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?
Cars double park in all lanes. And cops, anyone with DOB handicap cards, Official license plates, tons of people with city parking permits, MDs(on official call, yeah when was last time they ever made house call) , etc park pretty wherever they like…even on sidewalks.
Why do you think bike lanes would be exception?
I too am a cyclist who uses the bike lanes when they are there and not when they aren’t. When there is a bike lane, it’s a joke (mostly) as delivery trucks, double parked cars, etc, will be in it anyway. (Bring on the Euro style lanes!)
People like to claim how New York is not as car centric as LA or other big cities. I don’t buy it anymore (I used to be one who claimed that). Hit the streets one day on a bike and see how completely car centric this city is. People will hop in the car to run some errand that is blocks away or even a mile or two. Anybody in reasonable shape can get on a bike to commute almost anywhere in this city. Most parts of B’stone Brooklyn is a very easy to ride to Manhattan. And there is almost no excuse for people living in Manhattan not to cycle everywhere. People will hop on the subway to go twenty blocks…give me a break. Lazy people all around.
As much as I like this blog, I hate the creepy, judgemental, antagonistic posting like JM’s above. For goodness sake, you don’t know this person. Don’t be a jerk!
10:48/9a — Ever hear of parking the van and busting out the stroller? God forbid Park Slope driver mommies have to walk around the corner.
With four kids, no one’s old enough to help out? Wouldn’t have lasted too long on the farm or the frontier. . .
I got a $60 ticket for not riding my bike in the bike lane on 6th. The reason I wasn’t riding in the bike lane is because every block had multiple trucks, buses, cops and taxis stopped and/or parked in the bike lane. I went to traffic court and the magistrate was totally disinterested in the fact that there were obstructions in the bike line. The law says I have to ride in the bike lane, period. I commute to work on bike and can never stay in the bike lane much time, because it’s ALWAYS blocked. It’s ridiculous.
here’s the kicker: bloomberg era cops have been known to ticket bikers who don’t use bike lanes when they exist. have a friend who got one of these and tried to fight it, arguing that he couldn’t use bike lane because it was blocked by a police car or by a mommy and her van or whatever. no dice.
10:45 — Oh, waah! Somebody call the waaahmbulance! Dude, you don’t need to double-park to drive to Fairway.
10:48 — I’ve got kids and a car too. Here’s a couple crazy ideas I’ve tried myself. (1) Double-park on the other side of the street; (2) wait to unload the baby until there’s no traffic coming.
It’s amazing how people consider avoiding a slight inconvenience to be an absolute need.
Here is a slide show of probably like one half of a percent of the bike lane violations that go on in NYC on an hourly basis.
http://www.villagevoice.com/gallery/0722,22conaway,76763,3.html?pic=6&total=21
As an avid cyclist, I think bike lanes generally provide a false sense of safety (as evidenced by the fact that everyone double parks in them which forces cyclists out into oncoming traffic sometimes with very little time to react).
Of course, living in the most self-centered city in the world, it’s not surprising in the least that most people feel that they can do anything they like in the bike lanes.
And for some mind-boggling reason, people think congestion pricing is a bad idea. An attack on the poor and middle-class? Where are these people parking everyday if they drive in? Are they spending $500 a month on a garage? Cause if they are, they’re not poor.
No, better to have clogged, noisy, unsafe streets that are an attack on everyone.
Umm… yeah… I’m going to go back to work now.
It’s a police car. ‘Nuff said. They can park anywhere–who will write them a ticket?