Gothamist: Bikers Beware-- Ticketing Blitz on Sixth!

eastbloc

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:22:57 -0500

Most bicyclists stop for red lights, then cross when it is safe. The same thing you do when you cross the street. If you honor right-of-way you should not be ticketed as a pedestrian or a cyclist. It is in the interest of the cyclist's safety to pass through red lights when it is safe to do so in order to stay out of the main stream of car traffic.

Ace

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:45:35 -0500

all I want is to see a bicyclist stop for a red light someday.

Dirk

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 01:17:11 -0500

Every time I relax and feel I'm contributing something positive to the city and community by riding my daughter to school, and commuting to work, there's always some self-righteous Super Pedestrian that grumbles at me for hopping the curb and coasting to a stop in front of a store, or for cutting lanes at a stop light as they attempt to jaywalk mid-block. I'm as far from a bad a** as anyone can get, but still get nasty sneers for just plain innocuous bike behavior. Where do these people come from? Are they all safely sequestered away in Battery Park City highrises, with bike-lock cutting Parks dept. personnel circling their dog-free zones? Do they police every aspect of city life with as much vigor? Is this city being Disneyfied at an alarming rate, or am I just another geezer lamenting the good ole days?

surfer

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:23:18 -0500

Ferrer participated in the Bronx Bike Tour so he's for cyclists. Cycling is too low class for Bloomberg. He's busy flying his million dollar helicopter. Good response Rico Starr.

eastbloc

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:04:20 -0500

I bike every day and attend Mass regularly. There's nothing that irks me more as a cyclist than other cyclists going the wrong way. It's very freaking dangerous. If the cops were going after that, I'd be all for it. But it doesn't seem like it, from what I've seen. From what I've seen, they're just targeting cyclists for anything a cyclist could conceivably do wrong. Running a red light is bad, but crossing an intersection at the red light when there is no traffic and there are no pedestrians crossing is about on par with jaywalking. Can you dispute that? This is like cops going out to enforce 'pedestrian offences' specifically, and going after people jaywalking, walking in the street, etc. Going after a group of people is not right, it smacks of something dubious. If you want to calm traffic and stop people from doing stupid things, I'm 100% behind you. If your goal is to make life difficult for cyclists or pedestrians or drivers who are used to doing things a certain way in this city and do so with careful consideration, I'm opposed. This is a stupid action.

and a biker too

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 23:59:17 -0500

I've commuted to work on a bike. Pedestrians suck much of the time, and vehicles are worse. And I see plenty of bad cyclists. But this is nothing extraordinary (it's just you hear about it because the Internet artifically inflates it's signifance). I've been ticketed three times for driving without a seat belt (once as I was pulling into the parking lot at Fairway), each time a ticket trap. These are just revenue exercises: people don't fight them, since there's no serious penalty (points, etc.) and it's a hassle to challenge.

bklynd

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 19:14:05 -0500

The unified field law of enforcement in NYC is how difficult it is for the officers. The #1 priority is parking tickets (street cleaning & meters) - stationary cars, no driver in sight. Plop it on the windshield and you are out of there. And, ya gotta admit, nailing a cyclist sounds a heck of a lot easier than pulling over some speeder in midtown. Actually, in my neighborhood there *is* a speed trap, on the very last leg of the Belt Parkway. It's easy pickins - a good place to hide, and plenty of room to pull 'em over.

Steven

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 17:35:11 -0500

And what about all the cars constantly double parked in the bike lane. Do they get tickets?

evan

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 16:39:22 -0500

the guy above me has it right. anyone getting all law and order on bikers best not jaywalk. ever. don't you know you could cause a car accident? or drive 56 mph. or smoke a joint. chill the fuck out . bikes don't kill people. asshole drivers do.

Rico Starr

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:52:39 -0500

Ace, Someday I would like a pedestrian not to cross the street on a red light right in front of me. Someday I would like cars not to cut me off. Everyone breaks the law every day -- did you know that flagging down a cab in the street is illegal, waiting to cross the street and waiting in the street is illegal? Some day I want to bike full speed into your face!

Ace

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:09:33 -0500

Some day I hope to see an NYC bicyclist stop for a red right.

e

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:51:15 -0500

Rico, you should have dismounted your bike and walked it to your building if you were so close to the bike racks. You were going the wrong way which is illegal. I wonder how much sympathy we'd have for a car driver that went the wrong way on a street but used the "I was only 50 yards from my building's garage" excuse.

Shoelover

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:34:13 -0500

Next up - J-Walking Tickets

Rico Starr

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:18:25 -0500

I got a $250 ticket for biking down 49th towards 6th Ave. Yes, I was going against traffic, but the bike racks in front of my building are about 50 yards off 6th Ave. When I told the cop I didn't have ID -- I don't think that's necessary to bike... he threatened to cuff me and call the closest police cruiser. I gave him my ID and got a ticket. a$$holes.

Jack

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:01:05 -0500

I am all for bike advocacy. If this city were a lot bike friendlier, it would be great. But I have to say that the amount of cyclists I see on a daily basis who are riding on the sidewalk, riding the wrong way or actually breaking traffic laws--and often near-missing pedestrians--is damned out of hand. I think the worst thing to happen to bike advocacy in this city is Critical Mass. They're simply too confrontational and hypocritical in their approach. It takes two to tango, and Mike Bloomberg might be overeager in a way but don't ignore the cyclists own culpability when they break the law and act like jerks themselves.

Jen

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:39:15 -0500

Well, Al "Husband of Star Jones" Reynolds was pulled over for changing lanes without a signal, so that's a start. I'm one of those insane people who curses at the bad drivers who turn on red and swipe pedestrians who have right of way - I am thisclose to going to my local precinct to become a citizen patrolperson so I can write out citizen's tickets.

Colleen

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:38:52 -0500

I am sorry - but so many bikers do not obey the laws of this city and create so much danger for pedestrians. Riding the wrong way on the street? You should be ticketed! If a car were to do that they'd also be tickets. And Critical Mass are a bunch of idiots. Half of them don't even wear helmets - yeah, really cool. Obviously you don't have anything in there worth protecting! And holding up traffic is not a hot way to get your 5th grade point across. Cheers!

Glenn

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:36:41 -0500

This could bring an end to all bike messenger services in the entire city! Or will the new citation blitz not apply to those messengers who break pretty much every rule in the book? I don't have a problem with enforcing the law. If there's a law on the book it should be enforced. The problem is that picking a day here or there is a waste of time, and I can't approve of arbitrarily picking on one group while ignoring jaywalkers, cab drivers and everybody else who ignores all laws while using the city's streets. And should I even mention all the city vehicles I see every day that would get pulled over in any other city for erratic and illegal driving? As a guy who rides all over the city throughout the year, I hope the city puts as much effort into treating bikes as a viable and valuable transportation alternative as it has attempting to keep us law abiding. Maybe when the election is over, right?

MT

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:13:50 -0500

Why would you do something like that two weeks before and election? It's a surefire way of pissing off voters.

Dirk

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:13:09 -0500

A "war zone" is downtown Baghdad. Getting a ticket by the NYPD hardly qualifies as being at war. I'm all for biker's rights, but get a fucking clue.

bike boomberg

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:57:56 -0500

i'm all in favor of bike crackdowns. just because there are bad drivers doesn't mean we should excuse bad bikers. but if the city devoted 1/10th the energy to improving daily auto traffic as they do to arresting once-a-month bike groups the city might be a better place for everyone.

d

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:51:21 -0500

you're right, bb. break the law, get a ticket. i agree. run a red light, get a ticket. but where are the massive crackdowns on speeding drivers? drivers who park on the sidewalk? double parkers, etc. bikers who break the law should be held accountable and should act responsibly, but the response is a bit disproportionate.

rev pays

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:51:01 -0500

How about applying the motor vehicle laws equally? Cars make many more violations than bikes, not to mention those hit and run deaths this week.

bb

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:43:05 -0500

Now, I fully support bikers and the need to make the city more bike friendly...but if you're going to be one of those people that breaks bike laws, it's your own fault if you get pulled over. Just because cars make everything non-car based near impossible doesn't mean people shouldn't be fined to hell for riding the wrong way or, especially, running through red lights or riding on the sidewalk. The cops might be cracking down in a excessive way, but come on take some responsibility for your actions.

Slant Point

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:42:51 -0500

Guantanamo? War Zone. Gimme a break. You liberals take this war language way too seriously.

tien

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:36:30 -0500

i think the bikes that they were removing from the bedford stop are still piled up at the police station.

S.D.

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:32:50 -0500

A precursor to arresting more people at the Critical Mass ride?? Of all the "Hardened" Criminals to target...

Kojak

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:16:55 -0500

Since New York no longer has any murders, rapes, home break-ins and terrorists trying to kill thousands of us, the NYPD is right to use all their resources to go after these out of control bikers! They really know how to prioritize! Sounds like a RudyG quality of life goon squad to me.