I've been pulled over for speeding--on my bicycle.
I don't know how fast I was riding, but the speed limit was 25 or 30 mph, if I recall correctly: It was a long time ago and, I confess, I was under the influence of something that was illegal everywhere in the US at the time.
(One good thing about getting older is that the statute of limitations runs out.)
Anyway, it was late at night and I think the cop who pulled me over didn't have anything else to do. I said something like, "Sorry, officer, I didn't realize there was a speed limit for bicycles." I don't know whether he didn't catch my sarcasm or realized that if I actually committed an offense, it wasn't worth his, or the department's, time to pursue. He lectured me for a couple of minutes and asked where I was going. "Home," and I told him where in the town--Highland Park, New Jersey--it was without giving an exact address. "Just be careful, and slow down," he admonished. "OK. Have a good evening, sir."
If he didn't ticket me because he thought it wasn't worth the effort, he may well have realized he couldn't charge me. In some places, bicycles are classified as "vehicles" and are subject to the same traffic regulations; in other places, they aren't. I'm not sure of what the laws were, or how they were interpreted, in that town or state 40-some-odd years ago.
A constable in the Kent village of Paddock Wood faced a similar dilemma on 28 January 1896. Huffing and puffing, he caught up to a speeding scofflaw named Walter Arnold.
His response to the bobby: "Have you thought about asking your superiors for an upgrade, sir?" The cop was on his department-issue bicycle, but Arnold wasn't talking about a lighter or even motorized bike. "I could provide him with a very good deal on a Benz motor, finest German engineering..."
Turns out, Arnold was one of the first car dealers in England, and the local supplier of Benz vehicles. The terms "automobile" weren't yet in use; the conveyances were more commonly referred to as "horseless carriages." That would be important in Arnold's case.
The officer, whose name is lost to history, was not amused. He wrote Arnold a citation for four "informations" (counts): using a "locomotive without a horse," having fewer than three persons "in charge of the same," speeding and not having his name and address on the vehicle.
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| Walter Arnold's "hot rod." |
Those offences were against regulations written for horse-drawn carriages. Arnold's barrister made exactly that point in his client's defense and told the judge that if the carriage were to be considered a "locomotive" (a term for any sort of vehicle powered by an outside source) and if Arnold were to be so charged, he should be levied only a nominal fines for "using a carriage without a locomotive horse" and even smaller fines for the other charges. Arnold paid them without protest; the publicity the case generated paid for his penalties many times over.
Ironically, one of the constable's pretexts for stopping Arnold--not having a man with a red flag in front of the carriage--was not mentioned during the hearing. That regulation, however, was subsequently dropped. As Miriam Bibby wryly notes, it "presumably left the labour exchange staff scratching their heads over what to do with a skill that clearly wan't that transferrable."
Now to the question some of you may have been asking: How fast was Walter Arnold driving? Are you ready for this: 8 mph. And what was the speed limit for horse-drawn carriages: 2 mph.
Reading all of that, I don't feel so bad about how much I've slowed down in my transition from that young male bike rider whom a Highland Park cop pulled over for speeding to a female midlife cyclist. Of course, I'm defining "midlife" as elastically (Is that a word?") as Walter Arnold's vehicle could be defined as a "carriage."
