… on my bike so I could talk back to the cop that just yelled at me from his car.
I was on my way back from my bike ride just now when, right after crossing the intersection near my house, a cop car sped by (going WAY over the speed limit) and mumbled something through his PA system that had something to do with the light at the intersection.
I can only assume that it was something about how I should have waited for the light at the intersection rather than just riding through after checking both ways and ensuring there was no one around (>10pm), other than him. Although I didn’t know it was a cop car, I could see by its lights that even though it was approaching the intersection at a high rate of speed (did I mention it was over the speed limit?) that it was clear that I had plenty of time to get through well before his car got there.
Now, I realize that you’re technically supposed to wait for the light, but often on intersections such as those (at that time of night) the lights are on sensors only, and a bicycle will not set them off, so if there are no cars around, you have to ride over to the crosswalk and push the button to force the light to change. I think it’s fairly understandable to just go through in such a situation (when there’s obviously no danger). Ironically, the only thing even remotely close to dangerous happening in that intersection in the span of time I was near it was his driving too fast.
It might be my imagination, but I thought that I saw him slowing down gradually, and possibly getting ready to turn around and give me a ticket. I didn’t waste any time waiting to find out, though; since I was already at my street I quickly peddled down and into my back gate before he would have the chance. In all likelihood he wasn’t after me at all, because he could have stopped much faster to turn around, but then he would have looked like a real tool slamming on his breaks and skidding (because he was going so fast…) just to give a bike rider a ticket.
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FYI: The sensors in the street do detect bikes because it’s not pressure they detect it’s whether there is a mass of metal over the sensor. I interviewed a person who promgrammed the computer system for a bunch in ventura; I didn’t hire him and I always go through lights on the way to work/home.
But at least the cop didn’t pull over and talk to you while threatening a ticket. But since cops are always in a hurry to get somewhere he probably knew a ticket for running a red light on a bike wasn’t worth his time. Maybe he was pissed because he was going faster and when he saw you he had to slow down slightly,
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Yeah, I’m aware of the sensors, but a lot of them aren’t sensitive enough to be triggered by bikes, in my experience. I’ve pulled up to several lights at night and had them never change based on the sensor. There are also timers involved during the hours where there are more traffic, so it’s not just sensor based, but at night a lot of them switch to sensor only operation.