The Sanctity of Bike Lanes?
This police van’s complete disregard for the bicycle lane on Ashland Place last week got us wondering about what the law says about the sanctity of bike lanes. Anyone know?
This police van’s complete disregard for the bicycle lane on Ashland Place last week got us wondering about what the law says about the sanctity of bike lanes. Anyone know?
evan you are wrong as can be. when a car runs a light they get a ticket. usually an automatic ticket in the mail. i have never seen a car run a red light on henry street. i have never seen a bike stop for a light on henry street. bikes never get tickets. cars always do.
and no one threw a hissy fit whatever that is when the bikes disobeyed the law. not sure what you are talking about. there is no double standard, maybe in your mind.
“Bikers disobey the laws fraglantly.”
as do cars and pedestrians. what’s your point? it’s weird to me that bikers are held to some weird double standard. when cars break the law people seem to just kinda shurg and accept it. “whatcha gonna do?” when pedestrians break the law people just shrug and say “ahhh, it isn’t hurting anyone.” when bikes break the law people have a hissy fit. when you were on your walk that crossed henry st did you count how many cars you saw parked or driving in a bike lane? turn without a blinker? open their car doors without checking? were double parked? speeding? did you count how many pedestrians jay walked? how many pedestrians were walking in the street?
yes, cyclists break laws. so do pedestrians and so do cars. hold everyone to the same standard or quit complaining.
http://www.iparkedinabikelane.org/
I just crossed Henry Street. Two bikers were going the wrong way down the cross street and one biker slowed down and then ran a red light. Typical. Bikers disobey the laws fraglantly. Whoever says this is the exception is dreaming.
Jacob, I see: you are allowed to break the law because you think you are right, but motorists are not allowed to break the law because you think they are wrong. It must be nice to be above the law like that. Perhaps you should run for President?
Motorists and public transport users:
Every time someone rides a bike instead of another alternative, they are increasing your quality of life and saving you money.
1) by staying healthier, freeing up space for you in health systems, reducing your private insurance premiums and medicare costs.
2) reducing noise in our city
3) freeing up space for you on overcrowed public transport, delaying the need for expensive upgrades in capacity
4) reducing pollution in the air you breathe and creating fewer particulates, making you healthier; reducing carbon emissions whether via gasoline or coal-fired power, reducing demand and
lowering your gasoline and electricity bills.
5) taking less space on the road giving you more room to drive in, saving you time, and reducing wear and tear, lowering your taxes.
In some advanced countries, 25% of all trips are made by bicycle; imagine how much your health and quality of life
would improve and how much money you would save if that happened here. Please, even if you would never dream of
riding a bike in the city, support any measure that encourages others to do so. Specifically, the provision of a European-style separate third network for bicycles (+ skateboards, rollerblades, wheelchairs, scooters, etc.) that is separated from cars and pedestrians by a curb on all major streets, with its own traffic signals, so that 2-wheeled transport stays out of your way. It is very much in your self-interest to support this.
As someone who uses cycling as my only means of transportation. I run red lights out of safety,regularly turning cars have tried to cut me off as soon as the green light goes and others do not realize you are there unless you are visibly ahead of them. I rarely use bike lanes when they are available because most are pot hole ridden and exactly the length of a car door. When cars are parked exactly an inch over the white line it gets dangerous in there. I always take a lane, which forces drivers to slow down and go around me and on most days I have a righteous driver tell me to get off the road. That said some fellow cyclists do go out of their way to break laws and ride recklessly and they run the risk of getting ticketed just as drivers who exhibit similar behaviors. It is my opinion that cyclists will start obeying the laws when real steps are made to make our commutes safer.
“Bikers are a hazard. One almost ran into my door and arm when I was getting out of my car. Ban bikes on city streets.”
i’m going to assume this is a joke.
here’s the thing folks. this is nyc. the streets are chaos, and without something like congestion pricing, they aren’t greatly going to improve any time soon so you have two choices. everyone can quit acting like entitled jerks who expect everyone to bow down to them on the streets (cars, peds, and cyclists alike) or we can all just embrace the chaos and quit complaining. as a cyclist i get through the day happily by not really caring too much about cars in the bike lane, cars turning into me, or peds walking in front of me. because no one else cares about it, i feel that i’m in charge of my own safety and that means doing whatever i need to survive. as a trade off, i get to run all of the red lights i want without feeling bad (i don’t ride the wrong way or on sidewalks).
the first people to complain about cyclists running reds or riding recklessly are also the folks who step off of sidewalks against the light with their heads down or open car doors without checking for cyclists coming up behind them. you don’t care bout me, i don’t care about you.
Completely, 100%, agree with Nothing Huh. This post perfectly personifies the attitudes of Brooklynites. I think “entitlement” is the (unfortunate) word of the day.