Cycling laws and enforcement

[Adam Bee]

At the latest Bike Friendly Community committee meeting (which I
missed), the minutes indicate there was some discussion regarding
current cycling laws in the area. Specifically, should they be
reviewed and updated, and then enforced more heavily?

The Indiana bike laws can be found here: http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title9/ar21/ch11.html

Notably:
- It's apparently illegal to carry kids (unless on a tandem),
- All bikes are required to have a bell or an audible signal device,
- Bikes with only a front brake are illegal (although rear brakes are
mostly useless in practice),
- Standing to pedal is apparently illegal,

Here is some commentary on Indiana bike laws, but I'm not sure if it's
completely up to date:
http://bikelaws.org/laws/Indiana.pdf

The South Bend bike laws are here in Chapter 20, Article 4:
http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=13974&sid=14

Notably:
- It appears to outlaw left-hand turns on a bike,
- One can't move her hands off the handlebars for anything but
signalling,


Personally, I'd say both sets of laws need major overhauls. As far as
enforcement goes, they should be enforced to the extent that it
protects the cyclist. It doesn't seem fair to me that cyclists get
tickets for running stop signs while drivers get away with mowing down
law-abiding riders without criminal charges. We should be encouraging
and educating cyclists, not ticketing them.

But, this is certainly an area where reasonable folks can disagree.
What do you think?

[Adam Bee]

A recent article by former US cycling Olympian and current attorney
Bob Mionske succinctly summarizes the stakes for cycliss in the legal/
political sphere:
http://www.velonews.com/article/79749/legally-speaking-with-bob-mionske---a-question-of-liability

To summarize his summary, Illinois's Supreme Court recently decided
that its statute treating bicycles as vehicles only means that
cyclists have to follow the rules of the road. That is, there are no
protections or rights afforded by its status as a vehicle, only
obligations.

Some of Iowa's county supervisors recently have considered indirectly
banning group rides of 20 or more, due to a lawsuit based on a sheriff
deputy who marked off a dangerous section of pavement with cones
during RAGBRAI, only to later leave and take the cones right before a
rider hit the pavement and was killed. Demonstrations and lobbying by
cyclists has so far delayed a county from enacting such a statute.


Personally, growing up in Peoria, Illinois, I've found that those are
the worst drivers I've come across. I've found South Bend drivers to
be generally pretty fair, which fewer jerks per capita than a lot of
places in the Midwest.

So I'm not surprised that things have gotten so bad over there in
Illinois. But I can certainly see how as cycling becomes more
popular, there will be a big backlash among the as-yet-unconverted
Hoosiers, which could easily lead to similar legal problems.

Let's get organized before it's too late, and be polite when you ride!

[bethany944]

Adam,
Can you tell me about the Bike Friendly Community committee? Do they
have a website, regular meetings, who organizes it, etc.? It sounds
like something I'd be interested in getting involved in. Bethany

[bethany944]

Oh, and to address your actual question, I feel that South Bend
drivers are fairly nice. In an average day, many break the law by
passing me when they shouldn't, HOWEVER, nearly all are overly
cautious while passing to the point that they may be endangering
themselves. Generally, only once a day (or less) do I feel in danger
from a driver's illegal actions. In my opinion, you are correct that
if we are expected to follow rules of the road, that we should also be
protected. Granted, I don't always follow the rules of the road,
though, especially when it comes to stopping at stop signs. The
prevalance of bikes on sidewalks and in crosswalks complicates things
also, so I think it's important to address these issues before the
number of bicyclists on the streets gets much larger.

[Adam Bee]

I think the BFC info is here: http://bikemichiana.org/about/bfc/
It's a link on the top of the left-hand side of the bikemichiana.org
blog.

Yeah, me stop sign policy is still evolving. Right now I do a pseudo-
trackstand about ten yards back from the stop sign, which seems to
signal to other drivers that i'm waiting for them without having to
put a foot down. Then they go ahead and take their turn. If they try
to wave me through, I give them an "after you" and a bow and that
seems to work.

At stoplights, my rule is to keep my place in line if I'm going to be
able to get through when it turns green. If the line is so long that
one green light won't be enough to get us all through, I go around to
the front. Yeah, probably illegal and maybe disrespectful, but
pragmatic enough to outweigh those downsides IMO.

In general, my overriding philosophy is to assume someone is watching
me who is thinking about riding bikes or is open to changing their
opinion of cycling. So I try to ride in a way that is respectful,
fun, useful, fast, and stylish.