No Sof t-Pedaling

The police in Richfield, Minn. (pop.50,000) have handed out no fewer than 2,500 traffic tickets this year -- but not for automobile offenses. The town is a bicycle trap. Cyclists who run lights, go the wrong way on one-way streets or ride two to a bike are asking for a summons. There is no soft-pedaling. Adults pay fines up to $100; kids go to "bike court" for lectures on safe cycling.

The crackdown came after two children were killed last year on their bikes.Five cops, assigned full time to the bike beat last summer, give chase to offenders on bikes of their own. "You can't just tell kids to be careful and let it go at that," says Patrolman Ron Holt, who heads the bike squad. "You have to have safety programs with teeth." Since the bike accident rate in Richfield has dropped from 35 in 1975 to seven so far this year, several other Minnesota communities have begun to put the brakes on wayward cyclists.

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