hearing of the traffic commission, there will be a new investigation into the bicycle/SUV incident. And the the possible out come of the investigation could lead to voiding the citation issued to the cyclists and/or issuing a citation of traffic infraction against the SUV driver (and possibly more serious charges of assault and battery, using a deadly weapon(the car being driven)?
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No, #20, read it again.
The cyclists called 911 and the police showed up so that the cyclists could REPORT the incident to the police. Make a formal report of a crime.
The truck driver then happened upon the scene, driving the opposite direction down the street, pointing. I guess he had completed his errand and was heading back the other way again.
It doesn't say this, but I assume the cyclists then said to the police, "Hey, Officers, there's the asshole that ran us off the road, that guy right over there in the huge truck. Yeah, that guy pointing at us."
So the Cops drove after the guy and arrested him. It says only that they "cuffed" him, but I assume he was arrested.
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#19: Wearing no helmet has to be some of the dumbest advice on this forum.
Maybe if we've already reached that cyclist majority would I feel safe without a helmet, but, as a cyclist in LA who has ridden without a helmet a lot, I don't ever really feel safe. At all.
Ride defensively. Ride offensively when you can. Stay visible. I try not to ride to the far right unless there's enough room. If there isn't, then I simply ride smack dab in the middle of the lane. I'm pretty quick and maybe I'll get honked at, but I'd rather be honked at than hit by a car.
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"the cyclist materialized after i had already accelerated"
Damn, I gotta get my bike one of these Star Trek transporter deals.