# NYPD overticketing cyclists



## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

I came across this article about the NYPD ticketing cyclists, including ticketing them for things that were not illegal. http://gothamist.com/2011/05/25/cyclist_class_action_lawsuit_expect.php I assume that people who ride in NYC know about this. But, if you don't, FYI.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Speaking strictly as a city cyclist I would have to say that as a rule cyclists rarely obey the rules of the road and are way underticketed.

I should know..... :blush2:


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

Well, considering how many motorists are running reds (stale yellows or whatever...) or speeding.... or driving drunk.... I take issue with targeting cyclists. This is a bully mentality of the police. Biking without a helmet? Hanging a bag on handle bars? gimme a break.



MB1 said:


> Speaking strictly as a city cyclist I would have to say that as a rule cyclists rarely obey the rules of the road and are way underticketed.
> 
> I should know..... :blush2:


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## Cyclist69 (Apr 15, 2011)

filtersweep said:


> Well, considering how many motorists are running reds (stale yellows or whatever...) or speeding.... or driving drunk.... I take issue with targeting cyclists. This is a bully mentality of the police. Biking without a helmet? Hanging a bag on handle bars? gimme a break.


I know what you’re saying but, as the minority on the road, anything we do ( mostly wrong ) gets amplified. Sometimes, it just takes one person to make us all look bad. So i guess, the officer was having a bad day cause he'd didn't like getting passed in heavy traffic by a cyclist, so he was out for blood...who knows.


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

I don't buy that at all--- that one person makes "us" all look bad-- minority or not. Do you judge all motorists based on them being a motorist? Most people made their minds up a long time ago about cyclists, and merely are operating on confirmation bias.

The simple fact remains that the streets (especially in NYC) are clogged with vehicular traffic. :mad2:




Cyclist69 said:


> I know what you’re saying but, as the minority on the road, anything we do ( mostly wrong ) gets amplified. Sometimes, it just takes one person to make us all look bad. So i guess, the officer was having a bad day cause he'd didn't like getting passed in heavy traffic by a cyclist, so he was out for blood...who knows.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

I wonder how many of them get tossed out by the courts?


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

rcnute said:


> I wonder how many of them get tossed out by the courts?



Imagine the waste of tax payers' resources if that is the case--- add up the hours spent ticketing, processing the paperwork, court time--- not to mention the lost wages incurred by the "victims" of these bogus tickets as they have to show up for traffic court.

Last time I was in Manhattan, pedestrians seemed to view red lights as rather optional when crossing streets.... as in mobs of pedestrians. 

Finally--- what is the real public risk that these cyclists actually pose? How much blood is on the streets due to their actions? Just curious.... I am sort of into the whole risk assessment approach to solving problems. Who is at risk? What are the actual risks? And what is the cost of mitigating them?

...or is this just another "revenue" machine....?


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

filtersweep said:


> Last time I was in Manhattan, pedestrians seemed to view red lights as rather optional when crossing streets.... as in mobs of pedestrians.


East Coast norms vs. West Coast norms.

Here on the East Coast, urban pedestrians are even less respectful of traffic laws than cyclists are. Jaywalking is the rule rather than the exception in East Coast cities. Last week I was in San Francisco. Pedestrians would wait at a Do Not Walk sign even though the street was clear to cross.


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## evs (Feb 18, 2004)

*Is midtown north were that biker got knocked down*

by a cop during a rolling rally. On youtube there is a vid of a cop walking over and pushing a guy down and off his bike and arresting him. I was wondering if this is payback for that. Was that cops precinct in that area?


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

NYC banned trans fats to protect public health. They will phase down private automobiles to do the same. Think about how much better street space in NYC could be used without private automobiles clogging the roads. Cycling, buses and cabs would be more efficient. Safer public spaces for people to use, cleaner air and less oil money funded nuclear proliferation and terrorism. New York is also threatened by sea level rise so they will want to show leadership to reduce GHG emissions. 

There is also pedestrian safety. From 2000 to 2009 47,700 pedestrians were killed in the United States.










http://t4america.org/resources/dangerousbydesign2011/map/#?latlng=37.7749295,-122.41941550000001
http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/05/2...f-san-franciscos-high-speed-arterial-streets/


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

StreetsBlog: New York Post Bike Bile: Deliberate Lies or Pure Ineptitude?


It’s getting to the point — probably well past the point, actually — where the non-stop cyclist hate spewing from the New York Post has attained a level of self-parody. So free of fact and full of bald-faced vitriol is the paper’s latest editorial, praising Ray Kelly’s NYPD for a marked increase in cyclist summonses, that it’s tempting to dismiss it as unworthy of thoughtful response.
.
.
.
Whether the Post is ignorant of safety gains brought about by bike lanes, or simply chooses to pretend they don’t exist, this is unadulterated crap. Here are a few actual facts to the contrary:

Since the installation of the protected bike lane on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, injuries to pedestrians are down by 29 percent.

The protected bike lane on Grand Street has reduced pedestrian injuries by 21 percent.

A 2008 traffic-calming project on Skillman Ave. and 43rd Ave. in Queens, including bike lanes on both streets, resulted in a “65% reduction in the number of crashes involving injuries to pedestrians on the corridor,” according to city data.

On First and Second Avenues in Manhattan, injuries to all users are down 8.3 percent following the installation of bike lanes.

A city study released last summer found that citywide, controlling for other factors, serious crashes on streets with bike lanes were 40 percent less deadly than on other streets.​


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## Got Time (Jan 23, 2009)

MarkS said:


> ... in San Francisco. Pedestrians would wait at a Do Not Walk sign even though the street was clear to cross.


Those were tourists... (easy to recognize, they also use turn signals when driving).


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

Saudi Arabia on the Hudson: NYPD Officer Stopped Cyclist For Wearing Skirt

When Jasmijn Rijcken, the general manager of the VANMOOF bicycle company, traveled from Amsterdam to New York in late April, she was excited to see what she’d heard described as a city that had embraced bicycling. It wasn’t NYC’s new protected bike lanes that defined her ride through the city, however, but the New York Police Department, currently in the midst of a major crackdown against cyclists.

Her harassment at the hands of the police has colored Rijcken’s perception of not only New York City but the United States. “I was shocked,” she said. “In Holland, people refer to America as the country of freedom.”​


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## Cyclist69 (Apr 15, 2011)

I remember hearing that Chicago, has stepped up it’s efforts and started to aggressively ticket cyclist for running red lights. However, it seems NYC is getting out of hand.


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

Those of you in New York will appreciate this one...


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Originally posted by Filtersweep:
"Do you judge all motorists based on them being a motorist?"

_Unfortunately the answer to that is yes. Consider the reputations, true or not, about women drivers, older drivers, teen drivers, raised pickup truck drivers, etc._

"Most people made their minds up a long time ago about cyclists, and merely are operating on confirmation bias."

_I agree with this and it's the same for the catagories of drivers I've listed above. Of course someone is going to chime in and say that they never judge motorists in groups or as a whole, but I'm talking about many, many, many drivers. _


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## pennstater (Aug 20, 2007)

I commute by bicycle through Manhattan and have done so for about eight years. The problem with the exploding number of cyclists and their overwhelming proclivity to ignore traffic laws has escalated to the point that I now feel more threatened by other cyclists than cars and pedestrians. For the most part, cars behave predictably. I expect pedestrians to be stupid, but they move slow enough to avoid. I never know what a cyclist will do or when they will suddenly run a red light and their speed makes them more dangerous.

As for the video, the cop is wrong (nothing unusual there):

(1) Bicycle riders to use bicycle lanes. Whenever a usable path or lane for
bicycles has been provided, bicycle riders shall use such path or lane only except
under any of the following situations:
(i) When preparing for a turn at an intersection or into a private road or
driveway.
(ii) 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.


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## peedee (Dec 2, 2010)

Wasn't there something at one time about NYC eventually banning automobiles and are some of the issues with cyclist caused by the bike messengers? Before I get yelled at I'm merely asking the question and not trying to place blame on anyone.


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## TomBrooklyn (Mar 15, 2008)

A rider I met 6 weeks ago said he got ticketed for riding on the sidewalk and at the same time, for not wearing a helmet. He is an adult. There is no law requiring requiring adults to wear a helmet. 

I've noticed the parks police and the NYPD in parks (two separate agencies) are particularly aggressive in enforcing laws which traditionally have been not enforced or under-enforced. Things like riding on paths (which are now reserved for pedestrians) or riding after closing hours.


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## Russian_Bear (Jul 5, 2011)

Tax dollars hard at work keeping you safe from yourself.


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## BikeME! (May 15, 2009)

I love that video! It is freaking hilarious. When I ride, my number one top priority is my own personal safety.(not at the expense of anyone else) If that means violating the letter of the law, so be it. Haven't gotten any tickets yet.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

Fogdweller said:


> Those of you in New York will appreciate this one...



Best. thing. _ever_. :thumbsup:
.


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