…over that spendy ticket you just got? Oh yes you are! The one where you didn’t even realize you were doing anything wrong and then BAM! You’re getting pulled over/stopped and receiving a citation for failing to stop at a stop sign, or crossing without a crosswalk, or getting out of your car at the coffee shop. Citations such as these typically carry a hefty $242 fine, and for those of us who receive them we typically find ourselves thinking two things: Isn’t there something more productive these officers could be doing right now? and Drat! $242 is expensive!
In response to interactions such as these a new ‘diversions style’ class is available for roadway users (drivers, bikers and pedestrians) who are first time offenders of certain traffic laws. In lieu of a fine, folks can opt to attend the Share the Road Safety Class, a new traffic safety class put together by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Portland Office of Transportation, Community and School Traffic Safety Partnership, the Portland Police Bureau, Trauma Nurses Talk Tough and the Multnomah County Courts.
The goal of the class is to increase public awareness of traffic laws and safety issues relative to bicycles, pedestrians and cars sharing our roadways. The class is offered monthly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 7pm-9pm at the Lorenzen Conference Center, Emanuel Hospital (2801 N. Gantenbein Ave.). The cost for the class is $30 (CASH only), which is much more reasonable than the $242 fine for such offenses as not using a crosswalk or failing to signal a turn while biking.
The class is generally offered at the officer or court’s discretion. So be polite and ask about it. You can learn important facts about the law, about common contributors to crashes, and about how to make the roads safer for all.
Contact Emily Gardner of the BTA with any questions you may have, or Mike Morrision of Trauma Nurses Talk Tough to register for the class.
How is it illegal to get out of your car at the coffee shop? I think an explanation is needed.
If you park your car in a parking spot between the curb and a marked bike lane, and a bike rider is riding up behind you in the lane, Oregon law says you must wait until the bike rider is safely past your car before you open your driver’s side door. If you open your driver’s side car door as a bicyclist approaching in the bike lane, you have broken the law, endangered the bicyclist, and you could be ticketed.
Curt, thank you! That is exactly the scenario I had in mind when I wrote that “getting out of your car at a coffee shop” could land you with a ticket. In this situation, the driver usually has no idea that they’ve done something wrong.
The positioning of bike lanes adjacent to car parking spots does lead to the very real possibility of bicyclists getting “doored” by unattentive and/or uncaring car drivers exiting their parked cars, especially if a cyclist rides right in the middle of the bike lane. (I always position my bike just barely inside the line on the left side of the bike lane and intentionally keep three feet of space between myself and the parked cars.)
In general, I think bike lanes are a good thing, and Portland is a great example of how a city can use bike lanes effectively. Still, bike lanes are not a perfect design solution in every case, and they do come freighted with their own set of safety concerns. But that’s a topic for another blog entry.