[*BCM*] Central Square Crackdown

[Robert Arnold]

On the eve of June's Critical Mass, the Cambridge Police have begun a
major crackdown in Central Square, issuing tickets en masse for minor
infractions. But only for cyclists. If you care, please read the
letter below which I intend to read at my appeal hearing and offer any
suggestions. And maybe we can stop outside the courthouse tomorrow and
take up a chant.

rob

***
If the City of Cambridge finds it necessary to unfairly target
cyclists such as myself who did, in fact, stop at a traffic light—and
only proceeded through the intersection because it was more dangerous
to remain where I was stopped than continue through—I imagine it's
their right. However, I wish to appeal the unfair circumstances of my
citation, and moreover, to protest the type of ridiculous crackdown
the Cambridge Police Department deems fit to impose. Perhaps, as this
crackdown suggests, cyclists are a hazard to the lives of the several
thousand motorists rocketing through Central Square on an hourly
basis. I'm sure the statistics will indicate that many motorists are
killed annually by wayward cyclists, thus necessitating such strict
police intervention. I wish that were the city we live in. The truth,
however, as anyone who reads the newspaper knows, is quite different.

Even more than the spurious circumstances of my own citation, I'm
protesting the willing disregard for dangerous and potentially deadly
traffic violations that were occurring all around me even as the young
officer was issuing my citation. 1) Not five yards away from that
intersection, a car sat parked in the bike lane, forcing cyclists
(myself included) to make a sudden dodge directly into moving traffic,
ironically endangering themselves further to avoid being seriously
injured or killed by the parked car; 2) Directly in front of me, a
garbage truck pulled into the bike lane despite a heavy and highly
visible police presence; 3) All throughout the Square, pedestrians
were crossing mid-block and outside of marked crosswalks, forcing more
cyclists to dodge between cars to avoid injury to themselves and to
the individuals on foot. None of these flagrant and illegal actions
were subject to the same discriminatory crackdown. None of these
incidents, which I pointed out to the arresting officer, were
investigated or similarly cited. Indeed, the officer specifically
justified the garbage truck's right to be in the bike lane, never mind
our proximity to the site where, in July of 2002, Dana Laird was
killed as she swerved to avoid a similarly obstructed bicycle lane.
Nothing has been done to improve the safety of bicycle lanes through
Central Square, and yet it is the cyclists who are being targeted
above all others. The liability implications are staggering.

That kind of hazy law enforcement, I hope you'll see, is ill-advised,
ill-mannered, and potentially illegal. What the City of Cambridge
fails to understand is that these behaviors mentioned above—behaviors
that the officers find it fit to justify or ignore—sometimes
necessitate the type of cycling practices the Cambridge Police are in
fact targeting. In my case, I stopped late for the light because I had
just swerved out of the way of the aforementioned parked vehicle in
the bike lane. This action forced me to begin braking for the light at
a later point than I would normally and, when I did stop, I had
already partially entered the intersection. Rather than make myself
vulnerable to crossing traffic, I waited until it was clear and safe,
and proceeded through the intersection at a slow, measured pace,
something pedestrians were doing directly in front of these officers
without reprimand. Not only did these officers stop me without cause,
they failed to defend my rights as a citizen to keep myself safe in a
hazardous and unpredictable traffic situation, a situation implicitly
sanctioned by the police because of their failure to keep the bike
lane clear and their failure, above all, to care for the lives and
physical well-being of upstanding citizens like myself who are guilty
simply of choosing to ride a bicycle.