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City to begin handing out "educational" tickets to bicyclists in Back Bay, South End

Mike Ball reports on last night's hearing on proposed bike lanes along Mass. Ave. from the river to Symphony Hall. Among other topics:

The local D-4 police captain, Paul Ivens (also a cyclist) ... was jolly but firm. Along with their regular duties, his officers have issued several hundreds of tickets to bike-lane car parkers since July. He noted that they would likely be handing out non-ticket tickets to cyclists soon as warning educational devices.

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Comments

Dare I suggest handing some more out to pedestrians in the Financial District and on Commonwealth and Huntington Aves.

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With bicycles, it's always "Yes, but someone else!"

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With bicycles any mode of transportation, it's always "Yes, but someone else!"

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AND!

Crack down on idiot taxi drivers, too. Suicyclists endanger other cyclists, too ... but so do the iPod addled sheep that would be locked up were this Toronto.

In other words START ENFORCING ALL THE LAWS ON EVERYBODY.

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And give them to the pedestrians right there on Mass between Boylston and Huntington, who pop out willy-nilly from between parked cars like whack-a-moles.

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if you hit a jay walker with your vehicle, more times than not, you will be at fault.

Jay walking is illegal but the fine is so low in Massachusetts (something like $1 for a first offense) that I would not get my hopes up to see ticketing of jaywalkers any time soon.

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It would be great if something could be done about cyclists who ride on the sidewalks (which is illegal in Boston) and the ones who are at least in the street, but are either riding the wrong way on a one-way street, or are riding against traffic rather than with it.

I almost hit a dad on his bike with his kid on the back who was riding the wrong way on a one-way street AT NIGHT. When riding my bike, I have also almost been hit by cyclists going against traffic. Please, have mercy on the folks you are sharing the road with!

If you must use the sidewalk to avoid a dangerous street or intersection, please just hop off your bike and walk it until you can return to the street.

Thanks!

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I agree that it's a really bad idea to ride a bike on the sidewalk (at least if you're a grownup), but according to the law it's illegal only in specially designated commercial districts. Everywhere else, sidewalk riding is perfectly legal, even if it is kind of dumb.

The reason most people ride on the sidewalk is that they don't feel safe sharing the road with cars. Get drivers to stop intimidating cyclists, and you'll see fewer bikes on the sidewalks.

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I think it's a reinforcing problem. The tendency for cyclists to drive anarchically encourages motorists to disrespect them.

There's a strand of cycling advocacy that argues that cyclists need to operate like motorrists and that bike lanes just encourage motorists to not treat bicyclists seriously.

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I tend to ride like one of those Vehicular Cyclists that you're describing. I take the lane, and stop at all the stops signs, red lights, etc. Unlike the vehicularists, though, I don't oppose separate facilities for bikes.

And you know what? Drivers still threaten me.

I guess they think that, by not getting out of their way, I'm breaking the law and that they have the right to buzz me.

What sucks is that the cops and courts are irredeemably biased against cyclists, which means that if one of those vigilante drivers clips me with a side view mirror, I have no legal recourse.

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The delicious ironing of seeing someone complain about cyclists breaking the law, and then listing something that is not illegal, is delicious.

Sort of like those who talk about jaywalking, and have no understanding about the very few situations in which a jaywalking offense is actually taking place.

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It's an ironing burn.

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This is perfect -- educate the cyclists who break the laws or are ignorant of the laws. If you're a cyclist who rides responsibly then you should applaud this. As a driver, I LOVE seeing asshole drivers who run red lights get tickets and I wish it would happen more often. As a pedestrian, I similarly would love to see numbskulls who jaywalk get tickets. What goes around comes around, now for cyclists too! One last comment regarding cyclists: STOP riding your bikes in the Public Garden, IDIOTS.

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