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BIKES Off the sidewalk! - Page 2 — Brooklynian

BIKES Off the sidewalk!

24

Comments

  • meredithb
    meredithb
    arches wrote: [quote=MeredithB]2. Since when is it illegal not to bicycle in a bicycle lane?
    NYC Bike Lane law (via TA):

    Wherever a usable path or lane for bicycles has been provided, bicycle riders shall use path or lane only except under any of the following situations:

    -When preparing for a turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
    -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 bicycle path or lane.

    More here: http://transalt.org/files/newsroom/magazine/013Summer/17bikelanes.html

    AHA! Reason enough not to use any road with a bike lane!
  • new2hood
    new2hood
    why would gloves help?
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    When don't gloves help? In almost any situation.
  • bill c
    bill c
    no one has any idea what the fines are for the 2 tickets i received?
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    I never got a fine. I never will. Sorry.
  • bill c
    bill c
    perusing my copy of the VTL and i noticed that 1236(d) requires all bikes to be equipped with a brake capable of making the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

    arguably that makes all fixed gear bikes illegal.
  • carmen
    carmen
    bill c wrote: no one has any idea what the fines are for the 2 tickets i received?
    I dont know what the tickets cost but you def want to pay them...if you ignore them you'll get a bench warrant and could be arrested the next time you get stopped!
  • arches
    arches
    bill c wrote: no one has any idea what the fines are for the 2 tickets i received?
    Not sure either. Maybe these guys can answer the question.

    Have You Been Ticketed On Your Bike?
    If you've been ticketed, get your questions answered and help us document the ticket blitz by contacting Caroline Samponara 646.873.6021, at Transportation Alternatives with the intersection you were stopped at, the date of the ticket, what you were stopped for, the number of the law listed, and whether you plan to appeal.
  • boygabriel
    boygabriel
    Carmen wrote: [quote=bill c]no one has any idea what the fines are for the 2 tickets i received?
    I dont know what the tickets cost but you def want to pay them...if you ignore them you'll get a bench warrant and could be arrested the next time you get stopped!

    happened to a friend of mine, specifically for riding on the sidewalk
  • bill c
    bill c
    arches wrote: [quote=bill c]no one has any idea what the fines are for the 2 tickets i received?
    Not sure either. Maybe these guys can answer the question.

    Have You Been Ticketed On Your Bike?
    If you've been ticketed, get your questions answered and help us document the ticket blitz by contacting Caroline Samponara 646.873.6021, at Transportation Alternatives with the intersection you were stopped at, the date of the ticket, what you were stopped for, the number of the law listed, and whether you plan to appeal.

    thanks. will do. i've been riding my bike daily, to and from work in manhattan, for the past 18 years and this is the first time i've gotten a riding on the sidewalk ticket. the cops took about 40 minutes to write up the tickets and throwing in a bogus discon charge was really the topper.
  • flo
    flo
    bleibtreu wrote: [quote=Flo]
    Thanks Stacey--that was my experience exactly. For a second there, I felt like I might have been a sucker with the ECB thing mentioned.
    §19-176 of the city administrative code prohibits bicycling on sidewalks, but as a civil violation under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Control Board. As a city administrative law, it's enforceable by police, sanitation, and parks and recreation.

    But NYS Vehicle and Traffic law also regulates bicycles, making riders generally subject to any VAT regulation. Generally a cop will cite you for a VAT violation, not an administrative violation. If you're cited under §19-176 and the citation says you appear in criminal court, yes, that's an error. But if you're cited under a provision of state law, then criminal court is the proper venue.

    Thanks Bleibtrue--although I gotta say I was more confused after reading this. :)
    Good luck Bill C. You have my sympathy. Maybe someone can confirm this, but I think I paid my fine with a debit card at the clerks window. I don't remember having to leave and come back with a money order. (Not very comforting, I know..)
  • independent mind
    independent mind
    The problem with assuming that cyclists should bike always in their legally designated lane, is it is predicated on the assumption that there are never buses or loading vehicles or cars double parked, or in the act of parking, or, for that matter, hiring heaps of school buses simply in order to pull out in front of you the second you pass by their cab for maximum scary factor (true story). So, you know what AA, if some cyclists want to risk the tickets, so be it. Seriously, what skin off you nose is this? I mean, assuming they're biking at safe speeds through the sidewalks, shouldn't you just assume they don't want to be playing leapfrog with angry pedestrians? Incidentally, some of the people who tend to use the sidewalks are delivery people, you know, those guys that bring you your food when you cant be arsed to cook or go to a restaurant? Maybe their riding on the sidewalk is a little revanche for not having health insurance, or a decent standard of livng etc. I could go on, but I won't bore you. And, I'm so grateful for every cyclist I see, I think, ah, one person who is making my asthma that much better, and lowering the heat index today, and I'm perfectly HAPPY to get out of their way. But I've never, in my 10 years in NYC, felt as if I have to. So what gives AA? just angry in general?

    But can't we just presume that these cyclists aren't regressive/taking the little bus to school, but simply negotiating really overwhelming traffic/weather/construction conditions. I always presume to give the benefit of the doubt.
  • danielle123
    danielle123
    Forget the bikes - rude pedestrians, off the sidewalk!

    Just walking home tonight, a couple walking hand-in-hand on the sidewalk approached and, apparently, "forgot" the sidewalk is supposed to be 2-way and banged into me because they wouldn't move over and I wasn't about to step in the street to go around them. Then not 20 feet later, a woman whacked her bag into me because she was walking in the middle of the sidewalk as I approached and didn't (wouldn't?) move over.

    People who believe the world exists for them, alone - suck.
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    danielle123 wrote: Forget the bikes - rude pedestrians, off the sidewalk!

    Just walking home tonight, a couple walking hand-in-hand on the sidewalk approached and, apparently, "forgot" the sidewalk is supposed to be 2-way and banged into me because they wouldn't move over and I wasn't about to step in the street to go around them.
    I've had fist fights because of shit like this. It's a two-way side walk folks. The sense of entitlement that some people have. Jeezus.
  • jarvis
    jarvis
    Not much of a bike rider so I really don't have clout on this thread (though I do skate on the sidewalk when the street is too narrow/tore-up/blocked). For those who ride/skate on the sidewalk at least sometimes, please give pedestrians ample space around them when you go by. I have a close family member with a disability that isn't necessarily obvious to others right off the bat and just walking is tough, let alone negotiating close calls with bikes - it's a total nightmare. I think there are a lot of people who can't jump out of the way (who aren't necessarily elderly) and we really can't tell who those people are..

    That being said it seems crazy to ticket people if no one is on the sidewalk or it's the middle of the night or whatever else.. sounds like they needed to fulfill a ticket quota.
  • brooksignal
    brooksignal
    Get off the sidewalk! Stop your time trials around Prospect Park! You look stupid on your "messenger" bike. Your helmet won't save your teeth!
  • carnivore
    carnivore
    BrookSignal wrote: Get off the sidewalk! Stop your time trials around Prospect Park! You look stupid on your "messenger" bike. Your helmet won't save your teeth!
    HE'S MAD AS HELL AND HE'S NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!
  • jazzypants469
    jazzypants469
    He's convinced me with his persuasive arguments and his stellar use of the American flag.
  • independent mind
    independent mind
    BrookSignal (AA), have you ever confronted an actual cyclist, or are you such a coward, you only mouth off online? if you have this much resentment, what are you going to do about it?

    I recently witnessed two guys on a bicycle mug some lady, and she ran after them and pulled them to the ground. There are two morals I want you to take from this story. A. there's someone who actually has a reason to feel ambivalent about sidewalk cyclists, at least for some time to come, though no doubt she'll recover from it, and B if a little old lady has the courage to fight like that, then why don't you do the same.

    [censored, no personal attacks or wishes of violence please. -mods]
  • brooksignal
    brooksignal
    censored. no name calling, please play nice, even when others don't. -mods
  • independent mind
    independent mind
    That would be an insult to mine.
  • arches
    arches
    independent mind wrote: BrookSignal (AA), have you ever confronted an actual cyclist, or are you such a coward, you only mouth off online? if you have this much resentment, what are you going to do about it?

    mod censored.
    :scratch: Um, why are you encouraging him to confront/attack cyclists? I think we'd all be better off with fewer chains to the face.
  • eggcream
    eggcream
    What the hell does AA mean?
  • independent mind
    independent mind
    ALL AMERICAN
  • flo
    flo
    Oh man.. this thread is getting entertaining now that we're letting our crazy hangout. Does the KK in the original post relate to the AA mentioned by independent mind and does this have anything at all to do with poker?
  • christina
    christina
    ..and who's up for the next midnight ride - the SIDEWALK EDITION???
  • carnivore
    carnivore
    Christina wrote: ..and who's up for the next midnight ride - the SIDEWALK EDITION???
    I'm all over that!
  • rtraindweller
    rtraindweller
    BrookSignal wrote: Get off the sidewalk! Stop your time trials around Prospect Park! You look stupid on your "messenger" bike. Your helmet won't save your teeth!
    I stopped taking you seriously after "get off the sidewalk". Please describe a "messenger" bike and why it looks stupid as i see bike messengers riding all different types. Also obviously a helmet won't save your teeth unless it's motorcycle helmet which let's face it, how you gonna peer out the corner of your eye to cut across two lanes when you realize you need to make that left of Classon from Flushing? (ehhh shit happens).


    I like your flag though, makes me feel safe.
  • rtraindweller
    rtraindweller
    Gtrain wrote: i never quite understood why it is illegal/looked down upon to ride your bike on the sidewalk. it really doesn't seem safe to have people on bikes in the streets along with cars.
    Really? Am I really reading this correctly?

    Do you drink your own pee?
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    Seems as though when people are driving they want the bicycles on the sidewalk and when people are walking they want them in the streets.

    or maybe I'm just delusional?
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