Streets near UA appear to be TPD targets

April 8, 2010 • Posted by:

According to several TucsonVelo readers, Tucson Police Department officers have been targeting at least two intersections in Tucson.

You’ll remember the TucsonVelo reader who got a ticket for not stopping at the sign on the north side of the Fourth Avenue underpass and was told officers were targeting that intersection.

Another TucsonVelo reader received a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at Helen and Fremont near the University or Arizona Campus on Monday.

A third TucsonVelo reader warned me officers were at the same intersection Tuesday morning too.

Tucson Police Department Public Information Officer Chuck Ryzdak said he wasn’t aware of any coordinated effort to target cyclists.

Although, he said, “It is not uncommon for us to find areas that have multiple violations or multiple violators and work that area for a little bit to curb that behavior. ”

Erik Ryberg, a local lawyer who represents cyclists and writes the TucsonBikeLawyer.com blog said he would like to see officers enforcing laws that actually result in increased rider safety.

“Why won’t TPD, just once, do the same kind of sting operation on the three-foot rule,” Ryberg asked? “Everyday they are out there ticketing people for the stop-sign violations. It would be nice if once in a while they would also target motorists for the things that make bicycling unsafe.”

Eric Post, who is a member of the Tucson Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee and a lawyer who represents cyclists, analyzed bicycle crash data.  He determined only 2-3 percent of accidents resulted from a cyclist running a stop sign, while 28 percent of the accidents happened when cyclists were riding the wrong direction.

“If the objective were bike safety, they would be going after the people who ride their bikes te wrong way down the street, they would be going after reckless sidewalk riders and they would be targeting stop sign violations in places where people have been injured,” Ryberg said.

What to do if you get a ticket

If you get a ticket from a TPD officer, you can take the city’s diversion program. Prosecutors will dismiss the ticket if you have successfully completed the class. Currently, Pima County and the University of Arizona have no such program in place, but the TPCBAC is working with officials to offer a similar program. You can only take the class once per year.

If you can’t take the class, the next best course of action, according to Ryberg, is to try to prevent the judge from forwarding the information onto the Motor Vehicle Department. If the ticket is forwarded to the MVD, your automobile insurance will likely increase.  Ryberg said he has been very successful with that. The story is different in Pima County. Ryberg said Pima County judges can’t prevent the MVD notification, but in one instance allowed a cyclists to take the City of Tucson diversion program instead.

Lastly, Ryberg said, if you don’t have car insurance and can’t participate in the diversion program, you can pay the fine or ask for community service if you can’t afford to pay it.

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17 comments
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Bruce Small
Bruce Small

Several years ago the son of a friend was killed as he ran a stop sign. This is not a trivial offense. This past week, at Houghton and Tanque Verde, I had to swerve to avoid three bicyclists who ran the red light, and I do mean running the red.

Red Star
Red Star

Scott, Red Star didn't mean to imply that the converse (or flip-side) to the rule of thumb about police departments necessarily applies in a satisfactory way. Interestingly, the TPD Road Rage Hotline number still works in that it hasn't been disconnected. Why not pick up the phone and make a report and get back to us?

Red Star
Red Star

Scott, Red Star didn't mean to imply that the converse (or flip-side) to the rule of thumb about police departments necessarily applies in a satisfactory way. Interestingly, the TPD Road Rage Hotline number still works in that it hasn't been disconnected. Why not pick up the phone and make a report and get back to us?

Scott
Scott

Red, you almost make it sound like action might actually be taken if an officer *did* witness the behavior. I was brushed by a bus recently that was cruising along with 2 wheels in the bike lane, following the bus was one of Tucson's finest who luckily didn't see a thing, or I might have been ticketed for "failing to yield for an overtaking vehicle" or some such blame-the-bike nonsense.

Scott
Scott

Red, you almost make it sound like action might actually be taken if an officer *did* witness the behavior. I was brushed by a bus recently that was cruising along with 2 wheels in the bike lane, following the bus was one of Tucson's finest who luckily didn't see a thing, or I might have been ticketed for "failing to yield for an overtaking vehicle" or some such blame-the-bike nonsense.

Red Star
Red Star

The rule of thumb on incidents such as that described by Mike Ingram is that unless an officer witnessed the behavior, no action will be taken by law enforcement. Video====>Schmideo? And yet: "Report aggressive drivers to the Tucson Police Department’s Road Rage Hotline, 235-RAGE (7243)" at: http://biketucson.pima.gov/Pubs/WNR/wnr18-150.pdf But that was years ago, during the bubble economy.

Red Star
Red Star

The rule of thumb on incidents such as that described by Mike Ingram is that unless an officer witnessed the behavior, no action will be taken by law enforcement. Video====>Schmideo? And yet: "Report aggressive drivers to the Tucson Police Department’s Road Rage Hotline, 235-RAGE (7243)" at: http://biketucson.pima.gov/Pubs/WNR/wnr18-150.pdf But that was years ago, during the bubble economy.

Tucson Velo
Tucson Velo

Sure send it along. I'd like to see if with video evidence whether the police would pursue any action.

Tucson Velo
Tucson Velo

Sure send it along. I'd like to see if with video evidence whether the police would pursue any action.

Mike Ingram
Mike Ingram

Speaking of people breaking the 3-foot rule.... I just got cut-off a few minutes ago, in the bike lane at Silverbell and Lester. Chrysler NewYorker, white, AZ license 416-TCG ( I know it's right because I have it on video !! ). Do you have a TPD contact for stuff like this ? Would you like the video ?

Mike Ingram
Mike Ingram

Speaking of people breaking the 3-foot rule.... I just got cut-off a few minutes ago, in the bike lane at Silverbell and Lester. Chrysler NewYorker, white, AZ license 416-TCG ( I know it's right because I have it on video !! ). Do you have a TPD contact for stuff like this ? Would you like the video ?

James
James

That is a seriously messed up intersection. The underpass starts/ends right near the intersection, but not at the intersection. Fremont just runs into the parking garage, so there's a lot of weird traffic backup. On a bicycle going north (exiting the underpass area) you either have to ride up the sidewalk to where the parking garage exit is and then enter traffic down Fremont (which I would guess is technically illegal since you are riding on the sidewalk even though the bike path just kind of dissolves) or you have to exit, make a quick left, hit the stop sign, then quick right to go up Fremont. the turn is so quick many times I just hook kind of straight out instead of turning twice. If the UofA and City of Tucson want that to be a good bicycle through way they really need to change the way traffic is structured at that intersection. There's major pedestrian problems there as well. It's all fine and good in the underpass area, but once cars are involved in the situation it becomes a messy matter.

James
James

That is a seriously messed up intersection. The underpass starts/ends right near the intersection, but not at the intersection. Fremont just runs into the parking garage, so there's a lot of weird traffic backup. On a bicycle going north (exiting the underpass area) you either have to ride up the sidewalk to where the parking garage exit is and then enter traffic down Fremont (which I would guess is technically illegal since you are riding on the sidewalk even though the bike path just kind of dissolves) or you have to exit, make a quick left, hit the stop sign, then quick right to go up Fremont. the turn is so quick many times I just hook kind of straight out instead of turning twice. If the UofA and City of Tucson want that to be a good bicycle through way they really need to change the way traffic is structured at that intersection. There's major pedestrian problems there as well. It's all fine and good in the underpass area, but once cars are involved in the situation it becomes a messy matter.

Red Star
Red Star

Time to tear down that stop sign and replace with yield sign, Mayor and Council? Would doing so eventually result in more rational and public-spirited resource allocation by TPD management (Tucson Police Department Public Information Officer Chuck Ryzdak's metric-driven, as in performance evaluation, facile and cynical claim notwithstanding) ? Or is it easier for Tucson Mayor and Council to sit around and wait forever for permission from Maricopaland?

Red Star
Red Star

Time to tear down that stop sign and replace with yield sign, Mayor and Council? Would doing so eventually result in more rational and public-spirited resource allocation by TPD management (Tucson Police Department Public Information Officer Chuck Ryzdak's metric-driven, as in performance evaluation, facile and cynical claim notwithstanding) ? Or is it easier for Tucson Mayor and Council to sit around and wait forever for permission from Maricopaland?