SUV driver assaults cyclist, but cyclist ticketed (a blast from the past)

What is it with southern California and assaulting bicyclists lately? Obviously they've got a whole system in place there to keep people from cycling - even though cyclists help pay for roads with their tax dollars and the law gives cyclists the same rights to most roads that cars have. If the city areas are bad with upholding the system, think what it's like in a rich suburb like Beverly Hills.

Back in August, a bicyclist riding to work through Beverly Hills learned the hard way about how suburban motorists often act and how suburban police departments do the bidding of these privileged constituents. The cyclist stopped at an intersection to make a left turn, when a hulking Ford Explorer roared up from behind, almost knocking the cyclist into oncoming traffic. The SUV driver then accelerated and honked at the bike. She then stopped the SUV and began screaming at the cyclist that she was calling the police. Then, like a big crybaby, she sat there in her SUV and held the horn down for several minutes before dangerously careening back onto the road in reverse.

When the cop arrived, he angrily screamed at the cyclist, "How stupid are you?! What are you doing riding in the middle of the street with your bike blocking the road?!" The answer is that bikes are supposed to use the road - not the sidewalk. That's the law. After talking to the deranged SUV driver, the policeman returned to the cyclist and thundered, "You idiot! You're lucky I wasn't here to see it because if I had seen even a tiny bit of what happened I would have arrested you on the spot!"

The cyclist calmly responded, "Why? This woman tried to hit me with her car and nearly killed me. Why are you taking her side before you even talk to me?"

Cop: "Oh, so you're saying she's lying?"

Cyclist: "I can't say either way because I don't know what she told you."

Cop: "I can't believe how stupid you are! You shouldn't be riding your bike like that and if I had seen you in the road in front of her car I would arrest you for illegally detaining her!"

Cyclist: "Why are you talking to me like this? I'm a safe cyclist and I obey all the laws when I'm riding my bike. She is the one who broke the law by swerving into my lane nearly killing me and then honking at me even though I was legally riding on the street. I'm not a criminal."

Then the cop began laughing and said, "Oh, now you're gonna cry?!" The cyclist was then ticketed for allegedly blocking traffic by riding the bike and for allegedly being a pedestrian in the roadway. So which is it? Was the cyclist riding a bike or walking? You can't have it both ways. And why wasn't the SUV driver ticketed for illegally using her horn by holding it down for minutes on end? California law is very clear that you're not allowed using a horn in that manner. (Ooh, an Allowed Cloud!)

The entire incident is part of a right-wing pattern of harassment against bicyclists and even pedestrians that's gone on for years. This pattern is the rule in Beverly Hills - which also happens to have the highest rate of pedestrian deaths of any city in California of that size. Suburban America may be safe for the average millionaire or someone with an 8,000-pound vehicle, but not for any other living organism - especially when police punish the victim instead of enforce the laws that were broken by the motorist.

In today's America, status brings privilege. No statute controls the leisure class.

(Source: http://laist.com/2007/09/04/beverly_hills_c.php)