Posted on 08/09/2009 9:21:20 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
OGDEN -- Was it a friendly group bicycle ride through downtown Ogden or a confrontational melee that included obstructing traffic, assault, obscenities and alcohol?
Depends on who you talk to.
Numbers vary from 35 to 70, but a large group of cyclists, referred to as Critical Mass, was taking a monthly ride to celebrate cycling and assert their rights to the road on Friday when Ogden police say things got out of hand. Four individuals were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and public intoxication.
Matt Hasenyager, owner of Skyline Cycle and one of the bicyclists, said the group was obeying traffic laws and having fun.
However, police reports indicate some were hostile, disrupted traffic flow, yelled obscenities and made gestures at motorists while intoxicated.
The trouble started at the intersection of 23rd Street and Grant Avenue when a woman motorist stopped at a red light and was suddenly surrounded by bicyclists. When the light turned green, she was unable to pull forward and honked her horn.
Cyclists responded by yelling obscenities and someone threw a cup of soda pop and hit the woman in the face, the police report said. When she pulled forward, her vehicle bumped one of the bicycles, causing minor damage to the fender and wheel. Then she called police.
"They demanded she be arrested for aggravated assault, but it wasn't intentional," said Ogden Lt. Mike Ashment. "The woman didn't want to pursue anything."
The group continued its ride to 24th Street and Lincoln Avenue, where two individuals halted traffic, entered the intersection and began escorting the other riders through even though the light was red, according to the police report. Angry motorists were forced to maneuver around the pair and more gestures were made and obscenities yelled, Ashment said.
The scene was observed by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper and Weber County deputy who were assisting the Ogden City gang unit for the weekend. They arrived and instructed the two cyclists to leave the intersection and talk with them. One complied, but the other pedaled away after the group.
Deputy Trevor Petersen pursued the individual, eventually tackling him off his bike. Petersen's actions surprised the group, which then surrounded him. He ordered them to move away and called for backup, the report said. Eventually more than six officers arrived to help disperse the irate crowd.
Four individuals were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and public intoxication. They are Samuel Mc-Kay, 26; Sara Fulks, 33; Donald Hall, 61; and KC Shirra, 19. A 12-pack of beer was located in Fulks' backpack.
It was a bizarre scene, trooper Chris Turley said.
"I have never encountered something like this. Usually people are very law abiding, but the crowd was very hostile. Many were intoxicated and smelled of alcohol," Turley said. "It was unusual behavior."
Hasenyager was riding with the group and recalls the scene as one of chaos and confusion. He said his friend that was tackled didn't know the deputy wanted him to stop.
"It was hard to know who he (the deputy) was talking to when he said 'Stop sir, stop.' There 30 of us," Hasenyager said. "I don't think the police department as a whole was out of line, but this individual (the deputy) could have handled it in a different fashion. If it had been handled differently, without physical force, I wouldn't be talking about it right now. Maybe tickets could have been written."
According to several Web sites, Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in hundreds of cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists. Participants have insisted that these events should be viewed as "celebrations" and spontaneous gatherings, and not as protests or organized demonstrations.
Ashment and Lt. Scott Conley both find it odd that the group is out promoting fun and bicycle awareness, yet failing to comply with traffic rules and other laws.
"It doesn't jive," Ashment said.
"Why are they so confrontational with public? Why do they have alcohol in their backpacks? From what I am being told, they were they individuals escalating the situation," Conley said.
Hasenyager didn't see the incident at 23rd and Grant, but said has heard several different versions of what happened. He said it was heartbreaking to see this all happen, but the bottom line, he said, is that Ogden is an outdoor hot spot.
"The best we can do now is move this in a positive direction, learn a valuable lesson and move forward, and be better because of it."
Are you delusional?
You're talking about people towing boats and driving huge RV's, right?
LOL! :-)
Don’t cyclists in Oregon have to obey traffic laws? Why weren’t there people cited for running a red light?
I’m talking about people playing with bicycles in the traffic lane and refusing to move over to let traffic pass.
I don’t run into too many people pulling boats or driving RVs at -10 mph in a 45 mph zone. Nor do I see many of them riding in the middle of the traffic lane at dusk with no rear lights like bicycles around here do.
We have beautiful bike paths in our parks for people who want to play with their bikes. My neighbor puts his bike in his truck and goes there to play on his bike almost every day after work. He isn’t obstructing traffic and I don’t know anyone he bothers when out with his toy.
Take 10% of the drivers that now drive 15 miles or less to work on main highways and freeways. Put them on bikes that naturally gravitate to low traffic residential roads, and roads with wide shoulders. Does traffic on the freeway and major highways improve or get worse for motorists? When I commute to work I impede no traffic in any way. I'm on carefully selected roads where my interaction with motorists is negligible. I leave the often congested freeway I usually drive on free to other people. You may occasionally find yourself behind me in a left turn lane, and it may take you 1.5 more seconds to get through that intersection than if I was in a car. Other than that, I impede you in no way whatsoever. If I was in front of you on the freeway in my car however...
Drivers wouldn't be slowed down to 10mph because a biker is taking too much room and with on coming traffic you can't go around the obstacle.
I don't know where you live, but I encounter this situation in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs maybe once every two years, usually on country roads with no shoulder on a Sunday afternoon. Nearly every urban road with a curb is easily capable of providing enough space for motorists to whiz past cyclists unimpeded.
Traffic patterns at intersections would be better because you wouldn't have bikers running lights, or stop signs.
Even assuming your life is filled with cyclists running lights left and right, how exactly does that impede traffic? Illegal, very foolish on the cyclists part, and annoying, but if there's no accident, how is traffic impeded?
Every year there are 5-6 bikers killed in Chicago.
That number seems kind of low for a city that size. I bet that's less than the number of pedestrians killed. Should they be banned?
It's not a good activity in a large urban environment. Bikers should go back to the suburbs.
Actually urban and suburban streets are perfectly designed for cyclists and motorists to peacefully coexist. There's plenty of room along the side of the road. It's single lane highways without a paved shoulder that are a problem. Most cyclists avoid those types of roads. Apart from the antics of the "Critical Mass" idiots, and the occasional red light runner and lane hogger, I think most of the objecting to cyclists existing is simply curmudgeonism. Curmudgeons hold an honored place in my mind, but they get silly about bikes sometimes.
Feel free to call the police on them. If they are riding when automobiles have to have their lights on, the bicycle is required to have a front and rear light. If they are riding on the road they are required to be as far to the right as possible unless they have to avoid some obstacle in the road. They are breaking the law, report them.
seriously...I can’t recall the last time a cyclist slowed me down on a 35-45mph urban street... I get around them just fine... perhaps you need more taxes to widen the roads, LOL!
If there is a bicyclist riding at night with NO lights and you hit them cause you can’t see them... that’s their idiocy.
I find that my bike is really pretty useful for coping with at least one type of government heavy-handedness: It is great for getting around the huge outbreaks of orange traffic cones and barrels that have practically shut down large parts of Lubbock during the last few years. Both of the major thoroughfares near my home are down to one lane, one for the eternally under-construction Marsha Sharp Porkway, the other for one or the other of the city’s own mass of street projects. To add insult to injury, the major cross street that intersects these is now cone-blocked as well.
Normally, it is very dangerous to ride on main Lubbock streets, since Lubbock drivers are some of the craziest and most heedless to be found anywhere. These days, however, with motor traffic forced to slow down to bike speed or stop altogether, it is easy to just zip right by them in the bike lanes or along the curb. The city and Texas Department of Transportation have not yet started to extend the cone/barrel plague onto the curbs and sidewalks but they’re probably working on it.
I find bike paths more dangerous than roads, and given the choice will choose a well designed road over a bike path any time. Cars are predictable and stay in their lane. Cyclists on a trail are not, and do not. Trails attract casual cyclists, roller bladers, and pedestrians, that all act unpredictably. You don't have to worry on the road that an oncoming car will drift to your side of the road for no apparent reason. On a bike path, lane drifting is the norm. It's true that a collision with a fellow cyclist is likely to be far less serious than a collision with a car. But it is also far more likely. A busy cycle path on a nice day, with all kinds of riders going all different speeds and directions, is a hazard.
The last time I called the cops they told me bicycles are only required to have a front light and rear reflector and they have the right to ride in the traffic lanes just like a car or motorcycle.
I have no problem with the ones who ride way to the right and make room for traffic during full day light. At dusk it’s hard to see walkers, dogs, etc. Bicycles any where on the street, but especially in the traffic lane should be lit up at least as well as a motorcycle or not be out there.
Sailboats and Sea-doos are toys, and they cost a lot too.
Photo-shop or real? If real, where? When?
We have people who play with their bikes on a 6 lane divided road, they cross into the far left to turn left across 3 lanes of traffic and ride two or three to a lane.
I find it hard to believe a bake path is more dangerous than that.
Sounds pretty smart to me!
Yep, I'm with you HIDEK6, the person paying the millions may be stupid but the one getting paid is pretty smart in my opinion!
Turn a fire hose on’em!
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