Lawrence Petersen got a speeding ticket from a motorcycle officer with a radar gun pulled him over Feb. 17 – for riding his bicycle 19 mph on The Strand (ed. note: a beachside bike path). The penalty: $351.
… THe Hermosa Beach City Council voted on Feb. 10, 2004 to reduce the speed limit to 8 mph.
$351 ticket for riding a bike 19 mph on a bike path? That is bad enough but now a $351 ticket for exceeding 8 mph? (a speed I could hit running).
The ironic thing is that it happened on the last day of “Ride Your Bike to Work Day” And people wonder why so few of us commute to work on bike.
I’m not familiar with that bike path, but around here I have seen plenty of idiots riding their bike at ~20mph on paths that are full of runners, walkers, dogs, kids on roller blades, etc, where the typical speed is about 5mph or less. It seems stupid to ride on a path like that when there are perfectly good, low traffic low speed roads, with bike lanes, all around them. Similarly, I’m running down the sidewalk and here comes a bike towards me on the sidewalk. 2 feet to my right is a bike lane 6 feet wide, but they have to ride on the sidewalk. Why? Bikes are traffic, not pedestrians.
The 8mph is there for safety; just like we don’t like getting hit by SUV’s, the others on the path don’t like getting hit by bikes. If the 8mph speed limit is clearly posted, he deserved that ticket.
I used to live in Hermosa Beach and the Strand is the last place I’d want to ride. Its a multi-use path in every sense of the word with cyclists, Razr scooters, runners, roller bladers, skate boarders, pedestrians (some with their dogs), surfers walking with their boards, and so on. Its right along the beach and is ridiculously crowded during the summer, especially on weekends. A few years ago a pedestrian was killed on the Strand as a result of a collision with a cyclist so I’m not at all surprised about the new 8 mph law. Hermosa is very close to the beautiful Palos Verdes peninsula which is a much better option for riding if you want to do anything besides just cruise and check out the local scenery.
The fine seems a little steep, but the law is the law.
I chuckle to myself when I see people “training” on the bike path. Where I live, the trail is a relatively “safe” way to get out to the countryside. Although with rollerbladers wearing headphones, little toddlers on tiny bikes, and dogs I sometimes wonder if my chances are better duking it out with angry soccer moms.
If I want to go fast I go on the road. If something bad happens, it’ll either be a gruesome mess or a pretty corpse.
Having said that, though, an 8mph speed limit is asinine. Shit, I can rollerski faster than 8mph.
Poeple around here ask me all the time! “Why do bikers always ride on the roads when there’s a path? I hate bikers!” Then I have to explain how hard it is to ride along with rollerbladers, dogs on leashes, etc. AND I note that the speed limit on the path is only 10 mph. I can hardly keep my balance going that slow, much less call it training. The end result after my explanation, they still hate bikers.
I am glad the cyclist got the ticket if the scenario is as I imagine it: a multiuse path, much like the lake front path here in chicago, full of families, roller bladers, tourists strolling and riding those big “bike car” things. Then some yahoo Lance-a-like wants to do a training ride in the midst of all that.
It was 7:40 a.m. on a cloudy Thursday morning. The only multiuse at that hour will be the surfers crossing the strand to get to their cars/apts, and the occassional homeless person looking for cans/bottles.
My secret dream is to be given a speeding ticket riding downhill on a secondary highway. I’d frame that sucker and brag to anyone who asked :)!
Chris I have same goal, but I am probably far too slow to achieve it. I have heard a rumor that a sometimes poster to this forum from Michigan (not Tom Demerly) that goes really fast on the bike has an interesting story about police and tickets for speeding on a bike.
Lawrence Petersen got a speeding ticket from a motorcycle officer with a radar gun pulled him over Feb. 17 – for riding his bicycle 19 mph on The Strand (ed. note: a beachside bike path). The penalty: $351.
… THe Hermosa Beach City Council voted on Feb. 10, 2004 to reduce the speed limit to 8 mph.
$351 ticket for riding a bike 19 mph on a bike path? That is bad enough but now a $351 ticket for exceeding 8 mph? (a speed I could hit running).
The ironic thing is that it happened on the last day of “Ride Your Bike to Work Day” And people wonder why so few of us commute to work on bike.
Dude, I have been trying to get a speeding ticket on my bike for like my whole life. I would frame it, brag about it to all my friends. 19mph is a great avg. speed for any race distance especially Ironman! Sweet
