itsmrbill

For your information and amusement.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bzE-IMaegzQ Description from author:
little movie about a ticket i got for riding my bike not in the bike lane
- Uploaded by caseyneistat on Jun 7, 2011

Link: https://youtu.be/bzE-IMaegzQ

Fizzaly

That was an entertaining video

GeoBigJon

How messed up is that, and the best part the video shows why it is so jacked up to get a ticket. Very entertaining.

KonAaron Snake 

I'm confused...are you contending that you were riding in a lane, went out of the lane because there was an obstruction, and got ticketed for it...

or are you saying you were riding out of the lane in general because sometimes there are obstructions and ticketed for it, and are upset because it isn't illegal?

Legal or not...if you're able to ride in the lane, ride in the lane. Nothing in life is perfect...having a lane with some obstructions is better than having no lane at all. I'm wagering you weren't riding in the lane at all. I'm also extremely impressed with the cop for taking your rudeness and disrespect so well. If you have a problem with the ticket...you can fight it in court. Cops make mistakes, they aren't judges and they aren't usually legal experts. Court is the place to fight that.

PS...I'm assuming you are refunding the police and tax payers for any damage to the car you made while making your point? Personally, I'd have arrested you for disorderly conduct and reckless behavior for potentially interrupting traffic, property damage, possible injuries to others and anything else I can think of.

cycle.stig

I like how the cyclist cut off most of the video which is his best evidence and then just typed in what he wants us to know about the conversation. Sounded like the cop began talking about a red light, did the cyclist decide to go on a red? Looks like a whiner that probably deserved a ticket for cycling unsafely and cries when he's called on it.

twobadfish

that was awesome.

Pretty insane that he got a ticket for that. The best part was the cop car in the bike lane at the end. Irony?

borobike

Right or wrong, I laughed when he started crashing into stuff.
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KonAaron Snake 

I did too...the part that doesn't take things seriously. It was pretty damned funny...inane or not.

aggst1

I thought it was entertaining as well. As far as comments like the one further above that said that he should pay for any damages caused to the police car and that he should be arrested for disorderly conduct, I say grow up! If he get's arrested, then the cop should be arrested for parking there (on the bike lane). If any of us parked there we would have been ticketed! The police are NOT above the law! (they think they are but they are NOT)

I think the cop wanted to get a jump start on meeting his monthly quota and wrote the guy a ticket! End of story! He wanted to show the cyclist who's boss! He probably got pissed-off with the guy filming this all along too, so that didn't help

KonAaron Snake 

Yes...you're right. Deliberately crashing a bicycle into a car is just free expression and perfectly legal

The bogus ticket completely justifies that behavior (as opposed to fighting it in court, calling the officer's supervisor, etc.).

It was funny, I'll give it that.

aggst1

Deliberately crashing his bike into the car is correct. He is demonstrating just that! His argument is that he had NO other choice since he was ticketed earlier when he went out of the bike lane! So in that sense, he had to crash against the car. Of course he could have stopped, but we all know he is trying to make a point. Just imagine stopping your car for no reason on an expressway and someone rear-ends you... Why in the world would it be their fault when you should not have stopped there?

In any case, I think the cop would better use his time by writing tickets to cab drivers that do whatever they feel like, than to a guy on a bike!

KonAaron Snake 

I definitely see your point...the cyclist had no other options in our society. He didn't have the right to challenge the ticket in court. He didn't have the ability to contact representatives, the officer's supervisor's, media, etc. His ONLY option was to crash his bicycle into a police car paid for by the public.

jputnam

It would be their fault because they failed to leave adequate clearance or pay sufficient attention to stop without hitting a car stopped in front of them. Whether you have a reason or not has no bearing on whether they should hit you -- does it really matter whether you had a flat tire, a broken drive line, or just a sudden desire to stop? Not running into the car in front of you is a pretty basic road rule, as is the automatic presumption of fault for a motorist who strikes another vehicle from the rear.

Titmawz

Lol

Titmawz

Same here no matter the condition/situation you HAVE to be in the bike lane =/

jeffpoulin

I was impressed he could crash so often without hurting himself.

CB HI

Yeah, all that has been working extremely well in NYC lately, right?

waynesworld

What a bunch of crap to write that ticket. Pretty impressive/athletic display of crashing.

peskypesky

as a new NYC bike-rider, i was obviously interested in this video. its definitely funny and makes the point that bike lanes are often obstructed, leaving riders no choice but to go outside the bike lane.

but, as others have said, its not clear from the snippet with the cop what happened and why he got the ticket. clearly, he was riding outside the bike lane, but was he doing that because there was an obstruction?

i have to say that i LOVE the bike lanes, when they're available. it makes such a huge difference in the riding experience. i want more!

KonAaron Snake 

No...I'm sure crashing a car into a police cruiser is a far more intelligent alternative

Life's not perfect. There are things that will never be fair and just...let me know when you find utopia.

vtjim

He probably did more than $50 damage to the cruiser, so let's call it a wash.

Funny video, but how does he do that and not get hurt.

Scooby214

I have experience with a newly created bike lane causing a major safety issue along my daily commute. The city poured a pretty new sidewalk along a quiet secondary road, then put up green bike route signs along the sidewalk. I only use this road for about half a mile, so I carefully tried out the sidewalk bike route. I found two places where blind spots made it dangerous for me. The first one was caused by a large evergreen tree next to a residential driveway. The tree is close to the street, so the sidewalk does a small radius arch around the tree that ends at the driveway. Cars leaving the residence can't see me coming because of the tree. The other blind spot is more dangerous, as it is caused by a large brick sign in the middle of an entrance/exit of a gated community. The sidewalk is close enough to the brick sign to touch while cycling, and the brick sign is large enough to hide a minivan. I can't see when people are coming out of the gate until they are past the sign and on the sidewalk. Motorists have to drive past the sign, covering the sidewalk, in order to see before turning. A motorist could easily hit me on my bicycle before having a chance to see me!

Fortunately, in my case, the bike route signs were taken down after a month. I hope it was because of complaints from cyclists and not because of a cyclist being hit. I decided right away that the "bike route sidewalk" was not for me. I would rather pay a ticket than pay medical bills after being hit!

unterhausen

you don't list your location, but most states don't force you to ride a bike lane. NY and Florida being the exceptions I know of, and it seems to me that NY is fairly reasonable about it.

zoltani

people, it's the neistat bros

same guys that made the video of them stealing their own bikes

AdamDZ

Ha ha ha! That video is f***ing awesome! And yeah, the cop was wrong, and as most NYC cops, he was an a**hole too. If there is obstruction in the bike lane the cyclists is allowed to ride with traffic. He should have gone to court with bunch of pictures of the bike lanes. I often ride with the traffic because the bike lanes are obstructed almost on every block and weaving in and out is dangerous.

Generally, those green bike lanes that run along the sidewalks are a disaster waiting to happen. I hear of lots of collisions with pedestrians walking into the bike lanes and I had many close ones myself. These bike lanes are not safe if you go more than 3 mph.

Check this one out:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bzE-IMaegzQ

Adam