Quote Originally Posted by chicagogal View Post

Now it is time to see the police starting to crack down on this behavior.
I think that in places (like Chicago, DC, NY, etc.) the cops have much more training in bike safety, etc. I am trained in bike enforcement (oddly) because I am a bike cop (good luck trying to stop a vehicle that doesn't want to stop when you are on a bike). But the rest of the non-cycling officers do tend to look on cyclists as guys out getting some exercise...not as vehicles with rights. And, because we tend NOT to enforce traffic laws with cyclists much (stop is still stop here, not yield), we have a tendency to ignore them across the board. AND, to make matters worse, the cyclists do not make it easy to want to help them (riding two abreast in traffic, riding in the middle of the lane when it IS practicable to ride more right, running signs and lights, generally being inconsiderate). It is hard to stop a cyclist as well, without potentially hurting him by startling him. I DO stop them and give them a firm talking to (and if they get lippy with me the "hey I am on your side" lecture, if that doesn't stop them I write em).
I ride my road bike on these streets, I see it both ways. We need to train our officers to enforce traffic rules on both sides of the fence in order to foster mutual respect and courtesy.
Is that too much to ask??