Bicycle Austin forum

McChris

Member

From: Blackland

Registered: 2008-10-31

Posts: 36

Website

APD Criteria for Stop

I'm sure this has been hashed out here before, but a commenter on Reddit says APD has been ticketing cyclists for running stop signs at 30th and Speedway.

I just saw a couple of officers handing out tickets at the corner of 30th and Speedway to bikers who roll through the intersection. They're being pretty strict about it too; make sure you plant both feet so they can see you're totally stopped.

Good day!

Does anyone know what standard APD applies for ticketing cyclists? I've been reading Reddit quite a bit over the past few months, and it, um, offers a lot of opportunities for cyclist education, particularly in the UTAustin and CyclingATX subreddits.

rich00

Member

Registered: 2010-01-18

Posts: 166

Re: APD Criteria for Stop

We had APD officers at the BAC meeting a few months ago and they said nothing about requiring a cyclist to put a foot down.

I'm certain the stop sign at 30th/Speedway is the most disregarded one in Austin. I watched a girl blow it last week and almost get nailed by a car. I told her how she almost got hit and how it makes us (bikers) look bad.

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: APD Criteria for Stop

There's certainly nothing in the *law* that says cyclists have to put their feet down.

I'm just waiting for some overzealous cop to pull me over on my *trike* and scream that I didn't put my foot down.  At that point, while still stopped, I could put my feet up on the handlebars and say, "So you say I didn't stop because I didn't put my foot down?  Huh."

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 631

Re: APD Criteria for Stop

There's certainly nothing in the *law* that says cyclists have to put their feet down.

And really, in general the cops don't seem to be claiming that the law says such a thing.  If you stop, they don't hassle you about stopping, wherever your feet are.

The reality is -- they usually don't even ticket people who slow way down but don't come to a complete stop, car or bicycle.  If you slow to 2 mph, the cop is unlikely to give you a ticket even if he's watching you the entire time.  It can happen, but it's unlikely.

And I'm perfectly capable of putting my foot down and yet not stopping.

Though if they've singled out a particular intersection for zero tolerance enforcement (stupid, but maybe they did it) -- who knows what their criteria would be.  A track stand certainly counts as a stop (the moment you go from forward to backwards, you're stopped) but if he doesn't think you actually stopped, he might give you a ticket if he's looking to be a jerk about it.