Aaron,
Glad to hear you and family are o.k. When you contact the officer, you should encourage the officer and his co-workers to participate in the DOT class below. I am not sure the reason, but when bicycles are involved in crashes with cars, police often call their sergeant and then claim fault cannot be determined. I am aware of cases where the police tell the bicyclist that if they were in a car, the driver would have been cited, but since it is bike vs. car they cannot determine fault. Very frustrating. Take Care, Clay Law enforcement Check out WisDOT's Enforcement for Bicycle Safety (EBS), approved by Wisconsin Department of Justice Training and Standards Board for 12 hours Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) officer's credit. Course and manual teach all aspects of bicycle safety, and which laws to emphasize with child and adult bicyclists and with motorists to reduce crashes by up to 90%. Officer awareness of what bicycling is today and how to begin bicycle crash cause identification are a part of this course. Officer as front line, on-traffic-duty educator is key. Contact Larry Corsi, <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected], WisDOT or Peter Flucke, WE BIKER (920) 497-3196. LEA's may also be interested in Policing By Bicycle training for officers. These courses do not emphasize citizen safety on bicycles, but do cover officer safety and health issues as well as all aspects of using a bicycle for the full range of policing duties. If LEA's are putting officers on bicycles for policing work, one of these courses should be considered for every such officer. There are two certification programs: . IPMBA, International Police Mountain Bike Association, developed by the League of American Bicyclists. Wisconsin contacts include: Tom Sipin, West Allis Police Department; Dave Johnson, Oshkosh Police Department; and Peter Flucke, WE BIKER(920) 497-3196 . LEBA, Law Enforcement Bicycle Association, developed by Paul Grady. Wisconsin contacts include: Sgt. Kurt Feavel, UW-Madison Police Department (608) 262-4520. From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Aaron Crandall Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 8:52 AM To: Robbie Webber; India Viola Cc: Bikies ListServe Subject: Re: [Bikies] Contraflow Lane on University Good point Robbie, I have the case # and also the name and contact info for both the officer and also the motorist, so maybe I'll contact the officer and ask for more info on why he chose to not followup and consider issuing a citation or investigate the crash further, etc. The more I think about it, the more upset and/concerned I am, especially thinking of worse-case scenarios that could have happened, but thankfully did not. Aaron _____ From: Robbie Webber <[email protected]> To: India Viola <[email protected]> Cc: Aaron Crandall <[email protected]>; Bikies ListServe <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 6:20 PM Subject: Re: [Bikies] Contraflow Lane on University How can the police not ticket the driver? Running a red light. Illegal left. Failure to yield. I don't understand how a driver can hit a bicyclist with a child in tow and get away without a ticket! And we know that bicyclists get ticketed without the police officer witnessing the crash - sometimes while the bicyclist is in the hospital! Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst 608-263-9984 (o) 608-225-0002 (c) [email protected] All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or any other group with which I am affiliated. On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 4:46 PM, India Viola <[email protected]> wrote: Sorry Aaron. That sucks. Glad you are both physically unharmed. Riding with precious cargo ups the ante in a big way, doesn't it? Thanks for sharing. It's a good reminder that (unfortunately) we usually need to ride as if drivers can't/don't see us. india WeAreAllMechanics.com <http://weareallmechanics.com/> [email protected] Stay connected- Follow WAAM on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/We.Are.All.Mechanics> On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 4:04 PM, Aaron Crandall <[email protected]> wrote: What are the chances? I was biking down University in the contraflow lane with my daughter (Mali) behind me in the trailer yesterday and had the green light at Mills, but noticed the driver and passenger of a green Audi both staring down University in the other direction watching for traffic. Instead of stopping and making sure to make eye contact, I proceeded since I assumed the driver would be respecting the red light and stay stopped. I was wrong! As soon as me and Mali were smack-dab in front, the driver decided to instead treat the red light like it was a stop sign and unfortunately for me and Mali, did not notice the bike lane with traffic coming from the opposite direction...CRASH! Thank goodness for me and Mali, especially Mali, that he did not take off more quickly than he did, and reacted quickly by braking. Ultimately, we think he crashed into the bike trailer, which caused me to go down to the ground, and we're thankful that Mali was in the seat on my left, so further away from the impact. Amazingly enough, it doesn't appear that any damage was done to either my bike or the trailer, but my wife probably almost suffered a heart attack from watching while riding behind us on her bike. Long story short, I'm going to make it more of a priority to ensure eye contact with others, especially while riding in a contraflow lane where maybe others users might not be expecting traffic. The driver was not cited, and the police simply filed a short form, in case of any necessary insurance claims, etc. I still can't believe that (a) I was hit and (b) I had Mali with me in the trailer when it had to happen. Aaron _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
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