The Police Don't See What I Do. Perhaps They Don't Want To!

 

There are plenty of benefits to riding a bicycle rather than driving a 4-wheeled vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds and can kill a pedestrian or bicyclist in an instant, particularly if it's being driven by someone who is distracted by their phone.  One of the benefits for me that's not on most cyclist's list is my ability to see just how pervasive the problem of distracted driving really is. Unlike the perspective from a sidewalk or from a vehicle, the insight into drivers' habits a rider is able to get from the seat of a bicycle is unmatched.  The distracted drivers that I see far too commonly here in Hudson -- with little to no effort made on my part -- is appalling to me.  But it does serve as a reminder:  wear your helmet at all times and assume everyone driving a vehicle is distracted in one way or the other!  And give 'em shit when they're stopped at a light!

This past Thursday afternoon, a woman maybe in her 70's driving a black Taurus pulled up alongside me on my bicycle at the intersection of 6th and State as we were both headed west and slowing down for the stop sign.  I noticed right away that she had her phone in her right hand, down low enough where maybe only a bicyclist would be able to see it.  I saw her gaze at the phone just as we were passing through the intersection, and I was pretty sure I saw her lips moving.  No one else was in the car.  Off she went down State Street.  And so did I.  The car turned left onto 5th, and so did I.  By the time I reached the Taurus as the driver waited for the green light at Columbia, I could see once again -- AFTER DRIVING TWO BLOCKS AND TAKING ONE TURN -- that her phone was still in her hand.   This time it was clear: she was definitely talking to someone on that phone. 

I scolded her as best I could through the closed window as the light turned green, she did her best to ignore me and off she went with phone conversation still not finished.  Moments later, I watched the car turn right onto Warren.

A few hours later, while biking on 3rd Street, I came across another driver talking on a phone in their right hand, also down low.  At the light at Union, I requested her to roll down her passenger window.  After she obliged, I asked her, "Do they allow distracted driving in California?"  Her response came with a nasty smile:  "Sorry, I can't hear you."  Up the window went and off she drove out of town in her multi-ton vehicle, still with phone in hand, California plates and all.

BEWARE OF DISTRACTED
DRIVER AHEAD!

How are we going to put an end to this obscene and deadly dangerous habit that is difficult, if not impossible, for any police department to enforce?  I suppose HPD could somehow utilize their bicycles to catch and ticket distracted drivers (they'd have a field day!), but do you think they really care about the issue?  Why would they care if they aren't even interested in ticketing speeding vehicles, which Captain Miller and Chief Franklin admitted as much during last night's meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee?

SAFETY Committee my arse!