I believe Ken is making a larger point than what you read, Wizard. True, all of your strategies for dealing with speeders in neighborhoods are wonderful ideas, and should be implemented by all involved and concerned neighbors, especially through the block club or neighborhood system.
But why is it the responsibility of neighbors and pedestrians to police our streets? Through local and state taxes, we're paying for a lot of policing - even policing of people who choose to use motor vehicles. Why are these resources not available to us to make our neighborhoods safe? Why are speed traps common on highways - and on West Seventh in St. Paul - and not on Hennepin, 28th St. E, or University SE? Why can't State Troopers share their time between Interstates and city streets? True, accidents can be more spectacular on the highway, but cars collide much more frequently on local streets, and when they do there tend to be people around unprotected by a steel cage: bicyclists, pedestrians, children on their way to school. And why, as Ken points out on his website, are the Minneapolis police able to scare up all the resources they need (multiple squad cars, a few dozen officers, a flatbed truck) to beat the crap out of some nonviolent bicyclists? Or have the resources of the MPD decreased dramatically since March? One other question. I know from personal experience that cops tend to ticket at least one party involved in an automobile accident. I would assume they did so in this case. But why is the standard of proof seemingly different when it comes to dangerous acts committed with an automobile? On multiple occasions, I have dropped a dime on someone who was following too closely, nearly causing an accident, driving erratically, or veering too close to my bicycle intentionally, while shouting at me to "get out of the ****ing road!" I've provided license plate numbers and descriptions of individuals. I'm always told the same thing: unless witnessed by a police officer, any incident involving a motor vehicle (which doesn't result in an actual collision) is not actionable. Wouldn't it be lovely for criminals of any stripe if all crimes were held to the same standard? Sorry, we can't pursue the people who robbed your store, the robbery wasn't witnessed by a cop. Or how 'bout an analogous situation: if I were to put a gun in someone's face and tell them to "get out of the ****ing road," and they were able to tell the cops exactly who I am, would the cops sit on their hands? Or would I be charged with assault? I wish I weren't so busy this fall. It seems there's quite a bit of interest in doing some traffic calming in the city of Minneapolis. How about 2003, everybody? We could put together a "calm down" campaign for our busiest, most dangerous streets, like they did in the city across the river. Interested? Drop me a line. And even if you wouldn't like to be directly involved, let's start the discussion on what our most dangerous streets really are. (We've been through the most dangerous corners already, right?) Robin Garwood Seward _______________________________________ 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
