Biking advocate: 'I am not a scofflaw'

If there's a bike lane, bicyclists better use it, or they may find themselves in jail.

That's the message a Louisville Metro Police officer gave to bicycling advocate and former mayoral candidate Jackie Green on Friday in the form of a double citation for blocking traffic and running a red light.

Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said bikes are expected to follow traffic laws and that means respecting stop lights and stop signs. He also said cyclists in Louisville generally must use bike lanes when they are available unless they need to be in another lane to make turns.

Green faces a potential penalty of between $20 and $100 on the traffic light charge, said Jessie Halladay, spokeswoman for the county attorney's office. The "obstructing a highway" charge carries a potential penalty of up to $250 and up to 90 days in jail.

The Louisville businessman was cited on Third Street near Lee Street. He was riding his bike southbound between two of his bike stores, something he does regularly. Green has been car-free since 1999 and is a long-time advocate for bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly transportation policies in Louisville.

In recent years, however, as the city as repainted many streets with bike lanes, Green has been at odds with some of his fellow cyclists, arguing that the city's new bike lanes are a waste of money and don't make cycling any safer. So, he said, he doesn't use them.

Green also maintains that cyclists don't need to stop and wait at stop lights, arguing that there are provisions in the law that Louisville does not recognize that allow people to not put themselves in unsafe circumstances. Standing in a street without the protection of being inside a car is not safe, he said. So he checks for traffic and if there is none, he said he pedals through red lights.

"I am not a scofflaw," he said Friday afternoon. "I despise being called a scofflaw."

He said he doesn't believe what he did is against the law and that there was another lane for motorists to pass him.

"Bicycling on a two-lane, one-way residential street at 15 mph, mid-morning, after rush hour, does not render both lanes impassable without unreasonable inconvenience or hazard," he said.

He also he is helping city officials with their goal of slowing, or "calming," traffic.

"The best tool Louisville has for calming traffic is a bicycle in the travel lane," Green said.

Green said he hopes the city will drop the charges, but if not, he said he's ready for "my day in court." He said Louisville needs to have a broader discussion about its expanding network of bike lanes and how cyclists navigate stop lights.

Mitchell said the bike lanes are being added in part to prevent bicyclists from blocking traffic.

But bike lanes also often are littered with glass and other objects that can cause flat tires or other problems, Green said. Some are very close to parked cars, and cyclists risk being "doored" when occupants of parked cars open their doors in front of cyclists, Green said.

State regulations on bike-lane use were actually relaxed somewhat this summer, allowing cyclists to use travel lanes if they are riding at the legal speed, said Dave Morse, a board member of the advocacy group Bicycling for Louisville. Among exceptions, he said, is that cyclists be in a travel land to prepare for turns, pass slower moving vehicles, avoid hazards and avoid door zones.

Most bicyclists run red lights, said Chris Glasser, president of Bicycling for Louisville.

"And the reason is simple: Traffic lights aren't designed for bikers. If they're timed lights, like on Kentucky, the lights are timed to 30 mph, so bikers can make only two lights in succession before hitting a red light. Cars can drive uninterrupted the whole way.

"If they're triggered lights, the sensing technology in most places, like 99 percent, isn't sensitive enough to pick up a bike, and so you can't trigger the light to turn green. So, for those reasons, it's impractical for bikers to stop."

The bike lane regulations raise questions about whether cyclists riding in groups must also use dedicated bike lanes, when available. Mitchell said he wasn't sure, adding that officers have discretion to decide whether to issue citations.

He said police are not conducting any sort of "dragnet" on cyclists. But if police see violations, the may seek to enforce the rules, he added.

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 or at jbruggers@courier-journal.com.