Don’t know where you are, but in the UK, it’s illegal to park in a bike lane marked by a solid line.
So these cars are illegally parked in a bike lane (from here):
but this van is just parked inconsiderately (as the lane is marked by a dotted line):
The van image is from ‘You Park Like a Cunt’- an alternative way of shaming bad parkers.
And here is what parking looks like in my neighborhood. If you parked in the bike lane, you would be in the middle of the street. Hence, the confusion at the stickers. Also, note our bike boxes for enforcing etiquette at stop signs and lights.
Can’t post photos, but here is a link: http://www.tucsonaz.gov/bicycle/images-around-tucson
What’s up with the (figurative) hard-on people have for vigilante justice? And this doesn’t even look very effective. You might as well just tattoo “I am passive-aggressive” on your forehead.
No. That comes from assuming that everywhere else is like where you have been. And that’s not the worlds problem.
I don’t know if it’s gotten any better, but Cambridge, Massachusetts used to be awful for having bike lanes practically everywhere which bordered on unusable. Major streets all have bike lanes, and people frequency treat them as extra parking space, and they are narrow and marginal enough to get one easily “doored” rather than affording safe passage. City ordinance makes it unlawful to bike on the sidewalk, because these bike lanes are provided. Biking on the sidewalk gets one harassed by bike police, but these same police refuse to do anything to clear the bike lanes. Even worse, where do you suppose the bike police usually travelled? On the mauxfaux sidewalk. I’ve also had to throw that back at them, ordering them to use the bike lanes - thinking maybe they’d then have some incentive to keep them clear.
My solution was, as always, to join the car traffic lanes. But this required being able to sustain a good 30-40 MPH, and brought about its own practical and legal problems.
I walk to work too and I’m far more concerned by drivers running red lights, ignore crosswalks, etc. In my experience, bicyclests are the more conscientious road users. Sides a bike + rider’s 250lbs tops. A car, 2-3 tons. That’s the difference between getting a bruise and becoming a grease mark.
As someone who gets mysterious chills I wish I had some that say: I WALKED ON A GRAVE
Willfully refuse
to behave responsibly;
grownups will save you
(I’ve decided I have to go haiku now. Normal reasoning is lost on this one)
I can only gather that your angry response is based on your assumption that we should all sympathize with your problem. Some municipalities have mitigated the issue and I was responding to Beanolini’s post about why some of us may not understand the sticker. I have lived in quite a few cities in a couple of countries and Beanolini’s pictures make this seem like an especially acute UK or possibly “Old City” type of problem.
What you perceive is probably a result of having a class of professional law enforcement people who are very selective in what laws they believe in enforcing, and to whom they apply. Despite their services being quite costly and increasing in size and scope. How would you take being threatened for telling Officer Friendly how to do their job? I have personally been threatened with death for explaining perfectly lawful things to thick cops, and it inspires neither respect nor confidence.
Compared against what? When the current strategies have been completely ineffective, one would be rather foolish to hope the results would suddenly change. Trying different approaches is more likely to have some effect, even a small one, which is preferable to nothing.
Why is that? I think you’ve got it backwards. Those who are passive-aggressive, in my experience, strive to avoid direct confrontation. While being active in the community and dealing with unsafe practices and selective enforcement is quite confrontational indeed. Which is not at all to imply that one can’t still be polite about it.
That’s an interesting sentiment but considering presently law enforcement officers are some of the most egregious breakers of the “no parking in bike lanes” law, clearly enforcement attempts aren’t gaining traction. This is a fairly harmless way to raise awareness and call people out for bad behavior.
Oh good grief. Why does this trope come up every time there’s a “safer roads for cyclists” post? You’re wrapped in 2000+ lbs of steel and safety contraptions with a powerful engine pulling you along.
There’s a lot more consequences to auto drivers breaking road rules than there are for cyclists breaking them and everyone suddenly wants to ignore the fact that drivers pretty much constantly break pretty much every driving law there is (minus, I’m hoping, rules against driving under the influence).
You want to pretend that most motorists are driving the posted speed limit, using their directional indicators, making safe lane changes, and allowing proper distance between them and the next person? You don’t get to haul this nonsense out for cyclists.
2 wheels good, 4 wheels bad
surely, the same can be said of your self righteous attitude? Where @woodfish woodfish lives have come up with a sensible solution to this, according to you, most heinous of crimes. Why don’t you try to get with that program?
No disagreement here. In my experience, people driving a car or riding a bike are equally oblivious to pedestrians, running through crosswalks, not looking for pedestrians before turning into an intersection, etc. I think there are plenty of wrongs to go around that I doubt cyclists should feel so justified in going after abuses of shared space.
However, cyclist riding down the sidewalk when we have wide roads and clearly labeled bike lanes is beyond obnoxious and as clear a violation of preserved space as somebody parking a car in a dedicated bike lane.
What? so the laws just don’t apply to cyclists? Cyclists who run red lights (FAR more dangerous than peeking over the posted limit by a few decimals of an mph) should just get off scott free because there are nasty worse people out there? Come on.
This is a major problem with how bike lanes are implemented. It is a basic rule of the road that you should never pass on the right, but bike lanes require this.
It’s also hard to make a distinction between “waiting to turn” and “turning”. I choose to interpret the law as, if I am able to complete the turn without stopping I look for cyclists, purposely completely block the bike lane to prevent any cyclists from coming around me mid-turn, and complete my turn without stopping. If I am not able to complete the turn without stopping I wait in my lane of travel for an opening.
In general, we have a huge problem with cyclists flouting traffic laws, and no licensing or enforcing structure to sanction them. It has caused our streets (Portland) to become a meat grinder for cyclists. We should make it a condition of any future cycling investment (bike lanes, traffic calming, etc) that we institute a license, road tax, and enforcement for cyclists.
And insurance
It’s my understanding that cyclists have no liability in accidents, so until that is changed insurance wouldn’t apply. If I cream a cyclist in my little VW I am liable for all medical bill and have to replace his bike, even if he was running a red light at the time. That’s why I carry 250k in personal injury.
What about if a cyclist destroys a pedestrian? That happens a LOT more than many cyclists would have you believe.
You seem to be confused, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
I’ll try and use smaller words and simpler sentences:
I do not think parking in a bike lane is ok.
I do not think taking the law into your own hands is ok either.
I do not think vandalizing someones property is ok.
