Wayzata
June 9th, 2008 |Bug = Up Ass
A reader writes in detailing his experience:
Three of us were heading West yesterday (Sunday) to ride the tuff ride loop and were pulled over and ticketed in Wayzata for failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.
Mostly this is embarrassing for me — I’m usually the one nagging others to wait at lights and to ride predictably, etc. Nevertheless, Wayzata police have apparently been getting complaints from residents about out-of-town cyclists riding through their business district. When we asked for clarity, the cop said he was looking for a complete, foot-down stop from cyclists.
He actually went on to give us a mini-lecture regarding how we ought to be riding, instructing us that we should always be within 3 ft of the curb and never side-by-side. We tried to engage him on these points but he wasn’t really having any of it. I’m bummed about the ticket and worried about whether it’ll affect my car insurance, but we did slow-roll the stop sign and that’s that.
Anyway, I wanted to pass the word along so that no one else suffers the steep penalty for a seemingly minor offense.
Foot down at a stop? Three feet of the curb? Never side-by-side? Do Wayzata police know the law? Maybe we should print off a copy and carry it with us to present to the cops when they make such absurd statements.
So the police in Wayzata have decided to start harassing cyclists just in time for the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Fine, send out the word:
Don’t spend your money in Wayzata! People in Wayzata hate cyclists…and I’m sure that they hate women and minorities too. All the money you spend in Wayzata goes to support the oppression of cyclists, women, blacks and Mexicans. All the men in Wayzata sport Hitler moustaches and the women dress like Eva Braun.
Screw you Wayzata, Excelsior is a way cooler town anyway.
24 Responses to “Wayzata”
Excelsior is a way cooler town anyway.
And 318 in Excelsior is the most cyclist-tolerant coffee shop you’ll find, plus they have awesome food and the best staff around!
318 has delicious soup!!
Excelsior has a crit.
Wayzata has nothing.
I am never going to Wayzata again!
It would be worth challenging the ticket for the purposes of clarifying the “foot down”, three feet and no side-by side riding. None of these things are part of MN law. If you have your hands on the brake levers and the cyclocomputer reads zero mph, you’re stopped. Motorcyclists don’t put a foot down & cars don’t need to be shifted into park at every stop sign.
Unfortunately, a lot of cyclists have blatant disregard for the stop signs in Wayzata, not even bothering to get out of their aerobars, touch the brakes, or even look for traffic. It’s a shame the police have been forced to take it to the “foot down” extreme, but I could see Mpls/StP police taking similar measures along the river parkways if we don’t shape up.
Where is Wayzata?
Strats is right on, and Matty and his staff love you guys.
Matty’s papa.
But… if you head out of Excelsior towards Orono (hwy 19) be equally as careful. Same is happening with the Orono police. Pulling over people, especially if you’re rolling side by side. Tonka guys got pulled over last Saturday. Getting ugly out here.
Sounds like you need to stay out of the suburbrs and make way for the SUV’s……
Damn, I am glad I didn’t buy a Lemond. No more Cargill products for me.
stay out of Spring Park as well..got a tix 2 weeks ago
I don’t think this is about bikers. I think its about revenue. I think ticketing is up everywhere.
I say your reader should go to court. There’s a chance the officer won’t show up. Then it’s dismissed.
If he does show up, and you are extremely respectful, the judge might suspend the ticket contingent upon not getting another, assuming a clean record.
Don’t bring up the side by side or the three-foot rule because the officer didn’t write the ticket for that.
Worst case, you have to pay the ticket any way.
I say your reader should go to court.
I told him to fight the power!
sounds like bob minoske time.
I’m curious about the foot down “rule” the cop mentioned. I know it doesn’t exist on the books, But what do they say for motorcyclists? I would assume any precedence established there could apply to bicyclists.
Just curious, otherwise I don’t think it’s just the cops. I’m getting yelled at more often this year to get on the path, while riding river road in mpls, then I have in past years. So I think there’s some collective “cyclists are evil” going on potentially aided by the KSTP report.
“potentially aided by the KSTP report”
In my experience, every time there is a report on bicyclists in the media, verbal and physical assaults spike. It is like they are vindicated by the report, and vigilantism becomes more prevalent.
As for the police not knowing the rules, maybe the MCF or some other body could take it upon themselves to contact all the local jurisdictions, for no other reason than to let them know we know what the rules are.
Maybe this calls for a grass-roots campaign to the newspaper’s Letters To The Editors page. If enough of the biker community express the facts, the general public will get educated as well. Power To The Spoke Peeps!
On Sunday I was in Wayzata and rolled thru the 4 way by Sunsets restaurant. Looked to my left and there was a Wayzata cop car watching the whole thing, thought he had me as I know the suburb cops will go after minor infractions. Cop didnt do anything. I doubt theres a concerted effort by Wayzata PD to go after cyclists. I think it’s one bad cop and its probably worth while to see if you could discuss the citation with someone in the PD to see if you can get it thrown out or go to court since you have 3 people all cited for the same incident you will have coraborating witness’. There’s no law saying foot down in MN, just complete stop. If the citations are thrown out ,he or she will stop the harrassment.
While this cop is clearly misinformed on the finer points of MN bike laws, I’m a bit amused by this belief that we [cyclists] have some sort of “right” to run stop signs. Running a stop sign in a downtown area isn’t exactly minor, and being ticketed for blatantly breaking a law isn’t exactly harassment.
being ticketed for blatantly breaking a law isn’t exactly harassment.
what about a ticket for a subtle breaking of a law? would that be harassment?
what about a ticket for a subtle breaking of a law? would that be harassment?
I consulted with the Magic 8 Ball. It said, “My sources say no.” But you could try again!
I agree with Boonen. Not harassment.
You can break laws, just don’t get caught. And if you do get caught, don’t whine about it. It’s really your fault for getting caught in first place.
Most cops don’t understand that a cyclist can come to a complete stop without putting a foot down. So the foot down is the indication that you are obeying the law, that’s all, and he probably knows that.
If you rolled the sign, even slowly, you did a baddy.
Wayzata DOES have some big problems with jay-walking, cars, bikes, and people looking at the lake instead of the road. That’s a dangerous stretch of road.
That’s a dangerous stretch of road.
Tear it up!
C6 got pulled over in Orono I believe. Officer mc Moustache with a very clear distaste for cyclist and fitness in general by my observation. We called the commanding officer and got it all straightened out. The chief told us that he had sent out a memo to the officers recently that had some suggestions on it, but was not the law. Officer McMoustache quoted the memo as law and was furious when we had a copy of the exact law on hand which did not agree with his memo. Hiawatha Bike club prints the law on a nice card and most bike shops give it away. It was suddenly more about us being “cocky” and “sassing back” then it was about us breaking the law. That’s where it becomes harassment.
I would argue that this should apply to bicycles, and could probably be used to appeal in the off chance someone got a ticket for this.
Couldn’t find anything about motorcyclists having to put a foot down.
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=1 69.06
Subd. 9. Affirmative defense relating to unchanging traffic-control signal. (a) A person
operating a motorcycle who violates subdivision 4 by entering or crossing an intersection
controlled by a traffic-control signal against a red light has an affirmative defense to that charge if
the person establishes all of the following conditions:
(1) the motorcycle has been brought to a complete stop;
(2) the traffic-control signal continues to show a red light for an unreasonable time;
(3) the traffic-control signal is apparently malfunctioning or, if programmed or engineered
to change to a green light only after detecting the approach of a motor vehicle, the signal has
apparently failed to detect the arrival of the motorcycle; and
(4) no motor vehicle or person is approaching on the street or highway to be crossed or
entered or is so far away from the intersection that it does not constitute an immediate hazard.
(b) The affirmative defense in this subdivision applies only to a violation for entering or
crossing an intersection controlled by a traffic-control signal against a red light and does not
provide a defense to any other civil or criminal action.
History: (2720-160, 2720-161, 2720-162, 2720-163, 2720-164, 2720-165) 1937 c 464 s