Pogan'd cyclist files suit

And the actions of Patrick Pogan come back to haunt New York City, as previously reported.

Christopher Long, the Critical Mass cyclist tackled and arrested by Pogan last year, has filed suit against the city for $1.5 million. Charges against Long were dropped after video of the arrest was posted to YouTube (below) and Pogan lost his job with the NYPD.

Pogan's next up at bat to face charges stemming from falsifying his report after arresting Long is September 17.

I say awesome. If not for the anonymous tourist catching the event on video and uploading it, Long would most likely still be spending thousands of dollars fighting a case against him that he couldn't win because of Pogan lying in his report.



See also coverage at Photography is not a Crime.

Redirect from here...

... to deaf thuggery over at how the camera beat the hearing aid for some local art show action.

More intexticated thoughts

How We Drive has more thoughts on the Car & Driver texting test from earlier this week.

Not Sharrowing the love

Eco-Friendly Bicycling Photographer gets some sharrows in his town, and even in California someone has to be cranky about it:

A veritable conflagration of news

Almost up there with the explosions in a certain bad movie.

On a Friday where I was almost right-hooked at Stellhorn and Maplecrest on the way home from work (put the cellphone down, jerk, I saw you thumb-typing):

Road test shows texting slows reaction times

Is the C-Net summation of a test by Car & Driver showing that indeed, people texting with their cell phones and driving have far worse reaction times than someone who is legally drunk. Sadly, while DWI has the MADD campaign to thank for entering the realm of over-reaction*, driving while distracted has no such powerful organization. The closest we have is the Matt's Law Coalition working to get distracted driving legislation through the Illinois General Assembly.

Whether they can gain more influence in their state than the telecommunications industry, however, remains to be seen.

Brief recap of the Matt's Law background: In September 2006, 23-year-old cyclist Matt Wilhelm was killed by 19-year-old Jennifer Stark. She was downloading ringtones to her cellphone while driving. She completely left the road and struck Wilhelm with the driver's side of the car.

Under Illinois law Stark could only be given a ticket for "Improper Lane Usage." She was given the maximum sentence: Six months non-reporting probation, traffic school, and a $1,000 fine. There was no enhancement available for her two speeding tickets and failure to stop infraction of the preceding 17 months.

Sentences across the country still vary greatly.

Here in Indiana, when Indiana State Police Lt. Gary Dudley and retired Lake County Sheriff's Department Chief Gary Martin were killed while on a memorial ride for fallen officers in 2006, no charges were even filed against the driver that caused the "accident." In Indiana, there are no appropriate charges to file below reckless homicide.

Follow this with the Friday news of a former Santa Clara deputy sentenced in his fatal crash. More progress, but in a place that seems to have better laws in regard to distracted/impaired driving. James Council, 28, was sentenced to four months house arrest, three years probation and 20 weeks of community service after pleading guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

Council had fallen asleep while driving his patrol car on March 9, 2008 and killed two cyclists, Kristy Gough, 30, and Matt Peterson, 29. He also injured another cyclist.

Council's attorney, Mike Rains, had the audacity to question the sentence:

"I'm not happy about (the sentence). I think the sentence is harsh, and it's harsh because he's a law enforcement officer," Rains said.

Given that Council received a lighter sentence for killing two people than some people would receive for a DWI with no injuries or property damage, I'd say he got off pretty lightly.

*Wikipedia - [Candy Lightner founder of MADD] left MADD in 1985. She has since stated that MADD "has become far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned … I didn’t start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving".

In case you forgot

(Critical Mass day)

Answer some questions

Bicycle Indiana has a survey up. They'd like to know how cyclists in Indiana can be better served. They can't know what we want unless we tell them, so take a few minutes, OK?

Dalek Police

Or better DA-LEK! PO-LICE!

Oh no why didn't I see the tragic progression sooner.

to

to

I can almost hear the screeching, amplified wail of "YOU-WILL-O-BEY-ME!" now.

And you know, it's not pretty in there folks.

In case anyone just thought riding around in a car all the time was bad for you.

(Honestly, just bored today and it crossed my mind. Fairplay had mentioned it before.)

Cycling harassment bill - in MO

From Indy Cog and Bikepirates

COLUMBIA — A bicyclist harassment ordinance passed unanimously at the City Council meeting Monday after nearly an hour and a half of debate.

The ordinance makes harassment of bicyclists — including throwing objects, verbal assault and other offenses — a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $1,000 fine or one year of jail time, the council said.

After the lengthy testimony from citizens and discussion by the council, the ordinance passed with plans to amend it at the July 20 City Council meeting. At that time, the ordinance will be expanded to include other types of pedestrian traffic.

Of course, it only really works if you can make sure they get caught.

Fight the man (in Tehran edition)

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