Insufficient Bike Parking at NAHBS: OCC Security Cuts Locks and 'Tows' Bikes
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I think the good weather was most unexpected and people rode who may not have on a typical February day. BTW, no one messed with my New York Lock - I was locked to a tree. :D
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Yes, I think the excellent weather had a lot to do with bringing out more cyclists than were planned for. I can see them wanting to keep the railings and exits clear, but if there'd been adequate rack parking it probably would not have happened.
There were some awesome bikes parked outside...:D . East Hill |
The real question remains whether they were blocking multiple means of egress or were they just an eyesore. They even called the Fire Dept. in to use a saw on the tougher Kryptonite locks. Is that good use of an emergency responder's time?
Another person posted, wondering if someone just casually walked off with a bike that had just been freed by that security guard! |
I think that was the tow truck driver.
No excuse for inadequate bike parking at a bike event in PDX, or for insufficient directions to the bike parking that was provided, or for the insufficient announcements regarding 'towing'. |
There was a lot less bikes this morning that when I walked by Saturday. I get the idea that the bikes had gotten to the point of making egress a problem in case of emergency. This morning overhead they were telling the vendors about the problems with the Fire Department from the day before. Get got the idea the FD had a snit fit. But all in all, I could have spent a lot of time in there if I wasn't pressed for time.
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Anybody here get their bike towed? Wonder how people got them back.
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Originally Posted by themickeyd
(Post 6141466)
There was a lot less bikes this morning that when I walked by Saturday. I get the idea that the bikes had gotten to the point of making egress a problem in case of emergency. This morning overhead they were telling the vendors about the problems with the Fire Department from the day before. Get got the idea the FD had a snit fit. But all in all, I could have spent a lot of time in there if I wasn't pressed for time.
I think like most of the Fire Marshals in Portland, this one just had an axe to grind. NAHBS just happened to be the unwitting wheel. |
bottom line - the event and venue staff should have seen this situation developing and responded proactively, rather than waiting until it was too late and responding reactively.
Now I'm glad they didn't get any of my money. |
Originally Posted by East Hill
(Post 6140271)
There were some awesome bikes parked outside...:D .
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I was there on Saturday. They must have announced 10 times to move your bike outside and that they were going to cut locks on those tied to handrails. The NAHBS webite mentioned to lock your bike outside not inside.
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^-- Ten times? Maybe youre hearing things or I am deaf. I heard one nice 'please move' then the next announcement was 'we are cutting your locks'.
On the video on BP my bike is in the background. I got there shortly after the film stopped and saved my lock. Got really lucky. |
Originally Posted by mike_khad1
(Post 6145998)
I was there on Saturday. They must have announced 10 times to move your bike outside and that they were going to cut locks on those tied to handrails. The NAHBS webite mentioned to lock your bike outside not inside.
It sucks that people had their locks cut, but it's not as if there weren't multiple warnings given. Just sayin'... |
To me the bigger issue is "why?" Were bikes blocking exits? creating a safety hazard? C'mon. I was there Saturday. I rode light rail simply because I know bike parking at the convention center is a pain. BUT it shouldn't be, and I should have been able to ride and lock up, and for anyone who ended up getting they're lock cut that sucks. Sounds like some over-zealous security who had nothing better to do. No crowd control issues with the peaceful bike-niks, so bust out the bolt cutters. Sheesh.
On plus side, this can be seen as further evidence that Portland needs to invest more heavily in Bike infrastructure - including bike parking. I mean, how cool is it that the Oregon Convention Center exceeded it's capacity for bikes? I heard there was parking for 500 and it filled. Hope someone at the Visitor/tourist bureau is paying attention, as well as Dept. of Tranportation. Another cool thing: I met two guys Saturday who flew from Japan to attend the show. Wow. |
I think that if I fall down a flight of stairs because a bunch of bikes made the handrail unusable, the organizers and the convention center probably share in the liability. Certainly I'd have a pretty easy lawsuit against them if I could prove that they ignored this safety issue. What about if exits (fire exits and other exits) were blocked.
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Originally Posted by mtmann
(Post 6147152)
I met two guys Saturday who flew from Japan to attend the show. Wow.
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Originally Posted by FlowerBlossom
(Post 6147573)
We had BF members from Indiana, Texas, California, and I thought that was pretty cool. Japan--wow, indeed!
I wish we could have gotten more BF members at the coffee break, but it was nice meeting everyone who was there! East Hill |
Originally Posted by yonderboy
(Post 6141778)
The previous article on BikePortland.org is about how the Fire Marshal was upset about the number of attendees in the Expo Center. I'm not sure how the Auto Show gets around this every year.
I think like most of the Fire Marshals in Portland, this one just had an axe to grind. NAHBS just happened to be the unwitting wheel. |
Originally Posted by donnamb
(Post 6140246)
I think the good weather was most unexpected and people rode who may not have on a typical February day. BTW, no one messed with my New York Lock - I was locked to a tree. :D
Big electric lines have a similar efffect, if the person understands the potential problems. |
Originally Posted by mtmann
(Post 6147152)
To me the bigger issue is "why?" Were bikes blocking exits? creating a safety hazard? C'mon.
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Originally Posted by stevesurf
(Post 6150797)
I sounds like: Fire Marshal exerts influence -> knee-jerk reaction by security -> cut and tow as many bikes around egress points as possible. Effect: everyone thinks it's Convention Center Security, but they are just puppets of the Fire Dept's interpretation of one of the few local laws they have jurisdiction over.
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