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# Cyclists taking turn for the worse
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/cyclists-taking-turn-for-the-worse-editor/
- Published: 2007-11-16T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T03:56:14.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Marina del Rey, #archive-import

*By Steve Young California Highway Patrol*

As a Santa Monica resident and a law enforcement officer of 24 years, I agree it’s time to bring the bicycle traffic under control (“Riders of the storm,” Nov. 9). The Santa Monica Critical Mass has a monthly bicycle demonstration ride. What is it that Critical Mass is demonstrating against?

I would assume they are demonstrating against motorists. What better comeback than to say they are being unduly cited for trumped-up charges as motorists are also violating the law? It’s one thing to see a lone cyclist slow down for a stop sign, then proceed (yes, they are required to stop), and another to see an entire group of cyclists take control of an intersection so that they can stay as a group. My wife and I have personally been victims to this. This has been a problem not only in Santa Monica, but in Marina del Rey and other beach cities as well. Officers tend to concentrate on what the public perceives to be a problem in their city.

Even Alex Cantarero, a spokesperson for Critical Mass, states that he has handed out several hundred cards to their riders informing them of the rules of the road... but to no avail. It continues to happen. Find a motorist or someone else to write a ticket to, but not us. Every traffic officer has heard it. There is always someone else doing something worse, so leave me alone.

I was patrolling the Marina del Rey area last week when I came across a group of cyclists traveling north toward Santa Monica. They were taking up the entire right-hand lane. How does a single officer stop several cyclists? He doesn’t. I simply notified them via the P.A. system that they needed to ride in a single column (as required by law). There were about 50 of them, all in cycling attire, and I got a thumbs up from the lead rider as they all fell back into a single file.

I say to Critical Mass: Read the cards Mr. Cantarero handed out and obey the rules of the road. You get to ride, or should I say demonstrate, and no one gets cited. Everyone has a right to demonstrate, but everyone also has the obligation to obey the law. That makes everyone happy.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 16, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111607.pdf?ref=smdp.com)