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SFPD Park Station Capt. John Sanford is ending his controversial crackdown on minor traffic infractions by bicyclists,
the San Francisco Examiner reports.
Sanford's decision to start strictly enforcing laws requiring bicyclists to perform a full stop (feet on the ground) at stop signs netted 204 citations in the Park district over just two days in August, the majority of them to bicyclists. It also prompted
condemnation from bicyclists and a gridlock-forming protest by bikers demonstrating what
would happen to traffic if they actually followed the laws.
Park Station's monthly community meeting, held last evening, attracted scores of angry bicyclists pointing out that cars, not bikers, cause the majority of traffic fatalities, and that data, not complaints, should direct enforcement priorities.
Those are fairly unimpeachable arguments, and Sanford didn't attempt to argue, telling the
Examiner: "It’s finished for now. We can revisit it at any time, but we’re going to go back to trying to collaborate.”
He doesn't have to argue. He already made his point: SFPD can make bicyclists' lives hell whenever they want.
