Terrell Brown wrote: >Has this happened often?
It happened to me three times between mid-August and mid-November of last year. To be fair, two were during rush-hour on the stretch of Hennepin Avenue where the bicycle lanes suddenly disappear, and a cyclist's legal choices are to ride in relatively heavy traffic, dodging buses at bus stops, or to dismount and walk on the sidewalk. But I had a bicycle-mounted cop tell me to get on the sidewalk while I was waiting at a stoplight in the right lane of traffic. I pointed out to him that it was illegal to ride on the sidewalk in a business district, which I was pretty sure we were in (unless you're a cop -- there's a special provision for police in 169.222). >I would expect that a member of the police force would know that a >bicycle has the right to use the roads and could certainly understand >why anyone met with a request to "get on the sidewalk where you belong" >might feel that they were being harassed. I don't see it as harassment. I see it as ignorance and/or an attempt to assert power. When possible, I talk to them and explain things (as with the bike-cop). I recommend that urban cyclists read "Effective Cycling" by John Forester (he makes a good point that bike-paths and bike-lanes are _more_ dangerous than riding with the cars, and should be abolished -- I don't entirely agree, since I like bike freeways like the Cedar Lake Trail, but it can be a fun argument to have). Dave Polaschek Marcy-Holmes Dave Polaschek - http://betternerds.com/ http://davespicks.com/ "Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose: it's how drunk you get." - Homer J. Simpson _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
