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New Los Angeles law bans harassing bicyclists

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TERMINATOR

TERMINATOR

Oct 8, 2010
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krebs303 said:
http://news.yahoo.com/los-angeles-law-bans-harassing-bicyclists-143559936.html
A new Los Angeles law makes it a crime for motorists to harass bicyclists, verbally or physically.

The City Council approved the ordinance on Wednesday. It also allows victims of harassment to file civil lawsuits without waiting for the city to press criminal charges.
Click to expand...

What a joke. Never heard of physical harassment (surely, you don't think assaulting a cyclist was legal prior to this new law being implemented, do you?).

Second, harassment is already a crime. Not sure why it was legally necessary to codify that it still applies to cyclists. Question: Are rollerbladers, joggers, walkers, and skateboarders protected by the current harassment laws, or do they need special harassment laws too?

Instead of celebrating this law, you should view it as the political tool job it is. It was probably passed because some idiot on the town council got a BJ from some cyclist on his group ride.

And good luck suing for damages when somebody "verbally harasses" you on your bike. I'm sure the jury or judge will award you millions for all your pain and suffering just because somebody yelled "idiot" out their car window in a fleeting moment of time.
 
krebs303

krebs303

Mar 16, 2009
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Where did you garner from my post that I was celebrating anything. But you are correct it wasn't a bj but the Mayor of Los Angeles getting hit by a car on his bike and breaking his arm.
Don't a$$/u/me
 
Maxiton

Maxiton

May 14, 2010
5,303
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krebs303 said:
http://news.yahoo.com/los-angeles-law-bans-harassing-bicyclists-143559936.html
A new Los Angeles law makes it a crime for motorists to harass bicyclists, verbally or physically.

The City Council approved the ordinance on Wednesday. It also allows victims of harassment to file civil lawsuits without waiting for the city to press criminal charges.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, Krebs. That's great news.

I've been living and riding in the city for a few months now, and while the vast majority of motorists are really thoughtful, a few morons do go out of their way to, as the article you linked says, "shout insults and try to run <cyclists> off the road."

I'm glad the mayor is a cycling enthusiast. LA is an anachronism - a city built for cars - I mean far more than any other city. Apparently, previous generations thought building a city that way was brilliant. Today, it's like living inside a giant fastfood drive-through. No one likes that aspect of LA. At least, I haven't met anyone who does. The recent "carmageddon" (where a major highway was shut down for repairs for the weekend) was actually pleasant. I've heard a number of people suggest we do it every weekend. And they weren't kidding.

Drivers need to be reminded that the road isn't only for cars, and that unbridled hostility, if directed at cyclists, has consequences. This city ordinance is that reminder and, speaking as a cyclist, it's a welcome thing. I'm not sure why any cyclist, or anyone who peruses this board, would be hostile to it, but in the end it doesn't matter. Protections for cyclists in my city just got stronger. Thank you, Los Angeles!
 
MarkvW

MarkvW

Aug 10, 2010
6,285
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17,485
TERMINATOR said:
What a joke. Never heard of physical harassment (surely, you don't think assaulting a cyclist was legal prior to this new law being implemented, do you?).

Second, harassment is already a crime. Not sure why it was legally necessary to codify that it still applies to cyclists. Question: Are rollerbladers, joggers, walkers, and skateboarders protected by the current harassment laws, or do they need special harassment laws too?

Instead of celebrating this law, you should view it as the political tool job it is. It was probably passed because some idiot on the town council got a BJ from some cyclist on his group ride.

And good luck suing for damages when somebody "verbally harasses" you on your bike. I'm sure the jury or judge will award you millions for all your pain and suffering just because somebody yelled "idiot" out their car window in a fleeting moment of time.
Click to expand...

You really should read the ordinance before you bad mouth it so extensively. The ordinance provides for TREBLE damages and ATTORNEY FEES. Do you understand what that means??

Not bass damages . . . treble damages! They're higher! They go to eleven!!!
 
craig1985

craig1985

May 6, 2009
8,522
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The attitude in Australia is that if cyclists don't pay road tax an then they shouldn't be on the road, something similar in the States?
 
F

fatandfast

Jul 14, 2009
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craig1985 said:
The attitude in Australia is that if cyclists don't pay road tax an then they shouldn't be on the road, something similar in the States?
Click to expand...
Very similar. LA is a very unique US city. A car is needed to live for most people. Most people in the US stop riding bicycles after middle school and the entire idea of using a bicycle is in the fringe of society. Few people use them for getting groceries, or work or drop the kids at school. Cars are the primary devices for most activities. Drivers look at bikes like they don't belong on the road and that they are toys. People say things like "grow up" all the time about the use of bicycles those same attitudes are behind the wheel of 75% of all cars
 
StyrbjornSterki

StyrbjornSterki

Jul 18, 2010
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Sounds like more fallout from the case of the Brentwood, Calif. doctor they sent to prison for cutting off some road cyclists and slamming on his brakes. But in most of the US, I think cyclists are considered a nuisance and don't even receive equal protection under the law.

I have a lady friend who lives in the US and is a competitive cyclist. About 10 years ago, her state passed a law requiring cyclists aged 14 and under to always wear helmets. As you can imagine, it still was a rare sight to see a child there wearing a helmet. A few years later, she wrote to the state's department of safety under their "freedom of information act" and demanded to know how many citations had been issued as a result of this law. If there had been even a single citation, the state office was unaware of it.

Then about five years ago, as a result of two cyclists -- in separate incidents -- being run over and killed by motorists, they passed a law requiring motorists to leave a minimum of three feet distance when overtaking bicyclists. The very next year, another road cyclist in her state was hit and killed by a lorry driver and the driver didn't receive any citations at all, not even the one requiring he keep three feet distance. We ride together when I go visit her and I've noted that, not only do they not enforce the law, the police cars are always among the most consistent violators of it.
 
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