Denver Bike Cop Hit By Truck

Cyclelicious tipped me off this afternoon to the news that a DPD officer was struck by a truck while on bicycle patrol.

Click thru to cyclelicious

I don't see tons of bike cops on Colfax, but I see them there enough to know that it's a thing: bike cops on Colfax. They're there.

I've even observed them perform the highly dubious Sidewalk Ride + Red Light Run combo.

More of the same kind of riding no doubt caused this accident.

The Denver Post—

Denver Police say two officers on bicycles were pedaling west through a crosswalk at the corner of Lafayette Street and Colfax Avenue just before 9 a.m. when the crash happened.

—strongly suggests that they were on the sidewalk and riding against automobile traffic.

9news

The Denver Cruisers claim, as I shared earlier, that uniformed officers can legally ride on the sidewalk while on duty.

And while that may be the case, I think this unfortunate incident proves that it's not a good idea.

Nobody knows how to ride a bike

My partner has had an especially discouraging bike week. Two cars honked at her, apparently protesting her mere presence on the road. One guy standing outside a bar heckled her with a patronizing "You need to get out of the road, sweetie." And this is all following the enormously frustrating debacle that was the Denver Diamond Dash.

At the end of the week, it seems as though neither motorists nor cyclists know what it means to bike safely and legally in this city.

Which is why it felt nice to see a little love and recognition from the Denver Police Department via twitter today.



Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be--

1. Granted all the rights of a vehicle.
   
   Including the right to be on the road, to take the lane when sharing the lane will be unsafe.


2. Subjected to all the duties of a vehicle
   
   Including the duty of not driving on the sidewalk, of observing stop signs and other traffic signals, of signaling turns.

As I commute, shop, and otherwise live my life, I carefully assert all the rights of a vehicle every day. But I do not always hold myself to all the duties of a vehicle. For example, I never come to a full stop at a stop sign unless I need to in order to avoid colliding with something. If traffic is clear, I might run a stop light.

It's inconsistent. And I should try to correct this. I know.

But it's hard. Because, for example, coming to a full, foot-on-the-ground stop at a stop sign is stupid when it is possible to proceed safely. This fact is recognized by the good state of Idaho. (Yes, what you commonly refer to as a "California Stop" is in reality an "Idaho Stop!")

Plus, there's the example set by our role models, betters, and superiors. This week, on my way to a meeting downtown, I was stopped at a red light at Sherman and Colfax.



While I was wondering how much debt the state might recover if we melted down and sold off that giant golden dome, I noticed a bike cop biking east on Colfax, up the hill, on the sidewalk.

I thought to myself, Huh. Bike cop on the sidewalk. Okay.

And then that bike cop scanned the cross-traffic on Colfax, deemed it sufficiently light, and then ran the red light and crossed the road.

I thought to myself, Huh. Bike cop just ran the red light. Okay.

I remained right where I was and continued to wait for the traffic signal to change before proceeding through the intersection.

Unlike some people.

I judged the officer in question. Hard. And I felt smug for a while about being more lawful than the law. But then I saw this little gem from Denver Cruisers.

[Citation Needed]

I don't know what this claim is based on, or what it is in reference to, but now according to some guy on the internet, Mister Bike Cop was okay to ride on the sidewalk. But not necessarily to run the red light? I'm not sure.

What's a fella to do?

Mariposa Bike Lanes

Another ceremonial ribbon cutting for another new bike lane! This one was on Mariposa Street, and was based out of Lincoln Park, which is just a little bit outside my sphere of familiarity: I've only ridden past Lincoln Park once or twice.

A crude map of the area in question.

BikeDenver's announcement of the event.

The ride started just outside Lincoln Park with the ceremonial ribbon cutting.



Note, first of all, the thin red carpet spread across the width of the bike lane. This is BikeDenver.org's all purpose red carpet. It has been rolled out at pretty much every function of theirs I've been to, even if it's just bike parking. It is awesome.

And now, a closer look at who the folks are in the photograph.

1. Me. Behind the car and outside the frame of the picture.


2. John Hayden, Denver realtor and member of the mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee. He was at the ribbon cutting for the MLK bike lanes.


3. An especially Nordic looking member of the Denver Housing Authority. This picture doesn't do him a lot of justice; he was the size of a small car.


4. Councilperson Judy Montero, whose write-up of the event can be found here.


5. Ismael Guerrero, Executive Director of the Denver Housing Authority.


6. Somebody I thought I recognized, but it turns out now that I don't, but I had already labeled her in the picture, so ... sorry.

The ride itself was pleasant. It showed riders recommended ways to get from Lincoln Park to downtown to the high school to the Light Rail and back to the park, where there were Clif Bars and cupcakes.

I fell in beside a jolly old couple at one point in time to hear the gentleman exclaim that it is easier to bike in Denver than in Asheville, North Carolina! I have visited Asheville and thought it was lovely, so I chatted with him about the area for a moment. He turned out to be Senior City Planner Emily Kreisa's dad, in town for a visit.

If during the course of your job you get to go on a nice, slow bike ride through downtown with your mom and dad, then you've got a pretty sweet job. Well done, Emily. And, your folks are cute. I liked it when your mom was noticing out loud which foot everybody put down when they stopped.

---

And then towards the end of the ride, a funny thing happened.

The peloton had just come to a four-way stop when this car behind us whipped over across the double yellows and into the opposing lane.

Ironically, he had his left turn blinker on, in full dutiful compliance with the traffic law. While sitting on the wrong side of the road, in flippant disregard of that traffic law. It was obvious that the driver was of two minds when it came to following the rules of the road, and that he couldn't be trusted.

So he was intent on executing a left hand turn, but so were we. The peloton, taking advantage of the right-of-way to which, as law abiding citizens of the road, we were entitled, began its left hand turn. The driver, should he simultaneously execute his turn, would have to continue driving down the English side of the road until he had passed the entire group, at which point he could merge--probably while signally properly--back into the proper lane.

Unfortunately for him, he never got that far. When he initially pulled up to the intersection, he unbeknowingly pulled up alongside the two bike cops who were leading our ride, one of whom immediately shouted a stern and impressively coppy "HEY!" and corralled him.



I rode on, swept down stream by the bike current, and didn't see the conclusion of that interaction. I doubt he was ticketed because I saw the cop again shortly thereafter, but I believe the motorist won't soon be repeating that maneuver!