Cyclists vs. Police Round N

[rax]

So I was riding up Mass Ave between Central and Harvard, close to the point where Mass Ave goes one way, and I passed a slow cyclist on the right. (You know, one of those scruffy dudes with no helmet riding a mountain bike that's too small, going five miles per hour?) I kept riding and shortly thereafter a voice on a loudspeaker tells me to "stay in my lane." I figure it's some clown with a megaphone, but no, it's a cop in a green unmarked car who pulls up to my left and rolls down the passenger window. I say "I saw you," in an it's-OK tone of voice (I did see him, or at least what I assume was the hood of his car, far enough away from me that I made the pass), and he says "You have to stay in your lane." I respond "I'm allowed to take the lane by law, sir," which I am, and he should totally know. He says "You have to stay in your lane."

I'll note that there isn't actually a marked bike lane here (not that I would have to stay in it if there had been). I consider briefly what to say, and am basically trackstanding at this point, and decide to repeat "I'm allowed to take the lane by law, sir." He says "stop the bike," so I clip out and put my foot down. Then he says --- and this is pretty much verbatim, though I wouldn't call it actually verbatim under oath, "Listen to me. I am the police. You will do what I say, and I say to stay in the lane. That was too close for you, and it was too close for me. Stay in the lane." I considered here a few different options:

* Repeating what I said a third time, which I discarded as too offensive
* Saying "I'm sorry, I don't belive you are correct," which I discarded as too confrontational.
* Asking for his badge number to file a report, which I almost did but then realized that I had to be done cooking dinner for fifteen people in three hours and getting arrested would seriously cramp my culinary style. "I'm sorry there is no food for you tonight, I was busy Fighting The Power" doesn't seem like a good excuse to me.
* Saying absolutely nothing and waiting for him to drive on, which I decided I would do, on the theory that he would have to take some other, more aggressive action in order to continue the altercation. He waited for me to Fight The Power for a moment, got bored, and drove off.

I passed him, in the "bike lane," and then stopped at a red light. The other bicyclist had passed _between us_ and ran the red light as I was pulling up to it; the cop did nothing. (I should have gotten the cop's license plate number, but settled for passing him legitimately two more times and then going a different way through Harvard Square than he was.)

I'm posting this for two reasons: first, to get a permanent record of it written down somewhere before I forget, and second, to ask if anyone knows what I could have done within my rights (and within reason) other than what I did do, if anything. Do I actually always have the right to ask for a name and badge number? I wasn't sure, so I didn't push it. I'd like to know in the future. Given that probably no one here knows the answer, who should I ask? MassBike? A lawyer? Should I just call the police department?

It's not like my life was in danger, but having the response to "I am acting within my legal rights, sir" be "Listen, I am the police, and you will do what I say" was actually really upsetting.

Buy this car to drive to work! Drive to work to pay for this car!


(also the new Of Montreal album that isn't out yet is totally awesome)

Comments

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

i'm pretty sure you always have the right to ask for an officer's name and badge number. whether it would have been wise, i don't know.

[anasai.livejournal.com]

IANAl but in general, you're probably not going to win at this sort of fighting-the-man unless you have a video camera and 3 witnesses, because if it's just your word against his, you're pretty likely to lose. He can always make up some crap about you cutting him off and then being a mouthy resisting-arrest jackass.

[conana.livejournal.com]

I've had a fair bit of success with random pedestrians offering to act as witnesses when shit happens on my bike, though never yet in an instance where I actually wanted to make a case in court.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

I have no useful answer, except for GRRRR and ARRRGGGHHH. Annoyance!

[rathdei.livejournal.com]

Fuck the Po' Leece?

PS: I thank Malima for linking your livejournal from Facebook. Hooray, facebook! Making stalking all your friends easier since 2004.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Also midway between gosh, you're an awkward bicycle activist too and what does a magic plastic hat have to do with anything, hm?

[rax.livejournal.com]

Well, when stereotyping other people on the road (which I do in order to guess how they are going to move), a scruffy old guy on a $30 bike with no helmet is going to ride like an idiot; a scruffy old guy on a $30 bike with a helmet is a hippie.

I always wear mine, personally; not because I necessarily think it's going to save my life in a crash, but because it's unlikely to hurt. Plus my partner would kill me if I didn't, regardless. My understanding is that they are primarily designed for lowish-speed accidents that don't involve being hit by cars; there's still potential for such accidents on the road. Plus, my mechanic wears them, and I trust him.

Interestingly, when I see people biking incompetently without helmets, I get irritated with them; if I see people biking competently without helmets, I check out their hair. Logically this might have something to do with "you don't look competent enough to not just topple over sideways and hit your head with no outside influence," but it's probably just being elitist.

If "magic plastic hat" was some clever reference I didn't get, I lose.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

"Magic" because some of the more implausible claims are just that - for example the original TRT '89 paper has them effect a 75% reduction in knee injuries.