Cycle*Dallas has the latest news:
Reed Bates just got out of jail. He was arrested yesterday and held for 27 hours for “failure to use a designated bike lane” (meaning the road’s shoulder, which isn’t a “designated bike lane”), which was then changed to “impeding traffic” (when it dawned on the cops that they didn’t have any “designated bike lanes”), even though the officer never witnessed Reed near any traffic other than the squad car pulling him over. Business 287 in Ennis (but the higher speed section) was again the scene of the crime.
Ennis continues its aggressive “Bikes Don’t Belong” campaign, in flagrant violation of State Law. By waiting for Mr. Bates to re-enter the Ennis City Limits (returning from a trip to Waxahachie by bicycle to take care of some business… appearing for Jury Duty in the county seat), the Ennis Police Department could easily be accused of harassment.
As far as Ennis is concerned, the precedent has been set. Bicycles must always ride on the shoulder of the road if they are traveling slower than other vehicles (again, contrary to Texas law). What if there’s no shoulder? Easy. Stay home, or get a truck.
The City of Ennis seems to think Texas has a mandatory bike lane law, even though they don’t have any bike lanes. Their interpretation of the Texas Vehicle Code seems to be that if there are no bike lanes, a bicycle has no right to the road.
In Ennis, they tell you which streets you can ride on.
