Unintended consequence: parking police cars on the shoulder

Police cars parked on the shoulder. Photo credit: Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist
Police cars parked on the shoulder. Photo credit: Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist

The Times Colonist has a great piece today about the Integrated Road Safety Unit using their empty cruisers to be phantom speed traps. Slowing down cars is all well and good; the problem is in the implementation. Specifically, the picture from the TC shows two cop cars parked on the shoulder. This is exactly where a bicycle would be, so these cars are actually making it less safe for everybody by forcing that bicycle into the traffic lane, endangering them and the cars coming up behind.