Madison Police Department is again stepping up bicycle enforcement and ticketing riders for offenses such as running red lights and stop signs. Residents discuss safety, ticketing and solutions.

http://http://vimeo.com/6513241

Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator Arthur Ross explains when you can and cannot bike on the sidewalk in Madison.

http://http://vimeo.com/6513439

Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator Arthur Ross explains when a bicycle can cross at a crosswalk in Madison.

http://http://vimeo.com/6513609

Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator Arthur Ross explains a law that allows motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles to cross against a red light after 45 seconds.

Downtown and campus bikers will be increasingly targeted and ticketed for violating bike laws, from now until October.

The Madison Police Department received a state grant for the initiative and will be heavily issuing tickets on specific days to increase bike safety in the Madison Isthmus area, according to Sgt. Eric Tripke of the Traffic Enforcement Safety Team.

“Officer discretion is always available; however, when we are working with some of these grants that are handed down to the department, it makes it pretty clear that citations are what matters,” Tripke said.

Tripke said officers ticket motor vehicles for violating laws or bicycle rights, yet he has heard a great deal of concern from the community regarding bikers following the laws, so that is where they are focusing their attention.

Some Madison area bikers who have recently received citations, including University of Wisconsin junior Adam Tierney, see the concern for bikers to follow the laws, yet he believes the safety of a biker is very dependent on the individual.

“Running a red light or stop sign is common place when there is no traffic around. It’s like jaywalking,” Tierney wrote in an e-mail. “When you’re riding a bike, it takes time to come to a full stop and then start again at a sign, so if the road is clear people usually cut through.”

Matt Bzdawka, who has been employed at Jimmy John’s for more than five years and uses his bike daily for deliveries, was issued a ticket this summer for a stop sign violation at the corner of State and Johnson streets.

Bzdawka has been in multiple accidents involving his bike and motor vehicles, almost all of which he says came from a lack of attention by the driver, which he believes to be the real issue at hand.

“I don’t think bike enforcement is the way to go at all,” Bzdawka said. “A biker is a mixture of a vehicle and pedestrian, and no one follows the rules exactly, but what police should focus on is car safety.”

Bzdawka added on average, he probably breaks the law 30 times every work shift, and at least half of the staff has recently received citations for breaking a law while biking.

According to Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator Arthur Ross, there is no difference in the rules of operating a bike compared to driving a car and for him the real issue is for everyone to consider how their actions impact the safety of everyone.

He added that when bicyclists do not follow the laws, legislators see that and are less likely to work on issues like bikers’ rights.

“All I want to do is ride my bike in peace: I don’t want to be hit by a car, I don’t want to have to pay fines,” Tierney said. “I’ve been doing it for 15 years, I can look after myself.”

An editing error in the original copy was corrected. Matt Bzdawka’s last name was misspelled. We regret the error.