The Sanctity of Bike Lanes?

what a terrible experience ‘bay ridge jen’. too bad you can’t track him down and destroy his tires. it’s the least of what he deserves and more. typical SUV retard.

thanks enid!

I was riding along in the bike lane on 5th Ave in park slope when an SUV pulled in front of me and stopped abruptly. i crashed into his bumper, and when he looked out the driver’s window and scowled, i reminded him that he is not supposed to be in the bike lane. i said, ver batim “this is the f*cking bike lane. you can’t park here.” i rode on with a few scratches, but shaky nerves.

a few moment later, i was hit in the back of the head (wearing a helmet, of course) with a glass bottle and swerved into by this same SUV. it threw me off my bike (still in the bike lane) and onto the hood of a correctly parked car. when i stopped to calmly write down his license plate, he got out of the car and ran at me with his club (that heavy steering wheel device.) luckily, i was faster on my bike.

when i reported it to the police, they said i provoked the incident by telling him to get out of the bike lane. they said they could not do anything about it and i should let the police do the policing.

great job, nypd.

oh… and this person lived in my neighborhood… i was afraid to ride my bide around the hood for quite some time. oh yes… i’m 5′ 1” – 105 lb. female. this man was twice my size.

don’t blame cars. punish bad drivers.

The ideal solution should be separate bike paths, as there are in Germany and elsewhere–but pretty much impossible to do in Manhatattan.
–Oh, wait, we have that on the Hudson River Greenway–but this is NY, & despite clear signs stating bikes & roller bladers only (itself a dangerous enough combination) the path fills up with joggers, walkers, stroller moms, and anyone else wanting to enjoy the path. The fact that I’m going close to 30mph on a dedicated bike path does little to stimulate these interloper’s sense of self-awarenss or sense of danger. Ditto in Prosepect Park in the mornings when the cars are allowed–the car drivers will practically force you off the road, and the pedestrians and joggers will not constrain themselves to their section of the marked “lanes”–where should I ride?
And don’t get me started about the peds on the B’lyn bridge (who I will kindly assume are tourists) who think nothing of wandering over to the other side to have a look right in front of cyclists (or my recent favorite–sitting down in that nice clear section of the boardwalk by one of the towers to rearrange the contents of their backpack, completely out of the line of sight of cyclists coming from the Brooklyn side), again oblivious to the idea that (a) bikes can go pretty fast, and (b) they can’t stop in 2 ft or less. I’d like to show you my scars from where a guy hipchecked me into one of the concrete abutments.
Ditto for the jaywalkers on Broadway who will step out when you have a green light and curse when you yell to save your a**.
Ditto on all the “Bike Lanes” that are dug up and badly patched–my personal fave was the three large shallow holes 3rd near Carroll–three appeared one day UNMARKED as hazards & I’m talking 3 ft x 5 ft!!!–two were patched after some days and third stayed unfilled for what seemed like weeks, waiting to catch unwary cyclists.
On 3rd Ave, it’s a bit like the old joke: “I love the handicapped–if it weren’t for them I’d have no place to park”–if it weren’t for the bike lanes the tire repair shops, and delivery guys would be unable to get their day’s work done!
I don’t condone riding the wrong way on one way streets, running red lights, riding without helmets, etc. But the laws state that I can move as far out into a lane as I deem safe because of hazards, and that overtaking vehicles should not pass in the same lane as I’m in. I don’t need honking behind me to tell me where I am in time in space, I will try not to make stupid and sudden manoeuvres, but I also need to keep the rubber side down.
Drivers–check your d**n mirrors before flinging open your doors–Pedestrians–Check to see if that cyclist is about to clip you before you start your jay-walk on the red light–Cylists–just assume that pedestrians and drivers will not see you, and ride like they are all out to get you.

haha yes. awesome.

12:57 –

I know countless people who have been given tickets in NYC for bicycle related traffic violations such as running red lights and riding on the side walk. I was given a ticket for running a red. How many cyclists do you know and regularly speak to about such topics?

Yes, many cyclists do these things without being ticketed, just as many people run red lights in cars, speed, double park, etc. without being ticketed. There less than two hundred traffic cameras that ticket people in NYC for running red lights… no where near enough to ticket everyone who does so. Again, you’re seeing what you want to see and believing what fits your own views. I lived on Clinton st in Carroll Gardens for two years and walked/road down Henry, Clinton, Court, and Smith countless times. It’s ludicrous that you claim that no one runs red lights on Henry as I’ve witnessed it. I also witnessed countless people parked in the bike lane on Clinton, double parked, running reds, and speeding on Court.

“bikes never get tickets. cars always do”

Completely absurd. You (and many others) hold double standards based on your narrow views. Again, members of every group break laws. A small fraction of each group is ticketed for it. Quit choosing to focus on one while ignoring or excusing the others, or just accept that everyone is going to break laws and move on.