BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I was just thinking about this the other day. I was driving outbound on Sunday in the late afternoon. I was astounded to look down at my speedometer and see I was doing close to 50, AND WAS GETTING PASSED. I was even more shocked when I saw the speed limit sign saying 35 mph. I had no clue I was going that fast.

I was thinking that plainclothes police officers on bicycles would be very effective downtown. Every day riding through downtown I see at least one, oftentimes two or three people running red lights. And not just pushing the yellow or "gridlocking" but outright going through the red light. And that's just me going down Grant street to get out of town. A cycle cop could spend hours getting one vehicular scofflaw after another.

But, no. When cops do any sort of targeted enforcement downtown they are standing on streetcorners nailing jaywalkers. And they sight you under the motor vehicle laws for disobeying a light and assess three points against your drivers license as well.

I understand busting jay walkers. I find it very annoying to wait at a red cross walk to get across a road and while a wait someone that is talking on their cell phone just wanders by me into the road not even looking where they are going. But what really gets to me is when I wait for that white cross walk and when I get it and try to cross the street cars are either blocking the cross walk or just driving thru it. On top of it they beep at you or give you dirty looks for being in their own personal road I guess. If they have a officer on a corner going after jay walkers who is to say he cant nail a few bad drivers also?

but outright going through the red light

Yesterday I waited in front of Dunkin Donuts at Fobes and Shady for the walk light, and then started into the crosswalk. I'm out in the road when a woman in a Subaru with a license plate that said Beyla or something like that just sailed right on around the right turn from Shady onto Forbes without ever even stopping. She was easily going 15 miles an hour.

Jeez you didnt know that it is Beyla's road?

No one blocks Beyla at the corner?

I raised my hands in a "What the heck are you doing?" kind of pose but she completely ignored me. Not sure if she even knew I was there.

When I was in San Diego a couple of weeks ago I saw cops on bikes pulling people over. Hell yes.

I was walking home last week at night. I waited at the corner of Lydia and Greenfield (a 4 way stop) for a pause in the traffic, and started across the street. Just as I did, a black Audi with overly-tinted windows pulls up, honks at me and revs the engine (all without fully stopping).

Once I was barely out of the way, this person peels out, turns down my street and zooms up the hill. When I got home, the car was parked right across the street from my house. I recognized it from the big red church lady hat in the rear window. It was my [jackass?] neighbor's black Audi I don't know him/her, but come on.. you pull this shit a block from your own house?

I'm glad to hear this. I always wonder why they seem to mostly enforce speeds out on the damn highways where an extra 15 mph isn't really endangering anybody much, but never in the city where it's a real risk to bikes, peds, and other cars.

cops pulling people over on bikes

The cops where on bikes? Or the people being pulled over?

I once saw (a few years ago) a Pittsburgh bicycle cop who had pulled over a taxi driver. He had gotten to the point of shouting at the taxi driver to turn off his engine and get out of the car immediately and was still being ignored. I honestly think the cabbie was considering driving off. Only when a cop in a cruiser pulled up did he cooperate. I think the taxi driver saw the bike cop as a "not real" somehow.

And now that I think of it, I don't see the bike cops as much anymore. At least not downtown.

@alnilam Because only the state cops are allowed to have radar. That makes it pretty hard to enforce speed limits otherwise.

Dwillen that reminds me of a equally stupid move that I witnessed. I may of posted about this already but I don't remember for sure. About 3 weeks ago I was leaving my house on my bike. I was out in front of my house on the sidewalk checking my bike and getting ready to get on it and head up boggs ave. I looked over my left shoulder to see if any cars where coming so I could hop on and peddle out into the road. As I got on my bike I looked down for a second and heard a motor roaring at me. I look up and the douche that lives on the floor right below me pulls his heap of a car right onto the sidewalk on going against the traffic at about 20 or so miles a hour. First of all I jumped because it scared the shit out of me. Second he was going way to fast for a move like this. No wonder his car looks like it is going to fall apart. Just to give you a idea of how close he was, when he stopped moving he couldent open his door because he would of hit me with it. I remind you besides jumping I didnt move from where I was. Hell I didnt even have enough time to move.

Dwillen: that's when you leave an anonymous note under the wiper that says "The next time you threaten my life with your car I will remove its ability to do so".

Jeff: You caught me before I edited that; cops were indeed on bikes.

"The next time you threaten my life with your car I will remove its ability to do so"

. . . "oh, and I've already spoken to the police about this."

The cops would probably say "Oh, do you have any witnesses?" I guess giving them a record is still worthwhile, though, as I believe such reports played into the prosecution of the recent Thompson case.

Leaving a directly threatening note probably actually isn't a good idea & I believe I was succumbing to "internet tough guy" syndrome there.

Back to the West Carson St component of this thread: In the 1990 edition of "Pittsburgh Then and Now", there is a "then" photo of West Carson, with a cop waiting for passing speeders...on horseback.

"I guess giving them a record is still worthwhile,"

Several years back, there were a string of vandalisms at the parking lot at the end of the Eliza Furnace Trail. When I finally caught the guy on a hidden camera, I like to think that the half a dozen police reports I had filed helped my case. However, since none of the other people who were similarly vandalized didn't bother to file police reports, I think that was part of the reason he was essentially let off with a warning.

with a cop waiting for passing speeders...on horseback.

Was it McCloud?