4 ms·

Don't get your hopes up, Uber drivers will still find a way to block the bike lanes.

fennecfoxen 7y ago
And the cops. And the firefighters parking outside the fire station. And when a car does hit a bike and NYPD shows up... well... https://twitter.com/joemewler/status/1177042296900071425 https://twitter.com/joemewler/status/1177042296900071425
- alephnan 7y ago
  Is the tagged @nytrafficpolice official? It’s suspended.
  - fennecfoxen 7y ago
    Doesn't look like it. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:joVJgcf37j0J:https://twitter.com/nytrafficpolice%3Flang%3Den+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:joVJgc... If you prefer: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/09/30/cops-blow-off-witnesses-to-brooklyn-crash-that-injured-cyclist/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/09/30/cops-blow-off-witness...
- btrettel 7y ago
  I've been thinking about starting a cyclist-oriented "neighborhood watch" type organization because the police don't do much anything about violence against cyclists, much less more "minor" issues like parking in the bike lane. At the very least volunteers could document things like this properly.
  - pedantsamaritan 7y ago
    For NYC twitter helps a bit https://twitter.com/reported_nyc https://twitter.com/reported_nyc https://twitter.com/copsinbikelanes https://twitter.com/copsinbikelanes What else do you have in mind for a cyclist-oriented neighborhood watch?
    - btrettel 7y ago
      Here are some examples of what I'd like to see a neighborhood watch organization do: Proper investigations of crashes, near crashes, and violence against cyclists. The police generally don't care. Keeping statistics. Those Twitter accounts are okay, but in my experience the police will often say things like "we had no reported incidents there" when I know that some were reported. I think having an independent database would be valuable. Tracking down repeat offenders and giving them a talking to, and/or hosting an online wall-of-shame. Helping cyclists handle bureaucracy, which seems to be designed to discourage people in my experience. Something like these guys in problem areas might help too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrKscEv_Ri1pvlRsLxsqJQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrKscEv_Ri1pvlRsLxsqJQ
      - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
        I have the uneasy feeling that police will never look into cyclist accidents very seriously. Way too many cyclists disobeying the rules, weaving through traffic, wandering from sidewalks to street and back again, ignoring signals, and on and on. Sure I bet we all obey the rules. But there's that overwhelming mass of cyclists that don't, it will be hard to interest police in trying to separate the incidents.
        btrettel 7y ago
        I've looked at the statistics and cyclists don't break the law significantly more than drivers do. Drivers break different laws that are socially acceptable to break, like speeding. About 2/3 of drivers admit to speeding: https://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081107ManneringSpeeding.html https://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081107ManneringSpeeding.... That fits with my experience. You can find wildly varying estimates of how often cyclists run red lights: https://bikeportland.org/2013/06/25/94-of-bikes-wait-at-red-lights-study-finds-89025 https://bikeportland.org/2013/06/25/94-of-bikes-wait-at-red-... https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/26/this-is-what-makes-bicyclists-blow-through-red-lights/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/26/... But even the most pessimistic estimate of the probability of cyclists running reds linked to above (79%) isn't that much worse than drivers speeding. And in my experience, it's actually quite rare for a cyclist to blow through a red light without checking for oncoming traffic. Typically when a cyclist runs a red light, it's safe. (Not that you should do it.) I think speeding is much worse from a safety perspective.
insickness 7y ago
If a bike lane is truly 'protected', that implies that between the road and the bike lane, there's a at least a curb if not an actual barrier.
- u801e 7y ago
  They're not actually "protected" in the sense of what protected means in the traffic engineering profession. Protected is supposed to be used for things like traffic signal phases (like a green arrow indicating a protected left turn phase). Ironically, when one of those "protected" bike lanes crosses an intersection, there often isn't a protected intersection phase for the cyclist via a traffic signal.
- TulliusCicero 7y ago
  I think the issue is that sometimes the lanes are wide enough for cars to drive down them, and so unless you out in some targeted barriers with too little spacing between for cars to fit, some drivers will absolutely go down them, and cops generally don't care overmuch.
asdfman123 7y ago
They just need to pass an ordinance stating it's totally legal to key cars parked in bike lanes. Problem solved!
CydeWeys 7y ago
My main issue recently has been with delivery trucks. They're bigger (thus block the bike lane completely), and they tend to be in the bike lane for a much longer period of time than FHVs/taxis.
- btrettel 7y ago
  I've started blocking delivery truck drivers back. I'll stand directly in front of their passenger side door to block them from returning to their vehicle (not touching their vehicle). Some drivers seem really irritated to have to walk into the road, which just shows that they know their parking is dangerous to cyclists. The goal is to add time to their delivery, as I think they only park in the bike lane to save time. I think if enough cyclists did this then delivery truck drivers might start to avoid the bike lanes.

And the cops. And the firefighters parking outside the fire station. And when a car does hit a bike and NYPD shows up... well... https://twitter.com/joemewler/status/1177042296900071425 https://twitter.com/joemewler/status/1177042296900071425

alephnan 7y ago
Is the tagged @nytrafficpolice official? It’s suspended.
- fennecfoxen 7y ago
  Doesn't look like it. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:joVJgcf37j0J:https://twitter.com/nytrafficpolice%3Flang%3Den+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:joVJgc... If you prefer: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/09/30/cops-blow-off-witnesses-to-brooklyn-crash-that-injured-cyclist/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/09/30/cops-blow-off-witness...
btrettel 7y ago
I've been thinking about starting a cyclist-oriented "neighborhood watch" type organization because the police don't do much anything about violence against cyclists, much less more "minor" issues like parking in the bike lane. At the very least volunteers could document things like this properly.
- pedantsamaritan 7y ago
  For NYC twitter helps a bit https://twitter.com/reported_nyc https://twitter.com/reported_nyc https://twitter.com/copsinbikelanes https://twitter.com/copsinbikelanes What else do you have in mind for a cyclist-oriented neighborhood watch?
  - btrettel 7y ago
    Here are some examples of what I'd like to see a neighborhood watch organization do: Proper investigations of crashes, near crashes, and violence against cyclists. The police generally don't care. Keeping statistics. Those Twitter accounts are okay, but in my experience the police will often say things like "we had no reported incidents there" when I know that some were reported. I think having an independent database would be valuable. Tracking down repeat offenders and giving them a talking to, and/or hosting an online wall-of-shame. Helping cyclists handle bureaucracy, which seems to be designed to discourage people in my experience. Something like these guys in problem areas might help too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrKscEv_Ri1pvlRsLxsqJQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrKscEv_Ri1pvlRsLxsqJQ
    - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
      I have the uneasy feeling that police will never look into cyclist accidents very seriously. Way too many cyclists disobeying the rules, weaving through traffic, wandering from sidewalks to street and back again, ignoring signals, and on and on. Sure I bet we all obey the rules. But there's that overwhelming mass of cyclists that don't, it will be hard to interest police in trying to separate the incidents.
      - btrettel 7y ago
        I've looked at the statistics and cyclists don't break the law significantly more than drivers do. Drivers break different laws that are socially acceptable to break, like speeding. About 2/3 of drivers admit to speeding: https://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081107ManneringSpeeding.html https://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081107ManneringSpeeding.... That fits with my experience. You can find wildly varying estimates of how often cyclists run red lights: https://bikeportland.org/2013/06/25/94-of-bikes-wait-at-red-lights-study-finds-89025 https://bikeportland.org/2013/06/25/94-of-bikes-wait-at-red-... https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/26/this-is-what-makes-bicyclists-blow-through-red-lights/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/26/... But even the most pessimistic estimate of the probability of cyclists running reds linked to above (79%) isn't that much worse than drivers speeding. And in my experience, it's actually quite rare for a cyclist to blow through a red light without checking for oncoming traffic. Typically when a cyclist runs a red light, it's safe. (Not that you should do it.) I think speeding is much worse from a safety perspective.

insickness 7y ago

If a bike lane is truly 'protected', that implies that between the road and the bike lane, there's a at least a curb if not an actual barrier.

u801e 7y ago
They're not actually "protected" in the sense of what protected means in the traffic engineering profession. Protected is supposed to be used for things like traffic signal phases (like a green arrow indicating a protected left turn phase). Ironically, when one of those "protected" bike lanes crosses an intersection, there often isn't a protected intersection phase for the cyclist via a traffic signal.
TulliusCicero 7y ago
I think the issue is that sometimes the lanes are wide enough for cars to drive down them, and so unless you out in some targeted barriers with too little spacing between for cars to fit, some drivers will absolutely go down them, and cops generally don't care overmuch.

asdfman123 7y ago

They just need to pass an ordinance stating it's totally legal to key cars parked in bike lanes. Problem solved!

CydeWeys 7y ago

My main issue recently has been with delivery trucks. They're bigger (thus block the bike lane completely), and they tend to be in the bike lane for a much longer period of time than FHVs/taxis.

btrettel 7y ago
I've started blocking delivery truck drivers back. I'll stand directly in front of their passenger side door to block them from returning to their vehicle (not touching their vehicle). Some drivers seem really irritated to have to walk into the road, which just shows that they know their parking is dangerous to cyclists. The goal is to add time to their delivery, as I think they only park in the bike lane to save time. I think if enough cyclists did this then delivery truck drivers might start to avoid the bike lanes.