mrRed

Be on the lookout from the 20's through the 40's

https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/bik/107012853.html

I was riding against the flow of traffic for about half a block and got pulled over by a police car. This is my second ticket in one month (my first: running a red light in the 30s).

Does anyone know what this crackdown is about, and why the city seems to be on a mission to deter people from riding bikes in the city?

If we're talking about safety, how about we start ticketing all of the people who jaywalk without looking? How about ticketing taxis that stop in what few bike lanes cyclists have? How about ticketing cars that run red lights (I see at least a couple during my morning rides, every single day).

https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/bik/106981116.html

New York's Finest are swarming Sixth Avenue today handing out tickets to bikes. They'll get you for going the wrong way, riding without a bell, riding without reflectors, and their favorite, not riding in the bike lane.

Higest concentration is in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Every damn block, there they are. Bike cops and regular beefy beat cops. I saw at least 10 different groups of cops pulling people over.

I got a $30 citation for riding on the right side of the street and while I was waiting for my ticket, they pulled over two other guys. The cop told me it's an operation running through tomorrow (Friday).

If possible, stay the hell off Sixth Ave. If you must, be careful. Riding the wrong way is $150.

One cop made some cryptic comment about how if I didn't like a ticket, I should think about who to vote for next month. "I'm not telling you who to vote for, I'm just saying," the cop said. What, is Ferrer some big bike advocate? Strange.

evanyc

no bell or reflectors... really? that's intense.

you can also fight the bike lane ticket because it's legal to ride outside the bike lane if it is obstructed or unfit for riding... and having traversed all of those bike lane's, i dont think a single one is fit for riding.

FixednotBroken

what a load of absolute horseshit. not riding in the bikelane is NOT an offense, especially considering that for most of 6th ave. it's a great way to get doored. and while rules are rules, ticketing bikes for running red lights as opposed to cars (you'll see that happen at just about every red light sequence, at just about every light) is a total misordering of priorities.

this is where our precious tax money goes. what a waste.

brunop

i always wondered how they could enforce a ticket in that you don't have to carry a driver's liscence when you're not drivin'. why not just make up a name and address to give' 'em? how can they catch you for not paying the ticket?

curlybro

Because you get in a whole hell of a lot more trouble for giving false information to the police if you get caught. The risk isn't worth the benefit to most people.

mrRed

man, this is just infuriating. What a waste of resources.

skelly

Didn't they pass an act where you are required to show identification if asked? I know you didn't have to before, but now I think you must.

sashae

Weird. I just rode home from work for lunch, and saw cops sitting at lights at 26th and 6th and a couple more in the upper 20s on Madison. Being the law-abiding cyclist that I am, I didn't run any red lights, but still. Guess I won't be taking 6th home tonight.

mattface 

The right side of the street is considered the "wrong way" in NY???

and you can get a ticket for not having a bell? That is just plain nuts. I sincerely hope a significant number of people choose to contest those tickets.

dogpound

I think legally, you need to have a bell.

my coworker got a $200 ticket in tribeca yesterday for running a red light.
And we're talkin slow dude on a granny 3 speed

EnLaCalle

i'm pretty sure you can buy a bell, show the judge your receipt and get out of the ticket. but yes, they can ticket you for that.

Maybe that's why he got the ticket?

mattface 

What could be the justification for such a law? Can't you just shout "ding ding!" if someone gets in your way? My voice is way louder than any bicycle bell I've ever seen, and I can operate it no handed.

eddiebrannan

from cl

re: WARNING ! LOOK OUT FOR COPS!! TICKETS ARE FLYING!!

Reply to: anon-107031176@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-10-27, 1:30PM EDT


The cops are cracking down in preparation for tomorrow's Critical Mass ride, which apparently is going to be an arrest-a-thon. Bloomberg and the NYPD have been consistently anti-bike, doing nothing to improve the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, and everything in their power to discourage cycling.

A word on "not riding in the bike lane"- the applicable regulation is 34 RCNY 4-12(p)
Whenever a *usable* bike lane has been provided, bicycle riders shall use such path or lane only except under any of the following situations:
-when preparing for a turn
-when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions including but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, pushcarts, animals, surface hazards, that make it unsafe to continue within such path or lane.

i.e. you don't have to ride in the bike lane if there's ANY reason not to.

So fight that ticket. Call Transportation Alternatives, 212-629-8080 (ask for Noah), email freewheels@bicycledefensefund.org, visit www.bicycledefensefund.org and write/call your city councilmember to complain.
no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

s_9

This is pretty serious.
A member of the nybma got two tickets today. Red Light & not being in bike lane. To the cops' credit, one did mention that if anything was wrong on the ticket, it was invalid - then intentionally misspelled her last name.

mrRed

you should remove the name of the ticketed, just so that if this does get back to the city, they can't track the ticketing officer and peanlize him/her for doing the right thing.

Ocicat

According to https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bikeped/bike-nyc.html, you are allowed to ride on the side opposite the bike lane on avenues:

So it sounds like the cops are just making **** up at this point.

s_9

thanks. good point. sorry for the faux pas. edited.

noumena9

anyone have a link for the bike law sheet that you can print and carry? the fact that they are ticketing on one stretch of 6th ave means that this is likely just one precinct making all the trouble. most likely there was an incident or a vip called in a complaint. a cop told me that in brooklyn they only hassle cyclists for a week or so after a vip complains.

i can't understand the logic: let about a million (by some estimates) red lights be run a day without a crackdown, never write tickets for people who door bikers and hit them, and let basically everyone speed all the time..... but ticket bikes! unreal.

brunning

coming off the williamsburg bridge this morning at around 9:45, there was a police car and a group of cyclists standing around.

i rode right by. i wonder if that had anything to do with anything.

signed, a guy who does about 150 "illegal" things every hour he's on a bike.

bostontrevor

Ocicat, I read (3) as being unrelated to bike lanes. It's a relaxation of the "keep right" rule but has no bearing on the mandatory bike lane rule.

While we're at it, (2) is incorrect from a traffic engineering perspective. Other vehicles should not be crossing the bike lane at all. They should be required to merge through it as they would with any travel lane. Driving across should only occur when the crossing vehicle is traveling perpendicular to the bike lane (ie, at an intersection). Otherwise that's how right (or left) hooks happen.

deathintransit

Crackin' down for Crit Mass is what I was thinkin'. Bloomberg and such must have seen too many "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb" stickers on bikes and took them seriously.

On a group ride last Saturday our very own HereNT (love the new avatar, buddy) got a verbal warning from one Minnepolis's finest for running a red.

It had just rained and the streets were wet downtown, so when the cop went after HNT he broke the back end of the car free and kinda fishtailed back and forth a bit. Just Smoky and the Bandit, Blues Brothers, Dukes of Hazard, Et al.

manboy

Hmm, it sounds like the cops aren't too enthusiastic about doing this--one misspelled a name, another bad-mouthed the mayor. At least they're not hatin'.

deathintransit

tax money goes into this, but instead of sitting around between calls, the cops are writing tickets for the city. Not everyone has the time to fight tickets and just end up paying them. Cyclists aren't going away and the city has a nice disorganized jumble of confusing laws. Have the cops crack down every once and awhile and they are generating revenue for the city.

mrRed

deathintransit, there was a study i read a few months ago stating that on average cities lose money from every moving violation ticket they write. The only positive monetary influx was gained from parking tickets, which NYC is great at writing, and could help clear out those bike lanes too

nycm'er

i bought a bell yesterday, just to be in full f'ing compliance and the shop owner asked if I wanted an itemized reciept to show the cops. ( To then get the ticket thrown out) I had heard of this move before. Good luck and have fun 'storming the castle!'