Police officers were on the corners of Jefferson Blvd. and McClintock Ave. and Orchard Ave. and 30th St. dishing out tickets to bicyclists who failed to abide by traffic laws. Several of these people were stopped in the middle of the road and pulled over by police hiding behind parked cars and trees. 

The Los Angeles Police Department targeted residents in addition to students making their way to campus. Upon making an anything-but-friendly encounter, bicyclists were issued ridiculous violations with the cops not even aware of the incurred penalties. In the past, some of these tickets have amounted to over $300. But are bike cops really the nuisance?   

The two causes of the pull-overs were merited: riders were traveling on the wrong side of a busy road and forgetting to use hand signals and stop at various intersections in the area. But before I issue a verdict, let’s back up a bit and discuss the “bike culture” at USC.

I love my bicycle and riding it to and from various classes around campus. It allows me to plan meetings close together and make quick changes to my daily schedule if needed. Not everyone, however, actually knows how to ride one safely—or at all for that matter. I am constantly forced to be hyperaware of my surroundings, looking out for people flying by me in the wrong direction and weaving between other bikes and people just to save a minute or two. Unfortunately, USC’s student body would not earn a passing score if bike licenses were ever issued to ride across campus and around the neighborhood.

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Unsafe riding off-campus continues to be a problem not just for pedestrians, but also motorists. I often see student cyclists riding on the wrong side of the road completely ignoring the fact that a car making a fast right turn could send them flying across the street. This kind of carelessness puts everyone in danger—not to mention the students who completely ignore stop signs. 

Hit-and-run collisions between cars and bicyclists have increased 42 percent between 2002 and 2012 in Los Angeles County despite an overall drop in hit-and-run accidents, according to 2014 data from The Los Angeles Times. Some of the increase can be attributed to bicycle-street developments such as shared lanes over the last five years. 

Shared lanes don’t go both ways. A push for better bicycle integration has only caused a lowered awareness of bicycle safety procedures. I remember taking the California driving test and answering only a couple questions on bikes. Additionally, international students have little to no knowledge of traffic laws in L.A. and often follow what the majority of their peers are doing.   

SEE ALSO: Cops And Cyclists Mending Relationship As City Works Toward Cohesive Bike Plan

At the end of the day, bike cops are doing their job to keep you safe. Are meeting ticket quotas a factor behind their sudden and rare appearances? I’m sure. And could they be doing something else with there time, say, finding criminals and patrolling the streets for suspicious activity? Definitely. But keeping potentially life-threatening accidents from happening cannot be seen as any less of an issue. 

The problem should not be whether the LAPD should ticket bicyclists, but rather the manner in which they do so. Hiding behind trees and yelling at students to get off their bikes is unnecessary and only hampers the already fragmented relationship between everyday people and police. Keeping the public safe is their responsibility, but maybe they could find a better way to go about it. 

Reach contributor Giovanni Moujaes here. Follow him on Twitter here.