A little adventure I had : I was coming home from the office about 7:30, it was dark out and I'm on my bike. I was riding my usual way, if no cars are at an intersection I don't see any reason to stop.
Well the next thing I know, I just blew three stops in about 50 yards, and there is a cop car behind me with his lights on. I thought he just wanted to get by so I move over to the side of the road, but keep pedaling.
Then he hits his siren. I took a corner to see if he meant for me to stop. I kept riding and he followed me around the corner and is now talking into his PA system, "Pull your bike over." At this point I thought maybe I should just pull over - running a stop sign on your bike gets the same fine running it in your car does, about $100. Plus I would get another $78 for not having a light.
I coasted for a second while I contemplated this and then remembered that I had previously decided to never pull my bike over for a cop in a car. I was convinced no cop in a car could catch me on my bike on campus. Not only that but I often play this very game while riding home from work. I pretend there is a cop on my butt, cause I ran a stop, where do I go? So I know exactly where I am and exactly where to run.
I bolt for the end of this parking lot which dumps into the grass fields of Escondido Village. The cop is driving fast trying to cut me off at then end of the lot. I beat him there. Then I figured he wouldn't follow me through the grass but he did. No problem, I cut between two buildings where he can't go and I'm out on a parking lot on the other side. This buys me some time while he goes around the building. Soon he's back on my butt. I cut back in between two other buildings heading back for the same field. But there's a fence in my way. The cop is pulled up on the street and as I throw my bike over the fence I turn and look him right in the eye. At this point I'm facing running a stop sign (times three) not having a light, and resisting arrest.
I jumped over the fence and got back on my bike, - but my chain is off! I push my bike to someone's patio where there are other bikes parked. I drop my bike on the ground and jump into a bush. The cop comes through the fence, flashlight in hand. He goes past me to the far side of this little field. He's going slow so it took about 3-4 minutes for him to do this - it felt like a year.
My legs were cramped and I wasn't covered too well because I could see the cop clearly and had he been turned around I was meat. So I move to another bush a little ways away. The cop starts coming back and soon he is shining his light right on my bike and right on the spot where I was previously hidden. If he had taken two steps inward and just turned his head, I was dead! Plus there was a family eating dinner in the window behind me. Thank god they didn't notice me hiding in their bush.
The cop finally left and I sat there for another minute or two and then left on foot by a different direction. My roommate and I went back half an hour later and retrieved my bike. I was in completely different clothes and had put my contacts in. No cops around though.
So the lesson of the story is, be better prepared and have an escape route in mind from any point on campus