BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Fine by me. Though let's start doing this to cars, too.

He did it in front of a cop. Depending on the mood the cop is in, I think a motorist would get a ticket, too.

Alec baldwin (30 rock) was arrested for salmoning in nyc. They were going to give him a ticket, but he didn't have ID, so they took him in to custody as per protocol. http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/13/showbiz/alec-baldwin-arrested/ JJ's driver would have been arrested had he been driving and gotten pulled over for any offense. Not really related to the bike much at all.

I'm sure that this served up several "There, served him right"s out of Trib readers' mouths. And that was the point, not the story itself.

Well, now they can't say they don't arrest folks on bikes for breaking the law. Post a reference to this article every time some idiot mentions lack of enforcement on another PG article.

Maybe that Jimmy John's Delivery guy was responding to a fire, like in the commercial? The cops are probably feeling really bad if that's the case.

My favorite part of the article was the officer saying "intentionally" running a red light can cause road rage situations. Will I then be justified to go all road rage on the cars I see running red lights pretty much every day? Or did they do it by accident, instead of the cyclist who was intentional? I don't understand.

I work with the guy who was arrested. The actual reason for his detainment was a clerical error on an existing warrant, and the issue was resolved with a 5 minute phone call, (although the guy wasn't able to make that call until the following Monday). As far as his "Running a Red Light", the closest this guy gets to running lights is an occasional right turn on a No Turn on Red. He doesn't blast thru intersections at high speed, or engage in non-professional behavior when he's working. The arresting officer was a Sheriff, whom generally don't pull people over (cars or bikes) downtown. This is more than likely a case of an overeager officer wanting to make a point due to the nature of the warrant. Also of interest is that the guy was on his way to work, had not clocked in, so he was not actually on a delivery. The Trib completely failed on almost every level of fact-checking, they did get the guys name correct. Do some delivery personnel run red lights on occasion? Sometimes. Do cars run them? Constantly. The real danger on the streets of downtown... Jaywalkers.

Not surprised at all that this thing was mishandled start to finish (from the arrest through all the reporting). On the closing remark, danger is for sure the wrong word. Annoyance, perhaps, but even there I think much, much, much more for motorists than folks on a bike. I could care less personally. And I also kinda like jaywalking. Much faster, less annoying and I'd wager safer as well to just pay attention and go when clear enough, at whatever convenient point rather than jamming up at corners waiting for a little light to change and paying no attention to anything.

Jaywalking is a concept created to accommodate the automobile culture. I despise the concept.

I suspect jaywalkers help regulate car speed. They're like little stop signs that can pop up at any moment, keeping drivers alert.

"The Trib completely failed on almost every level of fact-checking, they did get the guys name correct." I think it is about time we realize the media in general isn't about reporting news or facts, it is about creating interest/shock to sell advertising. The sooner we realize the news media is for entertainment purposes the better. There is no reliable source of news. If pbeaves didn't know that person, we would have gotten the story completely wrong. Imagine how often this is the case with these trained shock value so-called journalists. Thanks for clearing this up. Not sure how we can get news anymore? There was a time when news was 1/2 hour of local and 1/2 hour of world. They stuck more to the facts back then, but now it is all about money. Sadly most are falling for all the hype and lynch mobs are formed left and right.

To further deviate from P-Beav's knowledgeable comment (which I really appreciate), in NewYorkCity jaywalking is the safest way to cross the street - the great majority of car-on-pedestrian violence (aka accidents) happen in crosswalks. You cross in the middle of the block, which is where you might have been anyway, and there's no crossing, no multiple flows, no right on reds - just one (or two) streams of traffic. If you look up the term jaywalking, it was developed and advanced by the auto industry (a 'jay' was a rube, a farmer, a hick) because people were crossing streets and slowing down the cars. The entire JawWalking paradigm is just the man trying to keep me down.

and another thing - my impression with Bench Warrants is that they're a NonDeclared Punitive Technique. People get arrested on Bench Warrants on Fridays, and then they have to spend the weekend Inside until they get easily released on Monday. It pretty consistently rolls that way. It's considered a means of getting somebody's attention. Not. Written. Down. Anywhere.

So it's just like a penalty in hockey, except with police and handcuffs? Possibly pepper spray and a night with a large man named "Crusher"?

"and another thing – my impression with Bench Warrants is that they’re a NonDeclared Punitive Technique. People get arrested on Bench Warrants on Fridays, and then they have to spend the weekend Inside until they get easily released on Monday. It pretty consistently rolls that way. It’s considered a means of getting somebody’s attention. Not. Written. Down. Anywhere." Interesting. Could it really be something different? Do prisons themselves get money if someone is held up there and the longer they are there the better? In other words, is there financial gain for everyone (not saying police might get a kickback) if someone is arrested on a Friday and they are innocent of everything, but they can't clear themselves until Monday? Nothing surprises me with our profitable prisons. Would be an interesting study.

There is a great 99% Invisible podcast on jaywalking. Worth a listen. Google 99% Invisible Jaywalking since I am failing at adding in the link.

^ link http://99percentinvisible.org/search/jaywalking

I also wonder how much "jaywalking" is really "drivers who don't know the law". I guarantee the phrase "unmarked crosswalk" will draw blank stares from the vast majority of drivers. They sure as hell don't yield and there is zero enforcement.