This morning I was reading the Facebook page for one of our local racing forums about how one of the longer running training rides was targeted by the police department of one of the cities through which the ride passes. Specifically, it said that the police were citing riders who failed to come to a complete stop at marked intersections. This is nothing new, it has been going on for decades (the ride, and the police response). Anyway, one of the comments was that, as cyclists, we expect drivers to follow the rules of the road, so we must follow them as well. This got me thinking that for me, at least, the statement is blatantly untrue. Indeed, I have not expected drivers to follow the rules of the road for years now. If I happen to be driving to work, or wherever, and making a conscious effort to keep my speed at the limit (really not as difficult as some people say), 95% (fairly accurate, completely unscientific guess) of the other cars traveling in the same direction will be passing me, thus exceeding the speed limit, thus breaking a rule of the road. If I pull up to an intersection, how many cars will be encroaching upon or completely blocking the crosswalk? A lower percentage than above, but still a goodly number will be breaking a rule of the road. Same applies to those drivers who roll through stops, talk or text on their mobile devices, throw trash out the window, etc. In fact it is so commonplace for drivers to break rules of the road that I will honestly find myself surprised when I encounter someone who is following the rules of the road. I suspect that one of the reasons I am healthy today is due to (at least in part) the fact that I accept that drivers do not follow the rules of the road, and drive, or ride, accordingly (that means defensively at times, offensively at others).
Then I started thinking further about this - why are cyclists getting tickets when an infinite number of drivers continue on their way unmolested after breaking many of the very same rules. The answer was right there - sheer numbers. At some point in the past, law enforcement realized that they could not begin to deal with the mass of drivers who were breaking the law, and thus began to focus their attentions on the extreme cases, the blatant speeders, reckless drivers, etc. It is an unsatisfying conclusion, but I wonder, if cycling were to ever reach the same point, would sheer numbers force law enforcement to respond differently?
Yes, your conclusion is correct, sheer numbers will eventually fix this problem, for now just ride as you would, assume Idaho stop law is already in effect in CA and in general ride way you feel is safe. If you then get a ticket for whatever political reason for the crime of being a minority(cyclist), just brush it off and consider it a better world tax. Until we get "critical mass" there is nothing more we can do, so encourage people to ride, downplay the negatives, tout the positives, and one day, SoCal will see the light.
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