Post by Mark Wyatt on Mar 12, 2007 14:40:09 GMT -5
Arrested, Cuffed, and Put in Jail
By Maria Houser Conzemius
As a 58-year-old woman, I'm sure that you'll believe me when I say that I have never been arrested before, never been put in handcuffs before, and never been put in jail before. But that was before I met Officer Leik, a belligerent cop who told me right off the bat that I "must have done something" to annoy the driver behind me in the enormous black Yukon with Henry County plates who was following my bicycle closely, refused to pass, and was laying on his horn continuously. I must have been riding in the middle of the road, Officer Leik told me. "There's something you haven't told me about," he said.
Was there?
No, I flipped the guy off, but I don't ride in the middle of the road. I think riding in the middle of the road is akin to signing your own death warrant, especially out in the country. I have a family. I don't want to die.
But Officer Leik had it all figured out. I was riding in the middle of the road on Mall Drive. He told me so, and wouldn't hear otherwise.
But don't argue with the Hitler Youth. They've got it all figured out that bicyclists and pedestrians are in the wrong, always, before you even open your mouth.
It really burns me that my taxes actually go to pay this guy's salary, and the salaries of every other cop like him.
Once in October 2005--I think that's when it was--I was driving my car on Williams Street near the University of Iowa Community Credit Union when I saw a motorist force a bicyclist to the curb by pulling his vehicle diagonally in front of the bicyclist so that the bicyclist had to either stop or hit the driver's car or the curb. I saw the driver, who claimed he was a cop and was so out of control that I rolled up my windows, yell at the bicyclist, call the cops, and then appeared to feel that he had ordered the bicyclist to wait for the cops to arrive. When the cyclist tried to reason with the motorist as to why he did what he had done earlier (I didn't see that part), the motorist yelled and hollered at the cyclist until the cyclist gave up, flipped him off in disgust and said, "F*** you," and rode away. He was a graduate student, he said.
The motorist yelled, "What did I tell you?!" He ran after the cyclist and hit him on the back with his fist as the cyclist gained speed.
A woman cop arrived and I said, "I saw the whole thing. I can tell you exactly what happened."
"How does this concern you?" she asked.
"I'm a witness," I said. She repeated the question, then dismissively turned away and talked to the alleged cop.
She took his statement as I sat there in my car. After the motorist drove away, I was allowed to tell her that the driver had pinned the cyclist to the curb with his vehicle and hit him with his fist.
"The driver hit the bicyclist?" the woman cop asked incredulously.
The bicyclist, too scared to stop, rode back and forth in front of us and then disappeared.
It's a crazy world out there in Iowa City traffic.
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* Posted on: Mon, Mar 12 2007 12:40 PM
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Bicyclists and Pedestrians Beware
By Maria Houser Conzemius
It's not safe to ride or walk in Iowa City, and Iowa City's finest repeatedly makes it clear that they're not on the side of bicyclists and pedestrians anywhere in town. My husband tells me I'm wasting my time when I call the Iowa City Police Department to report a dangerous, aggressive motorist, and it turns out he's right.
"They won't do anything," he has told me over and over.
"They won't do anything," the kid in the huge black Yukon with Henry County license plate 300 RSQ told me after I confronted him for following me, refusing to pass, and continuously laying on the horn. Turns out he wasn't the driver, who had dashed inside Ace Hardware, but he had as much attitude as the driver.
"You can't ride in the middle of the road," Police Officer Leik told me after I flagged him down and told him what happened.
"I wasn't riding in the middle of the road," I said.
"Oh, don't give me that. I've seen bicyclists ride in the middle of the road, blow through stop signs, red lights, run intersections."
So therefore I'm guilty, even though he didn't see what happened? Well, now that he has made it clear that I'm the law-breaker because all bicyclists are law-breakers, what more is there to say?
I wish I hadn't said anything, but I lost my temper big time. I'm tired of the Iowa City Police telling me that in any encounter with a motorist, it's got to be my fault. Either they tell me that I shouldn't be on the road or I shouldn't ride in the middle of the road, even when I'm not.
It's useless to try and reason with Iowa City cops as to why they should support sharing the road. Officer Leik and others feel strongly that it's CYCLISTS who don't share the road. Well, I'm not one of those cyclists because I lam aware of the hostility of motorists trying to pass, and that hostility is frightening. I always pull over to the right. It's stupid not to, unless there's a bad crack in the pavement and the motorist is forcing you into a dangerous patch of road, in which case a crack might grab your front wheel and throw you over the handlebars into the path of a car or off the road altogether.
So what to do? I've joined the Iowa Bicycle Coalition and I'm thinking about joining Critical Mass. Critical Mass is obnoxious, but maybe Critical Mass is right for Iowa City at this time.
By Maria Houser Conzemius
As a 58-year-old woman, I'm sure that you'll believe me when I say that I have never been arrested before, never been put in handcuffs before, and never been put in jail before. But that was before I met Officer Leik, a belligerent cop who told me right off the bat that I "must have done something" to annoy the driver behind me in the enormous black Yukon with Henry County plates who was following my bicycle closely, refused to pass, and was laying on his horn continuously. I must have been riding in the middle of the road, Officer Leik told me. "There's something you haven't told me about," he said.
Was there?
No, I flipped the guy off, but I don't ride in the middle of the road. I think riding in the middle of the road is akin to signing your own death warrant, especially out in the country. I have a family. I don't want to die.
But Officer Leik had it all figured out. I was riding in the middle of the road on Mall Drive. He told me so, and wouldn't hear otherwise.
But don't argue with the Hitler Youth. They've got it all figured out that bicyclists and pedestrians are in the wrong, always, before you even open your mouth.
It really burns me that my taxes actually go to pay this guy's salary, and the salaries of every other cop like him.
Once in October 2005--I think that's when it was--I was driving my car on Williams Street near the University of Iowa Community Credit Union when I saw a motorist force a bicyclist to the curb by pulling his vehicle diagonally in front of the bicyclist so that the bicyclist had to either stop or hit the driver's car or the curb. I saw the driver, who claimed he was a cop and was so out of control that I rolled up my windows, yell at the bicyclist, call the cops, and then appeared to feel that he had ordered the bicyclist to wait for the cops to arrive. When the cyclist tried to reason with the motorist as to why he did what he had done earlier (I didn't see that part), the motorist yelled and hollered at the cyclist until the cyclist gave up, flipped him off in disgust and said, "F*** you," and rode away. He was a graduate student, he said.
The motorist yelled, "What did I tell you?!" He ran after the cyclist and hit him on the back with his fist as the cyclist gained speed.
A woman cop arrived and I said, "I saw the whole thing. I can tell you exactly what happened."
"How does this concern you?" she asked.
"I'm a witness," I said. She repeated the question, then dismissively turned away and talked to the alleged cop.
She took his statement as I sat there in my car. After the motorist drove away, I was allowed to tell her that the driver had pinned the cyclist to the curb with his vehicle and hit him with his fist.
"The driver hit the bicyclist?" the woman cop asked incredulously.
The bicyclist, too scared to stop, rode back and forth in front of us and then disappeared.
It's a crazy world out there in Iowa City traffic.
* Keep New:
* Posted on: Mon, Mar 12 2007 12:40 PM
* Email This
* Clip/Blog This
Bicyclists and Pedestrians Beware
By Maria Houser Conzemius
It's not safe to ride or walk in Iowa City, and Iowa City's finest repeatedly makes it clear that they're not on the side of bicyclists and pedestrians anywhere in town. My husband tells me I'm wasting my time when I call the Iowa City Police Department to report a dangerous, aggressive motorist, and it turns out he's right.
"They won't do anything," he has told me over and over.
"They won't do anything," the kid in the huge black Yukon with Henry County license plate 300 RSQ told me after I confronted him for following me, refusing to pass, and continuously laying on the horn. Turns out he wasn't the driver, who had dashed inside Ace Hardware, but he had as much attitude as the driver.
"You can't ride in the middle of the road," Police Officer Leik told me after I flagged him down and told him what happened.
"I wasn't riding in the middle of the road," I said.
"Oh, don't give me that. I've seen bicyclists ride in the middle of the road, blow through stop signs, red lights, run intersections."
So therefore I'm guilty, even though he didn't see what happened? Well, now that he has made it clear that I'm the law-breaker because all bicyclists are law-breakers, what more is there to say?
I wish I hadn't said anything, but I lost my temper big time. I'm tired of the Iowa City Police telling me that in any encounter with a motorist, it's got to be my fault. Either they tell me that I shouldn't be on the road or I shouldn't ride in the middle of the road, even when I'm not.
It's useless to try and reason with Iowa City cops as to why they should support sharing the road. Officer Leik and others feel strongly that it's CYCLISTS who don't share the road. Well, I'm not one of those cyclists because I lam aware of the hostility of motorists trying to pass, and that hostility is frightening. I always pull over to the right. It's stupid not to, unless there's a bad crack in the pavement and the motorist is forcing you into a dangerous patch of road, in which case a crack might grab your front wheel and throw you over the handlebars into the path of a car or off the road altogether.
So what to do? I've joined the Iowa Bicycle Coalition and I'm thinking about joining Critical Mass. Critical Mass is obnoxious, but maybe Critical Mass is right for Iowa City at this time.
