A Madison effort aimed at increasing bicycle safety has surprised students in recent months, as police have begun writing tickets for long-ignored traffic violations.
Stephanie Wilson, lieutenant with the traffic and support section of the Madison Police Department, insisted police have been writing bicycle citations for the past three years. However, officer Jon Deering said citations have increased in 2006.
In September alone, police ticketed 152 people for bicycle violations, Deering said. Each person was required to pay a $155 ticket or attend a three-hour seminar on bicycle safety. According to Pedestrian-bicycle Safety Coordinator Arthur Ross, seminars may not be offered for those ticketed after Oct. 20.
Wilson said ticketing fluctuates from year to year, depending on grant funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She said the NHTSA allocates grant money to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which in turn funds MPD bicycle enforcement efforts.
Ivan Mairesse, who received a citation last month for running a stop sign, said the program only succeeds in making bikers more ""neurotic and paranoid.""
""Obviously we're not dangerous or careless,"" Mairesse said. ""We just happened to be out that day.""
Mairesse added that the seminar he attended to avoid paying his ticket did little to promote obedience of basic traffic laws.
""A lot of people felt like the seminar was a waste of their time,"" he said, noting that most of those in attendance were experienced cyclists. ""More than anything else, it frustrated these bikers who seemed as confident as the instructor.""
City statistics indicate the majority of bicycle accidents are not due to bicyclists breaking the law. There were 95 bicycle crashes in 2003, with 13 percent caused by bicyclists failing to yield at intersections. Bicyclists disregarding traffic signs accounted for only four percent of crashes.
Wilson said the enforcement program has shown inconsistent results because grants only fund enforcement during the summer and the first month of school.
""It has a short-term affect,"" Wilson said. ""People get a fear of getting a ticket, but we probably need to do enforcement on a more consistent basis.""
Deering said police are already planning follow up bicycle enforcement.
""My sergeant who gave us the go ahead to do a little bit more here in the next couple of weeks,"" Deering said. ""I guess you might even call it a little bit of a cooling off period for a couple of weeks and then we're going to go ahead and do a little bit more enforcement.""
