This article is based on a letter to the editor published on November 11. See the letter here:
Are you really claiming to be ignorant that a stop sign means STOP?
I know which stop sign you speak of. It’s the one with the police officer handing out tickets to the huddle of skateboarders and cyclists a few yards away. It’s also the only stop sign in that direction for that obscenely dangerous turnaround right after Folsom on Colorado avenue. The one that I watch students nearly every day come seconds away from mashing someone on a bike because the drivers in the turnaround don’t have a stop sign. Thankfully, most of the cyclists do, which is one of the only things preventing against the cyclist shmear.
I’m not sure why anyone biking on the road surrounded by thousands of pounds of steel just a foot or even inches away wouldn’t find themselves capable of following one of the most basic rules of the road: stop at stop signs. It’s Colorado law to follow traffic codes if cycling on the road. Even if someone is claiming to be unfamiliar, or “ignorant” of traffic laws, the cop standing a few feet away surrounded by irritated cyclists should probably be a dead giveaway that now is the time to follow EVERY law…not just the traffic-related ones.
As far as a safety class…guess what? Those are expensive, too. In a capitalistic society we’re going to be punished through monetary loss. Besides, do I really want to be forced to take a completely useless basic traffic law course just for cruising through a stop sign? Not really…especially when it’s probably going to cost as much as the ticket. I’d rather pay and be done, and skip the training-wheel class. If you can’t figure out basic traffic laws while cycling, you’re giving us all a bad name... so get back on the sidewalk.
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