Archive for September, 2014

So as promised, here’s the update on trying to get an interview or statement from Charlotte Mecklenburg Police. I haven’t heard anything new.

Moving along, I did some man-on-the-street interviews uptown this week. I was trying to get a feel for people’s opinions of delivery cyclists. I got a story from a guy who got cussed out by a cyclist. I had a couple people say they had no problem with the delivery drivers. And I had a couple basically singing their praises. But in trying to put it all together into an audio story — well, it’s just not working. I’m scrapping it.

Well here’s an unpublished story from July 12. It actually relates to something that happened at work today.

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Today I got in a shouting match with a guy in a black luxury car. I was riding slowly towards a red light when I heard a honk behind me. This happens once or twice a shift, and usually I either ignore it completely or just wave sarcastically, as if I think I know the person, as if I just misunderstood their honk.

But today I snapped. I was already hot and grumpy and tired. I felt just ornery and just playful enough to screw with somebody. I turned around, made eye contact, and said, “What? You got a problem?” The man was blond, clean cut, 30s: the average uptown jerk. I saw him gesture and speak as he sped up and pulled around a parked car and alongside my right.

“You’re blocking the road,” I heard him say between my agitated shouting. “I have as much right to the road as you do. I have as much right to the road as you!” I responded.

The entire exchange lasted two seconds. It was just enough time for the car window to roll down a mere 3 inches and roll right back up. I managed to restrain myself from physically attacking the car, which made a quick right. But temptation flashed through my head as pedaled through the light. I saw the car stopped at a light a block away. I would chase him down and chuck the orange I had in my bag as a snack.

“No, that’s the kind of hot headed thinking that broke your wrist,” I had to remind myself. “That’s a story that doesn’t end well.”

I rode on, shaking my head at the man, marveling at my own rage. He was making a right. I was just in his way to get to the right lane. I had assumed he was ignorantly demanding I ride on the sidewalk, but I realized that probably wasn’t the case at all. I felt dumb, and I resolved not to be so reactionary next time.

—

This is a struggle I’ve had for a while. Something about the adrenaline, and the fear — I’m not an angry person until someone endangers me on my bike. I had a similar thing happen today. Black car. Ran around me and honked. I caught up with him at a light.

“You got a problem? Let’s talk,” I said. He rolled down his window. “I signaled. Did you not see me?” “I didn’t see your signal,” the guy said back. “Well pay more attention,” I said, and with that he rolled up his window, and I got back in my lane. I rode back to the shop ultra-quick, shaking from adrenaline, from the charge of confrontation, but that was it. No real yelling, no swearing. I think I’m getting better at this!

Officer Mauldin confronts Jonathan.

I had hoped to get an audio interview with someone from the police force this week. I wanted to post a story that explored a bike cop’s perspective on us delivery drivers and our riding. I got close, too, but the interview got nixed at the last minute because of my priors; I’ve gotten a couple of red light tickets on my bike, both subsequently dismissed, but that was enough to cast doubt on my objectivity as a journalist. That part is unsurprising considering my less-than-objective perspective on the cops-versus-cyclists issue, but it was still disappointing. Honestly, I’m surprised to have gotten as receptive a response as I did.

The first surprise came from an officer named Mark Mauldin. First, some background: Officer Mauldin was the first Bike Patrol officer to write me a ticket, sometime in the spring of 2013, and he was there for my second, a couple months later. Altogether, we drivers racked up about half a dozen tickets in the span of two months last year. It seemed every time I saw a delivery driver pulled over on his bike, at least one of the officers there was Mauldin, and I suspected he was spearheading the delivery cyclist crackdown. I remember him saying we could try to get the tickets thrown out, but he’d keep writing them until someone reassigned him, which he said was unlikely given his long tenure with the force.

But the surprise came earlier this year, after I saw Mauldin chewing out my coworker Jonathan “Corkle” for running a light. Jonathan said he crossed with the foot traffic – he said he wasn’t being unsafe. I was shocked that Jonathan didn’t get a ticket even though he was arguing with Mauldin, who was staying remarkably cool. So I found Officer Mauldin later on, and I expressed my surprise.

Since my second ticket, I had made a point not to run red lights at all. I wonder if Officer Mauldin noticed, because our conversation that day was unusually friendly. He told me he wasn’t on Bike Patrol anymore. He talked about his motivation in addressing us. He said he was ultimately concerned about safety, about us changing our behavior. Suddenly he didn’t seem so aggressive or unreasonable. He even said that he wouldn’t pursue us for minor slip-ups, like rolling forward the moment before a light turns green.

I told Officer Mauldin about Charlotte Sandwich Stories, and I asked if he would be willing talk to further. He said he couldn’t while he was on duty, but that he’d be willing to schedule a time to sit down and chat. We traded business cards, and, for a while, that was that.

I reached out to Officer Mauldin for an interview recently, when I started reporting on bike cops versus delivery drivers. He said he didn’t have the authority to say yes to an interview and that I’d have to go through the CMPD Public Affairs office.

Eventually I did get in touch with an officer in Public Affairs, and we discussed the interview, playing phone tag during the early part of this week. The officer checked out my blog and remarked that my writing seemed balanced. She e-mailed Mark Mauldin, but she called back and left me a message on Wednesday: “We actually are going to have to pass right now on the interview…just because…you’ve gotten some citations before, and I just don’t know that they’d be very comfortable doing it,” her message said.

Her voice sounded a little apologetic, or a little nervous, and she reiterated her praise for my writing. I wasn’t surprised at the verdict, but I couldn’t help feeling deflated. The message derailed my grand plan for a comprehensive series of stories with multiple perspectives.

I do plan to follow up with Public Affairs and see if they’ll send a written statement. Here’s a sampling of the questions I had hoped to pose to Officer Mauldin or a current Bike Patrol officer:

We know you as the officers that write us tickets on our bikes, but what are Bike Patrol’s main enforcement roles?

Officer Mauldin, I remember you talking about the issues you saw with us bicycle delivery drivers on the road when I got my first ticket: hopping curbs, dodging through pedestrians, running red lights…What most bothered you about drivers’ behavior, and what did you do end up doing about it?

Bicycles are smaller, more agile and less dangerous to others than cars. Do those differences affect your approach to enforcement?

I want to hear your stories. Do you remember any specific conversations you’ve had with delivery drivers?

Do you hold us delivery drivers to a higher standard than other cyclists passing through the city?

If I could relay a message to my coworkers, what would you like to say to them about their riding?

Check back next week. I’ll post an update.