January 2005, Tempe police arrest two cyclists, out of approximately 20, after stopping a peaceful ride.
April 2006, in Denver, Colo., the police break up a ride of over a hundred cyclists, giving 70 tickets and running into cyclists while on a motorcycle to forcibly stop them. These same arrests have been happening in New York and San Francisco, the most recent happening in Minneapolis.
These arrests are similar to those that were made during the civil rights movement. Sit-ins were a common form of non-violent demonstration that led to the arrest of many of the protestors. During peaceful marches, protestors were beaten and arrested by police. This most recent mass arrest in Minneapolis is beginning to remind people of the violence used by police in reaction to peaceful protests throughout the civil rights era: driving cars into the group of riders, similar to the usage of firehoses to stop protests; using pepper spray instead of physical violence, to suppress the protesters; and arrests for simply gathering. While the civil rights movement had more violence used against them, each encounter between police and bicyclists has escalated the amount of violence.
On Aug. 31, police arrested almost 20 cyclists – contradictory to the usual support the police show on these group rides. The police first began exerting their force upon the group of approximately 400 cyclists by driving their cars into the midst of the riders, pepper spraying and detaining bicyclists to arrest them. There are a few videos circulating of this event, including a time when the crowd is chanting "what's the charge" until the police let the cyclist go, presumably the police did not have a charge for the arrest. The majority of those arrested were charged with third degree riot ("when three or more persons assembled disturb the public peace by an intentional act or threat of unlawful force or violence to person or property."). The problem with this charge is that there was no "intentional act" of disturbance other than riding a bicycle.
Monday, Oct. 22, a cyclist in Portland, Ore. (the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States) who was riding legally in the bike lane with the right of way, was cut off by a truck driver and killed. The police did not issue a citation to the driver. Through not issuing a citation, the police have claimed that not checking before making a turn is acceptable when a car is being negligent toward a cyclist. The position of the police is further illustrated by a similar situation that happened on Oct. 11, also in Portland. During this incident a bicyclist was stopped at a red light, alongside a truck. When the light turned green the truck driver, ignoring the cyclist, made a right-hand turn and killed the cyclist. Once again, the driver was not cited.
It appears that the police are only willing to support the majority, as bicyclists are in the minority, in the exertion of their rights. There have been numerous accidents due to negligence of car upon car, without the result of death, that have lead to citations; yet, when the victim is a cyclist the police are unwilling to cite the driver. This is reminiscent of the social standards that were prevalent in the South during the Civil Rights movement. Emmett Till was murdered for saying goodbye to a white lady, the courts ruled with the white majority. While these events are not identical, there are parallels. In the case of the bicycle rights the police chose to do nothing; though, in both situations, a person from the minority was killed.
The question has arisen if the majority of the people, or just the police, are prejudiced against bicyclists. I feel those who are respectful of cyclists go unnoticed, though the majority is apathetic towards cyclists. There have been numerous times when drivers of cars have respected my right as a cyclist, and even a few times that they have given up their right of way to make the situation safer for me. To these people I give my gratitude. Conversely, I have had objects thrown at me, been spit on, heard about occasions where cyclists are shot with paintball guns and even knocked off their bikes simply for riding.
There is no easy solution to this problem, but education is a good place to start. As drivers learn the rights of cyclists, their ignorance will no longer be protection for negligence. Another step that should be taken is two-fold: 1) cyclists should learn the laws and follow them and 2) more group bike rides need to take place.
Norman will be riding bicycles to the next sensitivity seminar, join him at: norman.statepress@gmail.com.
