Bike Advocacy meeting with Richard Duquette, Esq. Saturday@Noon, Carlsbad

[Judy Frankel]

I am meeting with Richard Duquette, (Lawyer) bike law specialist to discuss some of these issues.  We are meeting this Saturday at It's a Grind at noon and Coast Highway in Carlsbad near McGee Park. If you are interested in bike advocacy and would like to join in he's buying.

I have been really upset that we haven't been moving further along with establishing clear rights for cyclists.  I believe there is huge discrimination against cyclists by police and judges.. I sat through the Shawn Harrison trial years ago as well and it was very unfulfilling.  We are fare game to kill without consequence.

The laws need to be clarified that we have rights to the road like any other vehicle.

Another friend of mine was just ticketed on Coast Highway South in Leukadia for not riding far enough to the right.   Given that there is a door zone to contend with, it's probably an improper citation, however, police do this all the time and traffic court judges many times also express this prejudice, and why not? They've got a law that they can use any time they want to "stick it to you" for being a bicyclist. It's really very sad that we live under this type of Jim Crow harassment.


Jim Swarzman trial, 3 foot passing law, & ticketing for taking the Lane are current issues that might get people more interested in actually trying to do something rather than to continue to ride in the back of the bus!

[karlos]

Great idea. I find it hard to believe that this issue hasn't been addressed in some fashion by SDCBC, but if it hasn't, it would certainly be good to get them there. Did you email Pete Penseyres? He's one of the top LAB instructors in San Diego and the source of how many NCCC riders have learned about CVC 21202 and how to properly take the lane when it is the only safe alternative.

[Judy Frankel]

I just spoke to the new director of sdcbc.  He is not very up on the issues but is ready to work on it.

Since dealing with the Sean Harrison trial I don't think any progress has been made.  It's time for the community to work on it.

Pete is on my facebook page, not sure how much he follows it.  He was also at the Sean Harrison trial. He teaches great courses.. But, WE need to get on advocating for ourselves.  Many voices make a loud noise.  Change is not going to be made quickly by hoping everyone will learn to ride a bike.

Judy

[Letitia]

Judy, I just saw your notice this morning (Jul 18) so didn't have a chance to attend your meeting.  Can you tell give a quick synopsis of the meeting?  I agree with you that we as cyclists really need to start advocating loudly.  I'm not talking about attend bicycle friendly community meetings or planning more and better bike paths, which is a good thing, but some of us need to start tackeling the legislative side of things.  We need better laws and more bicycle awareness for motorists.  How to safely pass a cyclist needs to be in the driver's instruction manual, on the written test and on the road test.  All of our law enforcement officers need to be better educated and obviously the judges and prosecutors as well.  There are a lot of cyclists in the state of CA, we should be a force to be reckoned with, unfortunately too many of the cyclist "just want to ride".

[Judy Frankel]

Letitia,

We had a great brain-storming meeting.  Many possibilities came up.  I planned on posting the notes from the meeting and will try to get them together soon.  We will definitely need more community support to get things done.  Right now we are looking for Encinitas resident cyclists who may have some connections to Encinitas government and traffic and transportation.  Even just citizens of Encinitas will be helpful.

Judy

[andybar]

I always pay my tax. I'm sure my money help in building roads and highways and pay the government officials for their monthly salary. Why??