Bike Tickets in NYC
According to an article in the New York Post, tickets issued to bicyclists in New York City are up by nearly 50% since last year and 273% since 2009. Do you feel this increased enforcement is truly intended to make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians or do you feel this action is motivated by politics?
9 Responses to “Bike Tickets in NYC”
“Do you feel this increased enforcement is truly intended to make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians or do you feel this action is motivated by politics?”
I think it’s both. Enforcing traffic laws makes cyclists safer, and cyclists braking laws less leads to less justified hostility towards cyclists, but the execution of the policy led to abuse and shockingly poor targeting, for often nothing more than statistical results. Red light running in the park, on car free days? Tickets for offenses that didn’t exist (riding without a helmet, riding with tote bags on the handlebars) with the officers assuring the ticketed that the tickets would be thrown out, but handing out the citations anyway? There was/is a lot of ridiculous stuff going on in New York with their enforcement.
I think it is motivated to increase safety and awareness of cycling.
If you are cited for a traffic violation on a bike, it is ultimately an acknowledgement that cyclists are sharing the road and the responsibilities that come with sharing the road. I think it is a step in the right direction as far as cycling is concerned. Of course, it does come as a shock since there has been a sharp increase in enforcement lately. Hopefully the law is being equitably enforced, but it does seem to be a hot button lately. Are there really that many misbehaving cyclists?
However, I should temper this comment by stating I think consistency in abiding with traffic laws/rules/norms is the best way to be safe on a bike. It bothers me to see people ride on sidewalks, against lights, or the wrong direction on roads. When people are driving cars, they are not anticipating this type of behavior and i think the surprise is what can lead to accidents and aggression.
I drive, cycle, and walk, so I’m a moderate in every way. The Post of course is propaganda, but since the four crack reporters can’t be bothered to check Google for those bothersome stats from the last quote, here the 2009 stats from NYS DMV: http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/stats.htm. Of the over 15,000 pedestrian accidents and 300 fatalities, 9 were bike on pedestrian with none of them resulting in a fatality. Just sayin…
I think it’s both. I seem to remember reading something about NYC cycling advocates working with NYPD to establish a consistent dialog regarding traffic laws and safety. However, I doubt enforcement would have gotten off the ground without the political shove of the recent Park Slope bike lane nonsense.
It can easily be both, but I’d warrant a big player is misguided safety and law-and-order enforcement. Cops might not know the applicable bike rules or might know them wrong, leading to citations for ticky-tacky or even made-up reasons, but still might be issuing those citations with good intentions. Heck, the SABA mailing list this morning mentioned that a rider was cited by the CHP for not having two reflectors on each wheel in the daytime.
If police are trying to enforce laws governing a common lawful behavior they probably don’t engage in, they’ll have little personal experience to guide them and won’t be able to rely on a wealth of institutional knowledge.
Perhaps I’m naive, but I’m still inclined to believe that the police have our best interests at heart and that they were attempting (if poorly) to make the streets safer for everyone. Scofflaw cyclists need to be chased down and ticketed just like their counterpart motorists, because doing so will encourage more people to obey the law.
I could wish that they had implemented a better plan, though.
I think there alot of people that really irritated at cyclist in NYC, and to appease the masses they decided to do this, but if you have ever been in NYC scofflaw cyclist are only a small percent of the problem .
It’s all about safety. There are so many food deliveries in Manhattan made by bicycle and pretty much every single one of those people do not follow road rules. I’ve had more than my share of near collisions trying to cross a street when a delivery person flies past going against traffic on a one-way street. Even worse is seeing them abuse the new bike lanes by, yes, going the wrong direction! If you are a pedestrian, you usually look towards the oncoming traffic, not the other way where there should be no traffic at all. It’s deeply frustrating and if this law will help to stop these bozos, then everybody wins.
Just saw this video: http://vimeo.com/24572222
I think the first minute or so completely explains the crackdown.