Park police disturbs me

[OakLeaf]

But there are really two things here.

(1) Are the cyclists creating a hazard? Sounds like possibly yes.

(2) Does the hazard created by the cyclists rise to the level that police officers are authorized to use DEADLY FORCE to stop them? Uh, no.

Shooting out a car's tires is considered deadly force. Running a motorcycle off the road, same thing. Intentionally causing a bicyclist to crash at high speed - that's deadly force too.

Sure the cyclists need to cool it. But this is basically the same scenario as a cop shooting a shoplifter. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

[Geonz]

I agree. I *hope* that the "standing in front" tactic was done out of ignorance and that the resulting crash wasn't expected. (I know, that sounds ridiculous from those of us who know from peletons and physics.) Cops don't swerve in front of speeders to get 'em to stop - and that's just one speeder, not a large group. Seems it would have been far, far more efficient to follow 'em and get out the ticket book.

[Cataboo]

How is a police officer different from a pedestrian standing in the middle of the road? Or a kid darting after a ball? You should be riding so that you can react to something like that when you're not riding in an organized event or have permission from authorities.

There's been 2 incidents at least (or at least 2 that are being objected to here...) I'm assuming that the first time it happened, the cyclists were told to follow the rules and weren't just told "haha, we made you stop!" ... So were the cyclists continuing to break the rules when they were stopped a second time?

And have the cyclists been told several times before that by nicer means not to do whatever they were doing? Or were road blocks set up the very first time that someone wanted to tell them to obey the park rules?

[PscyclePath]

There's no law in the country that allows a group, or peloton of cyclists to behave like a swarm of bees. Unless you've got a permit that allows for road closure and racing, then everyone on the ride must comply with Georgia traffic law... which means riding no more than two abreast, riding as far to the right of the traffic lane as is practicable, if there's a usable bike path or bike lane present then you have to ride on the path and not in the trafic lane, keep at least one hand on the handlebars at all times, use a mechanical brake which can cause the braked wheel to skid, and have pedal reflectors. No tall bikes or "freak bikes" allowed, and no "chopper" style handlebars. (http://www.bicyclegeorgia.com/galaw.html)

And no excuses.... Bicycles are legally defined as vehicles in Georgia, so traffic laws apply to cyclists in the same manner as they do to car & truck drivers, unless a particular rule explicitly applies to "motor vehicles," such as the need to have a driver's license before taking to the roadways.

All the above-cited offenses are misdemeanors under Georgia law, unless you want to go for the bi one, "Racing on the Highways..." which technically they could cite the pack for as well...

As for the stopping technique, just how do you stop a howling pack of 40 riders at once? If they won't pull over for the blue lights, then you're going to have to set up some sort of road block, or those little strips that punch holes in your tires...

How about obeying the law instead of playing like Smokey and the Bandit?

[Cataboo]

How far ahead of the pack was the officer when he stepped out into the middle of the road and put his hand out...


Because seriously, that's risking his own life.... So I'm assuming he was pretty far ahead of them when he did it and expected them to be able to stop before they got to him or swerve around him...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sounds like this racing pack of riders might just get all bikes prohibited from riding in the park if they keep it up. Is this fair to the other recreational bike riders? I truly cannot understand riding 30mph+ in a public park where someone might be walking their dog or pushing a stroller or some toddler might be running about. This is happening during daylight park hours, too.

[kermit]

It is a great park, also a CAMP ground. I imagine that campers have complained about almost getting run over. The loop that is probably being ridden on has great climbs (an *** kicker on a mountain bike) but loops around the campground. If I had small kids I would be worried about them getting hurt by a large peleton.

[Thorn]

What's the speed limit? Parks around here are 15-25mph....bicycles are required to obey the speed limit, as well.

While a single rider doing 30 can be dangerous if there are walkers and kids, a peloton doing 30 if the speed limit is reduced is no different than having a larger motor vehicle speeding down the road.

Unless the officer abruptly stopped in front of the cyclists, I think I have more empathy for the cop over the cyclists.

[Pedal Wench]

It is a great park, also a CAMP ground. I imagine that campers have complained about almost getting run over. The loop that is probably being ridden on has great climbs (an *** kicker on a mountain bike) but loops around the campground. If I had small kids I would be worried about them getting hurt by a large peleton.

The campground is by a road with a 25mph speedlimit and usually cars are zooming by much, much faster. However, the campground is far enough away from this main road and separated by a fence that there is no way or reason children should be anywhere near it. With RVs and boat trailers flying by on the main road, kids have bigger problems than bikes.

The road in question is four lanes, with the bikes taking the right lane and cars having the passing lane. Everywhere else, the road is one way with bikes getting an entire lane as a bike lane.

This is all a mess since my club sponsors a women's ride all winter long at this park since it's a relatively safe place to ride at night (after sunset) since there are street lights and there is no thru-traffic. There is a long downhill that we probably go well over the speed limit too. I wonder if they leave us alone because we're a much smaller group (this is our winter ride - we move out to the roads when we get enough daylight after work in the spring) or because we're women, or because in general, we obey the laws - slow significantly at intersections, have front and rear blinkies, etc.

I had a friend injured in the incident last week too. It sounds like the police stepped out expecting the group to be able to stop, but just as he shouldn't expect a car to be able to stop on a dime, the pelaton didn't have time to react. Yes, pedestrians have the right of way, but would you just step out in front of a car riding at the speed limit with no warning?

[SadieKate]

Sounds like you have a policeman who is unable to judge speeds or knows the simple laws of physics. That's a bit scary in a policeman.

Culpability on both sides.

And perhaps that group needs to work with the park officials. By the second physical block, it sure sounds like the group is consistently snubbing law enforcement.

[Cataboo]

Would it be all that much safer if a police officer drove his car behind a peleton with his siren blaring & lights flashing and followed them till they stopped?

I know loud sounds can momentarily freak me out when I'm riding and if I was going 30 mph down a hill, I'd like to say I'd recover before I crashed... but I'm not riding in peletons or a tight formation... Just tottering around at my speed, if I look away for a second or so I can sometimes hit a pothole or grate in the road.

[Zen]

Would it be all that much safer if a police officer drove his car behind a peleton with his siren blaring & lights flashing and followed them till they stopped?

I think that would be much safer.
The flashing light part, anyway. the siren would be a bit startling.
But at least you can't run in to something that's behind you.

[Irulan]

Are we talking Stone Mountain State Park or Stone Mountain THEME park?

[PscyclePath]

Three years ago, a local bike club here in North Little Rock (which rides in full race mode most of the time) used to do much the same thing on the grounds of a VA hospital located at the top of a nice switchback climb. The result: All bikes were banned from the grounds.

It took a great deal of negotiation to get that ban lifted. And to this day, about half an hour before these jokers take off for their Tuesday & Thursday "training rides," the hospital closes the gate at the vehicle entrance and bikes have to go single file through a pedestrian access gate.

Cyclists who respect other road users and obey traffic law are good ambassadors for bicyclists every where. The other guys... well, they're often the reason you can't ride your bike in certain places anymore.

Tom

[SadieKate]

Are we talking Stone Mountain State Park or Stone Mountain THEME park?

I have not been there but from what I've read in books and on the internet, it is a state park co-managed with a private corporation.

Here is the state authority's web site.

http://www.stonemountainpark.org/

Stone Mountain Memorial Association (SMMA), a State authority that is self-supporting and receives no tax dollars, is responsible for Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park. Since 1998, SMMA has managed the park through a long-term public/ private partnership with Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (HFEC), a private corporation that manages all commercial operations in the Park –lodging, retail, special events and attractions. SMMA supervises the lease with HFEC, maintains all public areas (the Natural District which makes up two-thirds of the Park, roadways, utilities, etc.), provides public safety, and supports historical and environmental education services within the Park.

SMMA's mission is to preserve, protect and enhance this wonderful 3,200 acre natural resource for the people of Georgia and visitors from around the world.