New bike advocacy group: Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition
Mon, 02/22/2010 - 11:49am | by amrosell
From the website of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition.
From the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition's website:
Our goal is to make Minneapolis better for bicycling. We are 100% volunteer driven, and we are always looking for new volunteers.
In 2010, we are focusing on four areas of advocacy:
- Improve the Minneapolis Bike Plan
- Advocate for better downtown biking
- Increase bike parking in Uptown and Longfellow
- Bring a Ciclovia to Minneapolis in 2010
Get involved! If you're interested in any of these topics or other ways to make Minneapolis better for bicycling, email us at info@mplsbike.org
Link to additional information:
Comments
parking citation
I just got a ticket in Mpls (the most bicycle friendly city in the nation) for having a bicycle rack on my car! The violation was 'back plate blocked by rack'. The rack was a Thule hitch mount, there was no bike on it, & the license plate was plainly visible from either side. I have started the process of fighting this $108.00 ticket with Mpls 311, but does anyone have any other avenues that I might pursue? This is the most asinine waste of time I have ever seen. Can you believe the person issuing was too stupid to know which street they were even on! They put down the right address but the wrong street. I would appreciate any input on this matter.
Thanks
MPD has no training on bike laws
After I was told by an MPD officer that bicyclists need to make a left turn from the sidewalk (the sidewalk he directed me to was in a business district!), I inquired whether MPD officers were trained in bicycle laws. I was told that they are not. Being that most of them live in the suburbs and drive to their jobs in Minneapolis, it seems likely that most of them are ignorant of state law as it applies to bicycles.
bicylists have no training on bike laws either
I'm unwiling to fault the officer in the story from Alex B because most bicyclists I encounter are ignorant of state laws regarding lane usage, traffic signals, right of way, or appropriate vehicle lights... or they've simply decided that the laws don't apply to them. I have no problem sharing the streets, but I'd be more comfortable with it if bicyclists had to go through licensing processes like other drivers do. Vehicle operators who don't follow rules of traffic make the roads more dangerous for us all.
"most" bicyclists are ignorant?
Do you want to cite some kind of research to support your statement that most bicyclists are ignorant of traffic laws? I think that many people would agree that "some" bicyclists don't know the law, but I disagree that the majority of bicyclists are ignorant of the laws. Considering that cycling is very safe (safer than walking, according to this study: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10409&page=5), it seems to me that it would be a waste of state money to require licensing and training for cyclists. Furthermore, it would discourage cycling by increasing the associated costs, and impact low-income households who use cycling to save on transportation costs.
Finally, Jennifer - why are you defending an officer who is directing someone to act illegally? Would you defend a police officer who directed someone to rob a bank? That officer was abusing his authority, and the MPD facilitates that behavior by failing to properly train their officers.