March 23, 2012 -- As noted below, I was recently ticketed in the Town of Paradise Valley, Arizona for riding my bike without carrying my driver's license. Today I received a letter stating that the Paradise Valle Town Attorney has moved to have the citation dismissed "with prejudice," which means that charges cannot be re-filed. The argument in the motion reads as follows: "Citation was issued in error. Issuing officer believed defendant needed a driver's license to ride a bicycle, and a driver's license is not required for a bicyclist."
I also received a phone call from Paradise Valley Police Commander Alan Laitsch. He agreed that there is a longstanding problem between cyclists and his police officers caused in part by the fact that his officers do not know what is and what is not legal cycling behavior. He as promised to institute a training program to make his officers more familiar with the law in the hopes of reducing that friction.
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