I'm by no means an expert on police citation procedures, but I don't
think there's a specifically quantifiable answer to "how reckless does a
driver have to be." As Robbie points out there are reporting thresholds,
but a report does not necessarily determine whether a citation is
warranted. Officers do have a fair amount of discretion, and probably
weigh a lot of factors. Citations can come later, too, so if Aaron gave
the driver's info to the officer, it's possible he or she will do
further investigation and could still issue a citation. And Aaron, you
could follow up with the officer and lobby for that if you're so inclined.
Mark C.
On 5/20/2014 9:14 AM [email protected] wrote:
Aaron,
In situations like, you're not always thinking clearly. You're
probably focusing (understandably) on your family's safety. It really
shouldn't be your call as to the consequences for the offending
driver. The police officer should have taken the issue more seriously.
I'm cc'ing our alder (Hi Mark!) so we can ask directly:
How reckless does a driver have to be to get a ticket?
Quoting Aaron Crandall <[email protected]>:
It was technically an illegal left turn on red from Mills onto
University, and the motorist simply was distracted and not realizing
that he had a red light...was treating it as a stop sign in error. He
was stopped, but unfortunately when there was a break in traffic on
University, he decided to start turning with me and Mali in his way.
The reason for him not getting cited was partly my fault, because I
didn't push the issue and he was definitely shook up and extremely
apologetic to his actions. In hindsight, I should have kept him there
until the Police arrived and allowed the Police to decide whether or
not to issue a citation... I'm guessing this incident may have
resulted in the motorist receiving a citation.
Aaron
________________________________
From: Paul T. O'Leary <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 8:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Contraflow Lane on University
Indeed, by what stretch of the imagination is this NOT a violation?
Wouldn't this have constituted running the red light, even if no
vehicles were coming from either of the TWO directions of TRAFFIC? If
a cop had seen the perp make this turn, even without any crash,
wouldn't he have been ticketed?
On 2014/05/19 20:42, India Viola wrote:
I didn't visualize your situation until Mitch pointed out that this
was an illegal left on red from University onto Mills.
The driver should definitely have been ticketed. We should each
file a complaint to the police department (Aaron- was it University
police or Madison police?) about this situation.
india
WeAreAllMechanics.com
[email protected]
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
[email protected]
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
--
Paul T. O'Leary
Chronic Nuisance
Madison, WI USA
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