APD actually following up on bicycle issues, plus MADD cares about cyclists!

As a follow-up to my post about the Bicycle Theft Resolution Subcommittee meeting tonight, I wanted to share something one of our local cyclists experienced earlier this year:

Hey Jason, just wanted to relay something interesting that just happened to me. I just got a phone call from Mother's Against Drunk Driving. Apparently they have a group of people that call "victims" of drunk driving accidents. I was riding through downtown back in Feb when a guy was pulling out of an alleyway between 5th and 6th at Trinity and bumped my back tire with his bumper. It didn't do any damage or throw me off my bike and I just kept rolling. Since it was a typical weekend night on 6th street there were a bunch of cops on bikes on the corner. I said something to one of the bike cops to the effect of "that guy just bumped me with his bike, you should tell him that he needs to pay more attention to bikes." Well he took off to say something to the guy and within 5 minutes there were a number of cops there and it turns out that he was arrested and recently convicted of DWI. The woman got my name from the police report as a "victim" of a drunk driving accident. Being pro-active with the cops potentially saved somebody's life that night.

Thanks for sharing this Chris. Between your experience here and what happened on the full moon cruise last month, I'm beginning to feel somewhat hopeful about the police taking our issues and requests seriously in the ongoing future. In my past experience I've always gotten the brush-off when the police have arrived on the accident scene, but lately they seem to be listening and following up on the cyclists' behalf, not just taking what the driver says as the word of God. Whoever is responsible for this recent change in local police practices, THANKS! Now if we can only get that ticket cost discrepancy issue sorted out, then we might actually be getting somewhere.

I guess the moral here is: If you're involved in a traffic incident with an automobile, CALL THE POLICE! In today's tough economy they're looking for any and all reasons to ticket, and are actually following up on our calls. The only way drivers will learn to behave is if they're penalized for their poor decisions and willful actions. Like Chris said, make the call and potentially save someone's life.