Kentucky mom prevails against cops who criminalized her bike commute

[windawake]

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/04/30/kentucky-mom-prevails-against-cops-who-criminalized-her-bike-commute/

She sounds like quite the badass!

[oldtoyota]

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/04/30/kentucky-mom-prevails-against-cops-who-criminalized-her-bike-commute/

She sounds like quite the badass!

Thank you for sharing. It's nice to see a judge with some good sense.

[Ottawa]

Whoah!  18 miles each way is super badass!  Actually, the comments in the article so far weren't that bad.  Usually comments in these situations are incredibly negative toward cyclist.

Good for her!

[warfreak2]

a lot of people don’t pay attention to what they should be while driving,

So ticket the drivers who aren't looking at the fucking road...

One police officer said he’d almost hit Schill with his car.

One police officer pleaded guilty to reckless driving?

[smalllife]

Good for her, and internet thanks to the judge!

[thurston howell iv]

It's even more amazing because the Jessamine and Fayette County road where she undoubtedly commutes is NOT a bike friendly place. It's hardly a car friendly place. There's barely a shoulder on either side, tons of congestion with minimal side streets to pull off and the people tend to speed a lot.  I barely like driving the road and the thought of biking there scares the crap out of me!

Props to the lady!

[acroy]

Shoot guys that looks dangerous

I feel for cyclists, but if she's causing a dangerous situation on a public road - get off.

[Russ]

I've spent a lot of time biking on that road and am very glad I don't have to deal with it anymore. The worst part is that there's undoubtedly no other way for her to get where she's going.

Way to go for standing up for herself

[warfreak2]

Shoot guys that looks dangerous

I feel for cyclists, but if she's causing a dangerous situation on a public road - get off.

Doesn't it sound more like the drivers who aren't paying attention to the fucking road are causing a dangerous situation?

[Nancy]

Good for her! Perhaps they'll consider adding a bike lane.

[sol]

Shoot guys that looks dangerous

I feel for cyclists, but if she's causing a dangerous situation on a public road - get off.

This thinking is exactly backwards.  She has just as much right to use the road as a car does, and it's the cars, not the cyclist, that are causing a dangerous situation.  She's not about to kill anyone with her bike.

[Ottawa]

Shoot guys that looks dangerous

I feel for cyclists, but if she's causing a dangerous situation she's slowing down my car on a public road - get off.

Isn't that what you mean?  This is exactly the sense of road use entitlement that car-only commuters deploy. 

[greaper007]

Her ovaries are considerably larger than my uhmmm.... Anyways, good for her.   

I don't understand why we continue to spend billions on health care subsidies and road construction without mandating that there be a suitable means of biking or walking to any destination that's served by a road.    It's cheaper than treating obesity related chronic issues and it's far less costly than paying for large vehicle related road degradation.     How often do sidewalks and bike lanes have to be repaved, once every 50 years?

What blows my mind even more, is that the poorest most obese areas tend to be the ones that are very bike and walker unfriendly.     I remember trying to cross the street at a stoplight in Parkersburg WV, I was screamed at and almost run off the road.    I think I might have seen 5 people that weren't grossly obese in this area.    Very strange.

[jba302]

“It just creates a very dangerous situation when you’ve got somebody on a bike that’s difficult to see to begin with, on a very highly traveled road, with significant speeds and a lot of people don’t pay attention to what they should be while driving, so it all compounds itself,” Jessamine County Attorney Brian Goettl argued. One police officer said he’d almost hit Schill with his car.

God forbid we address the actual problem.

[thepokercab]

Wow, other drivers don't pay attention so she is the one who is causing harm to herself and others.  Awesome. 

I think their solution is clear though.  I mean, they don't want the commie bike riders coming in and building their commie bike lanes, because they'll wake up one morning and find they're living in Sweden or something. So, time to pass a law prohibiting her from riding her bike. Sure, she might have to stay home and draw a welfare check, but then they can crap on her for being too lazy to go out and find a job.  Sounds like a win/win to me. 

[GuitarStv]

As someone who often has to bike on busy non-bike friendly roads, I wholeheartedly commend her.  That's a tough way to commute.

The comments made by the police department are pretty ridiculous/infuriating though.  Indicative of institutionalized anti-bike bias and poor understanding of the laws they're charged with upholding.

[Wolf_Stache]

As someone who has been bike commuting for 7 years, I commend this mom! I've had people throw things at me, scream at me to get off the road, etc, but I've never been ticketed. I think it took a lot of guts for her to challenge her tickets in front of a judge!

Hopefully this will make Kentucky look more at educating drivers on safely sharing the road, rather than blaming the cyclist.

[sol]

I don't understand why we continue to spend billions on health care subsidies and road construction without mandating that there be a suitable means of biking or walking to any destination that's served by a road.    It's cheaper than treating obesity related chronic issues and it's far less costly than paying for large vehicle related road degradation.

The book bikenomics makes this point in some detail.  The US spends approximately 15% of it's GDP on health care, more than any other nation, and we do a relatively poor job of actually improving overall health outcomes. 

If we spent even 1% of that on bicycle infrastructure, we would be BY FAR the most bicycle friendly country on the planet.  Everyone would be healthier, we'd stimulate the economy, and we'd reduce our dependence on foreign fossil fuels.  Sounds like a win all around, right?

Except the Amercian automobile and petroleum industries will never let it happen.  Their personal corporate success is dependent on keeping people fat, lazy, car-addicted, and oil burning.  On keeping us off of bikes.

[greaper007]

I think a 1% movement would be a fantastic idea.    That and mandating that federally funded roads contain bike and walking infrastructure.

[Random Hangers]

On a similar vein, Orlando's first commuter train (Sunrail) started today. The newspaper covered it, of course, and the comments were outrageous: It's never going to work; it's a waste of money; it's too hard to figure out; the stops aren't close enough (seriously, I've heard several people complain that *gasp* they'd have to walk or take a bike/bus to their final destination). The general population seems to be extremely agressive toward any non-traditional. Good for this lady for carrying on anyway!

[EMP]

As a defense attorney, I am not even a little bit surprised by this. I have the pleasure (burden?) of listening to prosecutors and cops overreach their authority every.single.day. It is not every case - but it is way more often than you think. I am certain she had a public defender/private attorney helping her against this obvious overreach.

Also, in a point that is only slightly related - this is a prime example of how cops and prosecutors are the "government" that directly interact with citizens most often and with the most coercive tools (i.e. tickets, jail, etcetera). I can't help but wonder why the small government party (i.e. Republicans) always has the loudest support for law enforcement when Law Enforcement is the most coercive/direct form of government will ever interact with. I know that is painting with a broad brush and not always 100% accurate, but think about it. There is some truth there.

Anyway, this is my soapbox of self-rationalization for being a defense attorney. Please forgive me for that. Next time you are at a party, please don't ask your defense attorney friend why he/she defends "criminals." Ask about the time the prosecutor/cops tried to criminalize something that is not criminal - like riding your bike to work.

Don't apologize, this was awesome.