— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Oh here we go again: the notoriously anti-bike and generally stodgy Stanley Roberts was out again filming “People Behaving Badly.” This time? The two-wheeled locusts bombing through the Wiggle's stop signs, displaying a general disregard for law and order as they aim to plow over dogs and other helpless pedestrians.
Stanley boasts the number of $300 tickets SFPD issues to these miscreants as the victims of a broke police force point out SFPD probably has better things to do.
As you may remember, SFPD bicycle officers have a troubled relationship with stop sign laws, often treating them as yield signs themselves.
Towards the end of the video, around the 1:20 mark, Stanley goes on to interview an 'angry' pedestrian who rails against the recklessness of cyclists while numerous automobiles run the stop sign in the background.
SFPD did not pull any of those vehicles over.
Comments (15)
Please ticket more!
Love the California Rolls at 1:22. Does anyone believe this is actually dangerous behavior, whether by cars or by bikes?
Stopping distance at 5 mph on dry pavement is just 1.2 feet.
http://forensicdynamics.com/stopping-distance-calculator
I don’t know why I’m mentioning that, maybe I just like citing math to make my point sound stronger. :)
So sick of bullshit tickets. I got an idaho roll ticket myself. I was going probly 5mph with no cars around. I’d be angry if I saw a car get the same ticket going the same speed. Yes there are a-holes who bike around like it’s deathrace 3000 or some shit, but I bet those dudes would have just kept riding and let the cops try and catch em, so these fake ass tickets arent gonna stop those guys or change their behavior. Fuck, I should have kept riding myself…
@hypocrisy_r_us said : I completely agree, but it’s irrational to assume that logical arguments are relevant to lawmakers and policeman.
This is bullshit. The SFPD should worry more about the increasing number of people getting robbed by gunpoint on Fillmore.
From 1:22 to 1:40 NONE of the cars stop at the stop sign. People generally hate cyclists, even though cars make exponentially more infractions than cyclists, and are much more dangerous to everyone (pedestrians, cyclists and other cars).
The wiggle is one dangerous-ass place to cross the street on foot. California-stop is one thing but most bikes don’t even slow down.
Yes it is funny that the cars in the video were doing the California stop, I didn’t see it because I was concentrating on the interview and not the backgrround. FYI: The officers that were with me had moved on to a new high priority call but i’m sure if they were still there I would be airing yet another segment. So I stayed around to see just how many bike riders would run the stop sign it was quite a few! …. I’m going to have to go back and do the same for the automobile drivers! For the record I have no grudge against bicyclist, I ride (well I use to ride until someone stole my bike in Foster City) but I was interested in seeing where “The Wiggle” is located I hear so much about it but never actually knew where it was. BTW: I wasn’t doing the enforcement on bike riders I simply filmed it, but if you need to blame me knock yourself out I can handle it!
Looks to me like 3 cars ran that stop sign right behind the pedestrian that was complaining about bicycles. Were the cops making any attempt to ticket cars or was this a selective enforcement trap?
If they ticket these cyclists, in the name of public safety, then they should also be ticketing cars that turn right without checking for bikes, people that throw their door open without checking for bikers, and taxi cab drivers that park in the bike lane, pushing bikers into busy traffic lanes. All of which I see happening on a daily basis.
And I should say the SFPD is so full of BS. Get anything stolen and they have no time to investigate it, but ease through a right hand turn, and pay hundreds. Glad they have their priorities straight.
Seriously. The most dangerous place in the city is the Embarcaderro between the Port and Harrison Street. There are bike paths, but none of the eco-friendly bikers use them. Walking that sidewalk is truly dangerous. I simply stopped avoiding them. Oh the dirty looks I get from those peddle-happy ****ers. Stop signs? Red lights? Pedestrians? Heck, cars, motorcycles, buses? They yield to nothing and to no one. Bikers in this city are 100% out of control. Period.
If the city put 10 cops on the Embarcaderro Monday through Friday and fined these idiots, San Francisco’s revenue issues would be over. I’m all for it. Follow the rules of the road like everybody else. Use the bike lanes the city so kindly created for you. And get off and walk when the sidewalk is your only option. Be decent people for the love of God!
I really don’t understand why there is an anti biker sediment amongst some drivers. The way I see it bikes are good for everyone. For every person that decides to ride a bike instead of drive there car there is one less car on the road easing congestion. One more open parking space. One less tail pipe emitting carcinogenic fumes and particulate matter in the air we all breath. And maybe this is a stretch but bike riders are in general are pretty healthy reducing the the cost of health care for everyone. It’s a win win.
Yeah some people roll though stop signs. It’s really not that big a deal. Life in the big city pall.
Last I checked there’s a war going on if you’re looking for something to get bent out of shape over.
Stopping at traffic control devices isn’t just about following the law, it’s about respect for all people on the street including other cyclists. I’ve been on my bicycle stopped at stop lights between a parked car at the corner and a car queued at the light and often have cyclists behind me yell, “Come on, run it!”, to which I reply, “We all have to obey the light.” I often get the finger from other cyclists for merely obeying the law.
Claiming that the SFPD is harrassing cyclists is just not true. Stings occur all over the city everyday, and it’s mostly for motor vehicles, so slow down, show some respect for others and you’ll probably not get a ticket. How hard is it to understand the concept of shared accountability. The road is OURS, not YOURS.
Regardless of what the law is right now, coming to a complete—put your foot down—stop is not going to happen… no matter how many tickets are handed out. As someone said before, this shit won’t change people’s behavior. And seriously… who the fuck complains about their dogs ALMOST getting hit, like it was some kind of traumatic experience?
I’m not saying people shouldn’t be considerate, but everyone should stop bitching so much about relatively unimportant shit.
Do you cyclists think you are friggin privileged? Are you 1% ers? FUCK BIG SCHWINN… OCCUPY HUFFY….I hope your funny seat gets jammed up your arrogant turd cutter the next time you cesspool scum kiss asphalt.. GO STAN!!!
The anger is funny (if a tad frightening). Kill all bike riders, they don’t stop at the stop sign. Kill all pedestrians, they jaywalk sometimes. Rabble Rabble Rabble.