I think radar enforcement on trails is a waste of resources and ineffective. The insititution of radar traps on secluded trails creates a negative feedback loop. Nothing positive comes from this.
Agency staff time spent surveilling,citing, and detaining trail users would be much more effectively spent remedying the trail conditions in their favorite speed trap areas that create opportunities for speeding in the first place, and reduce speeds much more than sporadic radar enforcement could ever do. Agencies should seek alternatives that engage the public in positive experiences that educate trail users.
Furthermore radar polarizes the entire agency against cyclists. The not so subtle message is that the agency considers mountain bikers untrustworthy. Radar is not an effective way to engender a healthy trail community. The agency should not reasonably expect the respect of cyclists when they do no serve them with respect.
It would be a wonderful thing to see staff out there with a mcloud and a cutter mattock making a drain or repairing the trail. I would thank them from the bottom of my heart and compliment them on their work. Then they could say, "Thanks, and please keep your speed in check and ride in control at all times, I have just installed a new choke point before the rocky nose down there. Please be careful. Let's make this trail last."
I will never thank a ranger for sitting in a truck with a radar gun waiting for unsuspecting cyclists to merrily fall into the legal web. That ranger is wasting time.
Even more ridiculous, fines for all cases that go to court are either spectacularly reduced or thrown out. Judges consider such infractions a waste of valuable court time. I do. While I do not condone speeding, speeding cyclists are not a criminal problem in the large scheme of things. Radar puts the brakes on an already strained court system, not on speeding cyclists.
-Paul
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john hurwitz
Sun, Mar 13, 2005 at 10:10PM
To:ROMP I concur with Pauls assessment. Especially after I just paid an exorbitant
$125 speeding ticket in Quicksilver. The ranger was sitting at the trail
head with a radar gun. Got me going 25 in a 15 at the end of my ride. I am
very aware of other users and the conflicts, and maintain "appropriate"
speed at all times. I was the only one on that trail that day (except for
the deer, rabbits and bobcats). Talk about ruining a serene nature
experience. Thanks for the warm fuzzies at the end of an otherwise pleasant
day.
John Hurwitz
BTB
Posted by El Santo 
riding a Bullit from Gnor*cal on 03/16/05
