CHP AND PARK POLICE ARE TICKETING BICYCLISTS
[From the Marin County Bicycle Coalition bulletin.]

Date of Incident: Ongoing
Received: May 25, 2005

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6.  CHP AND PARK POLICE ARE TICKETING [BICYCLISTS]
Stop at all stop signs near Golden Gate Bridge, in the Presidio, and elsewhere

Last week, an MCBC member was stopped by a federal policeman for
running the stop sign at the bottom of the hill coming onto Crissy
Field (in the Presidio in San Francisco).  The policeman mentioned
that the federal police patrolling the Presidio have new orders to be
aggressive in ticketing cyclists that violate traffic signs and laws,
and he hoped that the word would get out to the cycling community. The
policeman was himself a cyclist, and said that cyclists often came
down the one-way uphill road, and that some people kept on riding
after his attempts to pull them over, such that he was forced to cut
them off to get them to stop.

This week, a San Francisco cyclist has alerted us that CHP is
apparently stepping up enforcement of stop sign infractions by
bicyclists near the Golden Gate Bridge. Coming east out of the tunnel
underneath 101 just north of Conzelman Road, he rolled through a stop
sign to merge through the oncoming traffic from 101, and received a
ticket.

We implore all cyclists to obey posted traffic laws and cooperate with
law officers at the Golden Gate Bridge, in the Presidio, or anywhere
else. Bicyclists are required to stop at stop signs and risk financial
penalties for infractions.  Moreover, a few violations like this can
make things worse for the majority of law-abiding riders, who need the
cooperation of motor vehicles to ensure safety.

Please Share the Road with other motorists and cyclists for everyone's
safety.  For more information on how to co-exist on the roads safely,
visit our website for the Share the Road Codes of Conduct at
www.marinbike.org under 'Campaigns' and 'Share the Road'.

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