Originally Posted by
Inertianinja
It's pretty amazing what the city is coming to. I had heard that the NYPD had received an overtime grant for ticketing cyclists. the grant would have been justified by "promoting safety"
the irony is that if a rider is in Central Park, that means he's chosen a place with minimal car traffic to avoid dangerous situations. unfortunately, cycling in central park is easy pickings for the police. much more likely to pay than the delivery worker on the upper east side on a stolen bike rocketing down the sidewalk or through a red light.
the conflict is that the cyclist is being forced to follow traffic laws AS IF he were a car, even though he's in a part of the city that has been blocked off to cars but not cyclists - showing that there IS distinction between the two.
this is infuriating.
I think the simple solution is to have the traffic lights bink yellow during times the park is closed off to traffic this way cyclists don't have to come to a complete stop, just slow down enough to let any pedestrians cross the intersections safely. As for the broader issue of an increase of accidents involving cyclists the DOT needs to address this on multiple levels because there are plenty of reckless cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists who are responsible and targeting just one group isn't the solution.