6 ms·

As a biker in NYC, police cars are the most dangerous thing on the road for you. They roll through red lights, never use blinkers, cut you off without looking,

by herbig 13y ago

As a biker in NYC, police cars are the most dangerous thing on the road for you. They roll through red lights, never use blinkers, cut you off without looking, park in bike lanes, and occasionally just drive down one way streets. All this without running their emergency lights, just as matter of everyday driving.

hnriot 13y ago
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
dmix 13y ago
Anecdotal point: I was biking in Toronto recently and I rolled past a cyclist that was just hit by a white van. An ambulance and police car were next to it responding. I biked slowly passed the van (in a clear bike lane) and then about 20 seconds later after passing through a stop light beyond the accident, a police car flew in front of me, cut me off, and proceeded to park in the bike lane in front of me, making me break hard and go around him. You'd think while the police are responding to a bike accident call they'd temporarily give a shit about our safety.
IgorPartola 13y ago
I witnessed some pretty questionable police driving in Boston. The greater Boston area is not known for stellar road quality and there are lots of poorly designed lane merges. For example, one time I saw a state trooper zooming between lanes, cutting people off, not using his turn signals. The cruiser's lights and sirens were off. It is possible that the officer was trying to catch up to someone in moderately heavy traffic without attracting lots of attention, but turn signals are really not that hard to use. My problem with this behavior is that aside from the obvious safety issues, this sets a bad example. It tells everyone around that turn signals are optional. On an unrelated note, so many of Boston's driving problems can be fixed with paint. There are many miles of road surface where the lane markers have worn out and it is not clear where people should be driving. When it is not clear, each driver makes up their own rules, lanes, etc. What's worse, the places where the paint is most worn out are typically busy intersections or the rotaries they use so much, which leads to some of the most hectic driving conditions an unprepared driver can be thrown into. As a side note to this side note, I actually wonder how something like Google's self-driving cars would do in an environment like this. The only place where I have personally seen worse driving is in Ukraine, where despite having lanes, they are typically just ignored. For example, if there are three wide lanes at an intersection, they become five very tight actual lanes.
sliverstorm 13y ago
occasionally just drive down one way streets I presume you mean they drive down one way streets _the wrong way_? Otherwise I fail to see the problem...?
- geetee 13y ago
  Obviously. Thanks for pointing it out.
at-fates-hands 13y ago
I live in the Minneapolis area and it's the same story here. I actually stopped riding at night because of it. And to top it off we're supposed to have the most "bike friendly" city but apparently nobody told the cops. I have dozens of stories where bikers have been hit and badly injured by cops not slowing down at intersections, trying to get around cars and driving in the bike lane and hitting bikers.
ninjac0der 13y ago
Sounds a lot like the observed behaviour of most bicyclist. No surprise to me that the two collided. I must have struck a nerve.
- josephagoss 13y ago
  The evidence so far shows Milt was inside the bike lane at all times and the stretch of road was straight and easy to navigate.
  - ninjac0der 13y ago
    Oh wow, that totally disproves my comment while explaining the downvotes, doesn't it.
pbharrin 13y ago
Same here in Silicon Valley. Anecdotal evidence: on Steven's Canyon Road there is a monument to two cyclists who were killed by a police officer.
001sky 13y ago
In NYC, the bike lane is the "kill zone" for double parked cars and opening doors. I always try to avoid it, unless its one of the (few) good ones that is actually blocked off from traffic. Because cops are always "pulling over" into a double-parked position (as in not parking on the curb), they tend to infringe on this space by default...Same with taxi's pulling over to pick up fares...and pedestrians trying to flag a cab as well...not to mention the delivery guys going the wrong way...etc...a veritable obstacle course
jbp 13y ago
Bike lanes by Casey Neistat : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

by herbig 13y ago

hnriot 13y ago

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

dmix 13y ago

Anecdotal point: I was biking in Toronto recently and I rolled past a cyclist that was just hit by a white van. An ambulance and police car were next to it responding. I biked slowly passed the van (in a clear bike lane) and then about 20 seconds later after passing through a stop light beyond the accident, a police car flew in front of me, cut me off, and proceeded to park in the bike lane in front of me, making me break hard and go around him. You'd think while the police are responding to a bike accident call they'd temporarily give a shit about our safety.

IgorPartola 13y ago

I witnessed some pretty questionable police driving in Boston. The greater Boston area is not known for stellar road quality and there are lots of poorly designed lane merges. For example, one time I saw a state trooper zooming between lanes, cutting people off, not using his turn signals. The cruiser's lights and sirens were off. It is possible that the officer was trying to catch up to someone in moderately heavy traffic without attracting lots of attention, but turn signals are really not that hard to use. My problem with this behavior is that aside from the obvious safety issues, this sets a bad example. It tells everyone around that turn signals are optional. On an unrelated note, so many of Boston's driving problems can be fixed with paint. There are many miles of road surface where the lane markers have worn out and it is not clear where people should be driving. When it is not clear, each driver makes up their own rules, lanes, etc. What's worse, the places where the paint is most worn out are typically busy intersections or the rotaries they use so much, which leads to some of the most hectic driving conditions an unprepared driver can be thrown into. As a side note to this side note, I actually wonder how something like Google's self-driving cars would do in an environment like this. The only place where I have personally seen worse driving is in Ukraine, where despite having lanes, they are typically just ignored. For example, if there are three wide lanes at an intersection, they become five very tight actual lanes.

sliverstorm 13y ago

occasionally just drive down one way streets I presume you mean they drive down one way streets _the wrong way_? Otherwise I fail to see the problem...?

geetee 13y ago
Obviously. Thanks for pointing it out.

at-fates-hands 13y ago

I live in the Minneapolis area and it's the same story here. I actually stopped riding at night because of it. And to top it off we're supposed to have the most "bike friendly" city but apparently nobody told the cops. I have dozens of stories where bikers have been hit and badly injured by cops not slowing down at intersections, trying to get around cars and driving in the bike lane and hitting bikers.

ninjac0der 13y ago

Sounds a lot like the observed behaviour of most bicyclist. No surprise to me that the two collided. I must have struck a nerve.

josephagoss 13y ago
The evidence so far shows Milt was inside the bike lane at all times and the stretch of road was straight and easy to navigate.
- ninjac0der 13y ago
  Oh wow, that totally disproves my comment while explaining the downvotes, doesn't it.

pbharrin 13y ago

Same here in Silicon Valley. Anecdotal evidence: on Steven's Canyon Road there is a monument to two cyclists who were killed by a police officer.

001sky 13y ago

In NYC, the bike lane is the "kill zone" for double parked cars and opening doors. I always try to avoid it, unless its one of the (few) good ones that is actually blocked off from traffic. Because cops are always "pulling over" into a double-parked position (as in not parking on the curb), they tend to infringe on this space by default...Same with taxi's pulling over to pick up fares...and pedestrians trying to flag a cab as well...not to mention the delivery guys going the wrong way...etc...a veritable obstacle course

jbp 13y ago

Bike lanes by Casey Neistat : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ