that in order for cities and towns to have parking fines over a certain amount ($35 to $50?) the state legislature needs to approve it. Something like that is written in the MGLs somewhere.
Note: Should also point out that the car turn left off of Arch St. decided to avoid the blocked travel entirely and drive into on coming traffic. Happens every week. http://i.imgur.com/4nJRF00.jpg
stick old tickets on their windshield to make it look like they have just been ticketed.
Thankfully, most parking enforcement officers know this trick and will check the tickets. But it does deter some people from contacting 311 (or 911) to report scofflaws.
Once a car receives a ticket, but is still blocking a lane, it should be fair game for tow trucks to remove the vehicle to the far away land of impounded cars.
It's no different than parking in front of a hydrant or blocking a fire lane. The driver made a choice to leave their vehicle in a place that endangers public safety. People will stop doing that if their vehicles are towed away, as necessary to restore the lane to a safe condition.
The problem with that is that it would only be fair if we switched to immediately towing for parking infractions, rather than ticketing.
If a ticketed car is fair game for a tow company if it's not moved after being ticketed, then what's to stop them from towing it 30 seconds after the ticket is placed, before the driver even had a chance to realize they had a ticket. There needs to either be a specific time limit (e.g. a ticketed car can be towed if left more than 30 minutes), or we need to just skip ticketing and go straight to towing.
I'm not endorsing either idea, just pointing out a logistical concern.
No one expects their car to be towed for a meter overtime violation, nor should it be towed.
Conversely, deliberately parking in a way that creates a safety hazard should be accompanied with the expectation that your vehicle may be immediately ticketed and towed. There's a big difference between the two situations.
I would not support towing without a police or parking officer first issuing a ticket for the violation. The towing companies have proven over and over again, they can't be relied upon to operate responsibly on their own.
How about writing tickets for the drivers racing down Comm. Ave., and Beacon St.? I see racers daily and cabs honking at and driving aggressively toward lawful pedestrians and cyclists daily... nothing has changed.
How about some $50 tickets for the bicyclists who come barrel-assing down my street going the wrong way on a one way, with earbuds in, while texting and ignoring elderly residents using the crosswalk.
If only one death is needed then that was supplied. A messenger into a man near City Hall during Menino's term. This caused the man to have a heart attack which killed him.
I almost ran into a person once because I went through a red light at a T shaped intersection. I was in the wrong and am grateful I did not hit the man.
Distracted bicyclists have killed at least once and are dangerous. When cycling basic safety rules still apply.
Also, please supply a citation for this so we get a denominator. One in ten years? Twenty years? Wow - that's an epidemic! Let's see if we can go even two weeks without a hit and run by a motor vehicle.
The man hit in the incident you cite crossed in the middle of the block between cars. It's hard to place the entirety of the blame on whomever, driver or cyclist, that hits a pedestrian in those circumstances. Plus, Menino served a long time; that incident occurred more than twenty years ago.
Summary: once in twenty some odd years a pedestrian dies in a collision with a cyclist that most people wouldn't hold the cyclist responsible for.
...that nobody every says that when a cyclist is hit. When a cyclist is hit it is invariably reported, even on this site, with a bias that the motorist was at fault.
A cyclist doesn't have to kill a pedestrian to alter their lives completely.
A broken shoulder or hip, for example, can be completely disabling for a senior citizen.
It's time for the cyclists to grow up and start obeying the traffic laws that govern the roads we all share.
You're either traffic, in which case you're treated as such and get a ticket every time you break traffic laws, or you're not traffic, in which case you STFU, stay off the roads and walk that oversized toy of yours on the sidewalk.
and get a ticket every time you break traffic laws
Doubles over laughing while watching traffic violations ever twenty seconds from office window without anyone getting ticketed by the cop in the car off to the side.
This article is about blocking lanes, not about anyone being killed. So you're saying it's ok to ride around recklessly and acting like an asshole, as long as the probability of killing someone is low? Makes perfect sense.
By Fenwickian (not verified) on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:20am
How about some $50 tickets for the bicyclists who come barrel-assing down my street going the wrong way on a one way, with earbuds in, while texting and ignoring elderly residents using the crosswalk.
By anon (not verified) on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 1:42pm
I vote we start considering this when those cyclists start killing people."
My comment was replying to above anon.......
Anon is suggesting people should only get tickets if they kill people.
F it I'm putting my trash out a day early next week, not like I'm killing anyone!
Get off the internet and see the world around you... you'll figure out what the commenter above is talking about. What else ya got? Racism doesn't exist bc minorities can't prove it to you with statistics? smh
I regularly bike with kids, always with at least one on their own bike, sometimes two or sometimes additional neighbor kids tagging along. So many of the bike lanes are impossible to use. The one across from the Roxbury YMCA is constantly FULL of cars parked in it (with plenty of legal parking spots within 300 feet). Sometimes these cars include cop cars. City Hall tells me there isn't traffic enforcement on weekends and to call 911. I call 911 and they tell me thanks for sharing. I've called them when my kids and I arrived at the Y (the side toward the Y is usually clear), told them we'd be headed home at such-and-such time, and we'd like the bike lane to be safe for children to use. They say they'll send an officer. Then they don't.
So why the fuck is there even a bike lane? The city clearly isn't remotely interested in having it usable as one. When we ride in the right lane (it's a four-lane street, so plenty easy to pass us), people honk and yell out car windows to get out of the road. Which we're legally allowed to use all of, but people don't know this, because honking and yelling at cyclists also isn't enforced. There tends to be less of this behavior in Roxbury than in the South End or Back Bay, but it still happens.
We continue to ride, because it's how we get most everywhere, but we're all stressed out by the time we get places that should be reachable entirely on dedicated bike lanes. Sometimes we're late because we end up walking our bikes. We walked them about a mile on Mass Ave last week because the bike lane was completely covered in the vehicles of inconsiderate assholes. And we annoyed all of the people on the sidewalk who had to move out of the way of us walking bikes on very narrow sidewalks.
they could write you a ticket for violating the fire code. That's one hell of a straw man you've got there, fella. One stray spark and BAM, the whole place will go up like a bundle of dried tinder.
but enforcement is necessary. It's already a ticketable offense in Boston and Cambridge, but you wouldn't know from riding around town.
Now obviously the police can't catch every violation, but the frequency of this type of violation suggests that enforcement needs to be stepped up before car operators start to obey this norm.
Apparently many cities already have the ability to write citations with a fine for this but the lack of a standard makes them more hesitant to do so.
I don't understand why the fine is so low. Should be at least $200 for willful obstruction of traffic in non-emergency situations. (And $500+ for "blocking the box" which is the biggest cause of congestion I see around Cambridge and Boston.)
$500? That's a week's pay for some people. Can't think of a traffic situation where a fine like that would be warranted without there also being injuries or property damage.
Expensive fines open up the door to selective enforcement, revenue-drive enforcement and general abuse. They'll also fill up traffic courts with appeals. If you want to generate more business for lawyers, this is a good way to do it.
Can't think of a traffic situation where a fine like that would be warranted without there also being injuries or property damage.
Well, you know, there sometimes are injuries or property damage, due to drivers parking where they shouldn't be. And while I think you're trying to say that in those cases, there is a greater penalty than a $500 fine, that's kind of theoretical given how easy it is for drivers to dodge responsibility for their actions. It's also beside the point. Improperly parked cars create an unsafe situation; if an accident results, it's unlikely that any fines or other penalties will make the matter right. They won't pay for someone's lost time or permanent injuries.
The rules are simple: you may not park in a travel lane. If there isn't a legal parking space available, then you may not park. You may go find a lot and pay what it costs to park there. You may circle the block until a space opens. You may leave your car at home and take public transit. But you are not entitled to park in a travel lane, and I can't think of a traffic situation that justifies it.
$100 fine BUT it counts as a moving violation for the purpose of calculating your insurance premiums.
Also, $500 works out to $12.50 an hour ... and unless you are getting rent-free accommodations that kind of money generally isn't enough to afford a car in the city.
I'm sure I've asked this but why does it not make sense to have the police more aggressively ticket violators? There's a whole team for meter violations - why not enable them to cite people for blocking the box at bad intersections, go after bike lane blockers, etc...? It seems like it would pay for itself and without tying up 'real' cops needed for public safety stuff (like watching guys dig holes).
The enforcement meter folks can tag a car stopped in the bike lane as it is a parking violation (similar to double parking), and not a moving offense. Blocking the box is a moving offense and the police union will not allow other agencies to take over their responsibilities (even though they rarely carry out those responsibilities).
I bike almost daily, but I also see where occasionally a motor vehicle will need to temporarily park and block the bike lane. Only those who have never double-parked, never "stood" in a "no standing" zone, and never live parked at a hydrant can say there should be no leniency for blocking a bike lane once in a while.
With that said, the bike lane deserves the same enforcement as auto travel lanes. If they are ticketing cars for illegal double-parking, then by all means they should do the same for the bike lanes. Making sure that the bike lanes do not become a de facto loading zone should be the goal.
Plenty of people have never broken those laws. Imagine if drivers parked for 10 minutes in a "car" lane and blocked vehicular traffic. That'd be seen as a ridiculously selfish thing to do right? Fights would probably break out. But somehow its completely fine to do it in a bike lane.
Drivers have been generously given thousands upon thousands of free parking spaces in Boston yet they still insist on breaking the law. A $50 slap on the wrist that is rarely enforced is way too low for endangering other people's lives.
Imagine if drivers parked for 10 minutes in a "car" lane and blocked vehicular traffic.
Very different situation.
- Block a car-traffic lane on a one-lane road and NOBODY can get by.
- Block a car-traffic lane on a busy 2-lane road (think Mass Ave) and you can tie up half the city.
But block a bike lane while you make a delivery.... while I agree it's not ideal, even the bikes can keep getting through, maybe requiring a very brief pause.
I support bike-lanes, and agree that our focus has been too car-centric for +/- 50 years, but imposing more than a nominal fine is mis-guided. And I'll bet you all a cold one that even die-hard cyclists get an occasional delivery or have a guest stop by for 2 minutes and find the bike lane is the only possible place where a truck or car can pull over.
Blocking a bike lane generally involves blocking part of the adjacent general vehicle travel lane, too.
Witness the mess on Seaport Blvd. when the valets decide to commandeer the bike lane so that they don't have to pay for the parking that they are supposed to pay for. Bikes shift over a lane, but cars can't use one of their lanes.
Live parking in front of a hydrant in in a no parking zone does not block traffic. It drives me crazy how many people double park, blocking an entire travel lane rather than pull into a hydrant or no parking spot.
I bike almost daily, but I also see where occasionally a motor vehicle will need to temporarily park and block the bike lane. Only those who have never double-parked, never "stood" in a "no standing" zone, and never live parked at a hydrant can say there should be no leniency for blocking a bike lane once in a while.
Call me excessively fearful if you want, but I'm one of those people. I just assume I won't get away with it. If I can't park legally, I don't do it. I had my car towed once because there was a snow emergency and I didn't know what I was doing, and that experience cured me of parking violations.
What is the "need" to park and block the bike lane, exactly? An ambulance doing a pickup, sure, but they can (and do) block any travel lane if necessary. Other emergency vehicles. But anything else? How is it justified?
How are bike lanes which are in between parked cars and/ or bollards and sidewalk curbs going to be plowed? It's often too narrow of a path for even small snow plows.
Protected bike lanes in snowy climates are not a new concept. Montreal has hundreds of miles of them. Boston even already has some.
A two-way cycle track is a minimum of 10 ft wide. That's usually wide enough for a truck with a plow. Especially on-street ones where next to that 10 ft is a painted buffer. Even if there are bollards in it, count on an extra foot+. For comparison, 11 ft is standard lane width on state highways. There are city streets around here with 9 ft lanes.
Plenty of room.
And for one-way cycle tracks, that's what bobcats are for! The city already has tons of them for sidewalks, parks, and other places you can't fit a truck.
Nearly every Saturday and Sunday a large white unmarked (except for a mall hand painted truck number and company name sign) is parked in front of the Monument. Supposedly it is for a company in Dorchester. The truck always juts out to occupy half the bike lane. Sometimes the truck is closer to the turn lane from Centre to South blocking visibility of on coming traffic from Centre to South.
The traffic department doesn't work on weekends and so won't do anything about it. So it's left to local PD. But they have more important things to do than ticket illegally and dangerously parked vehicles.
So what is the solution here? Increasing a fine that is not applied doesn't solve the problem. So what can?
I keep a stack of these with me all the time. If it's a repeat offender who doesn't get the message, can I suggest a stencil and fluorescent orange paint?
Oh, so the goal is to ticket vehicles of all kinds for all traffic violations? Sounds great! So, try this: as you commute home tonight, take note of every vehicle that violates a law. This includes: failure to come to a full stop at a stop signal. Rolling past the stop line. Turning or changing lanes without signaling. Speeding. Crossing the center line. Crossing the fog line. Following too closely. Failure to yield. Note the number, and then note how many are ticketed. Compare numbers of motor vehicles to number of bicycles. Compare the potential damage caused by the two different types of vehicles. Now ask yourself if the next, most important priority should be to vigorously enforce traffic regulations on cyclists.
A car driver WILL get a ticket if a cop happens to be around and sees one doing any of the above. Same cannot be said about bikecritters - I've seeing plenty scurrying through a red light or stop sign right in front of a cop with no consequence whatsoever.
who need to make deliveries, such as UPS? Or those who need to pick up and drop off people, especially people with a disability that need to be near the curbside? What if you need to move - where to you park your moving truck? I'm all for not blocking the bike lane so folks can pedal merrily along but I would not want to make it more difficult for the aforementioned.
If we don't have enough in certain areas, the city needs to look at removing parking to replace with loading zones that commercial vehicles can use for deliveries.
Ubers, cabs, Lyft, etc can also petition for more Cab Stands, again reducing parking. Zero reason that the bike lane should be a pick up/drop of zone for private businesses using public streets.
As for dropping someone off with a disability, I don't know, I guess a designated dropping off zone on each block? Maybe an exception that they can use both Loading and Cab Stand zones?
I generally don't care if someone stops for 5 seconds to let someone out of a car or someone to jump into a car. What's annoying is when the Uber driver sits there for 10 minutes putzing with their phone or when someone suddenly swerves into the bike lane without looking and abruptly stops when the find the address they were looking for.
There's not enough temporary / drop off zone parking around. Cities need things to function - namely, people and goods. We can either have huge parking lots everywhere to accommodate this, or we can make room near building entrances, residences, offices, etc food UPS, food delivery, taxis & ride shares, etc. It shouldn't have to be at the expense of cyclist safety, but people in cities demand access to services like Amazon, Fedex, Instacart, Foodler, Lyft, etc, and it doesn't do anyone any favors to make it hostile toward the people working these jobs just trying to pay their rent.
If the bike lane is at the curb then it is already an no standing zone (that means no "hot" parking" No parking tow zones are there to allow emergency vehicle access to buildings. it has nothing to do with bike lanes. If the bike lane is not at the curb, then you are double parking in a traffic lane. This is is dangerous for all,not just bicyclists
I see delivery drivers double-parking even when there are open and legal parking spaces on the same block. I'm sure they are in a rush, but so are we all in a rush... it comes down to arrogance and a
sense of entitlement when they block the lane instead of parking. Regardless of how many bike lanes with bollards, painted boxes and signage the city adds, cyclists will always be more at risk on the roads than auto drivers. If you don't have excellent city cycling skills, then you should stick to taking the T like the rest of us. Sorry!
If they operate in a city with limited parking, they need to use vans or bikes to make deliveries, or pay for a garage spot. The rest of us whose jobs involve travel around the city plan for these things.
And businesses without loading docks need to specify this and pay extra if needed to have the delivery done by van. Or hire a police detail if your delivery honestly requires a large truck right at the door (like something fucking huge being delivered.)
Everything would be a lot easier if at the end of each block there was a 50 foot zone (adjusted up or down depending on the actual needs) dedicated to 5 minute live parking for delivery trucks, Uber, cabs, people unloading cars or moving etc. It would make it easy to pull in and out, greatly reduce the need for parking on the bike lane and double parking, and give much less excuses to the people who do so. Then in the middle of that short term parking space, I would paint a huge sign on the asphalt saying "Always use your blinka and don't door the bikes".
Start ticketing cyclists (and yes, actually ticketing cars as well) for breaking traffic laws. Especially blowing stop signs and red lights, and riding the wrong way down one-way streets. I'm a supporter of bike lanes, bicycles as primary mode of transportation, and enhanced measures to ensure the safety of cyclists, but the latter is a two-way street.
Now before you write that angry response, stop, breathe, and think about it for a moment. You can't have it both ways. You can't have it both ways. Say it out loud: "I can't have it both ways."
This is speaking as someone who used to kick cab doors closed on occasion when riding through Central Sq. as a cyclist, drives regularly, and once suffered a sprained ankle as a pedestrian while avoiding a cyclist who ran a red light.
The important difference that you are ignoring: Drivers kill other people, suicyclists kill themselves.
Spirited "fair is fair" statements are nice - comparative data are nicer. I dare you to find a single instance where a cyclist in the Boston area has killed a pedestrian who wasn't jaywalking. I'll give you a five-year window to take a look.
Meanwhile, it would be nice if we could go a single week without a motorist killing or maiming a cyclist or pedestrian and driving off.
Do you propose to ticket cyclists for violations that drivers routinely commit and aren't ticketed for? Because if you want to ticket cyclists for rolling through stop signs, you'll have to do the same for motor vehicles, and that isn't happening now. Or are you proposing selective enforcement?
Start ticketing cyclists (and yes, actually ticketing cars as well) for breaking traffic laws.
You tell me...
Furthermore, the "you don't do it to the other group" argument is bullshit. If you're going to advocate for enforcement of laws, you can't selectively advocate either.
Proportional to prevalence of road users or proportional to the body count by mode?
Idiot cyclists are dangerous to themselves. Idiot drivers are dangerous to everyone around them, including people inside buildings. From a public safety perspective, motor vehicle law enforcement is massively more important than anything cyclists do.
Despite your logic - I completely disagree with you and I say this primarily as a pedestrian, than a driver. I see the occasional car blast through a light just as it changed, but bikes seem completely unaccountable to anyone and do as they please. I see them as much as a danger to me (a ped) as a car (a neighbor's mom was killed by a cyclist when I was a kid - it CAN happen!) I am annoyed at the flagrance of the rules of the road by cyclists to stops signs, traffic lights, ped lights, one-ways, sidewalks - it's a freaking free-for-all with them. Plus - bike are not the majority of travelers in this city - they are the miniority - I have lots of traffic counts to prove it. (try 1% to 5% of all moving traffic in a given day). That said - I see the importance and health of cycling as a commuting option. But the rest of the public is one day going to not support bike lanes or cycle tracks and fight back politically if the disrespect and lack of enforcement continues. Don't believe me? See Trump.
It is unbelievable how poor traffic enforcement (all modes) is by cops in Boston and Massachusetts. You never see them. Yet, the minute there is a robbery, or, God forbid, a fallen officer - they are all over the place - more than I ever knew existed at one time. Where are they the rest of the time?
I see them as much as a danger to me (a ped) as a car
And what the reality is are two different things.
One pedestrian killed himself by jaywalking in front of a cyclist in a 20 year period versus weekly hit and run pedestrian deaths (plus others when the perp stays around).
Not equivalent at all. Does not justify the use of resources.
Most accidents involving cyclists are the fault of the car. And if the cyclist is over the age of 25 the disparity is much wider. This is not an equal responsibility any way you look at it.
I disagree, if people want to be suic-cyclists, I don't want to be involved. I don't need someone t-boning me because they didn't feel like stopping at a stop sign. Don't want to see or deal with the aftermath or the guilt.
then you can ride around cars parked in the bike lane and deal with it. They're most likely not stopping suddenly, and you have plenty of time to go around them, so it's not worth the resources compared to other, bigger issues.
You sound like you should be working for Baker with your attitude and aversion to facts.
Fact: cars parked in bike lanes endanger cyclists.
Fact: cars parked in bike lanes discourage cycling, which has a real consequences for the health of everyone in the area (encourages motor vehicle use with attendant pollution, congestion, ill-health due to sedentary lifestyle, and death toll - externalized consequences count and cost us all money, too!)
Fact: misbehavior by cyclists is no more prevalent than misbehavior by motorists (they come from the same pool of people)
Fact: misbehavior by motorists is vastly more dangerous than misbehavior by cyclists
Comments
What's to decide?
The lanes are there for traffic. Parked cars block traffic.
I'd be surprised if he doesn't sign it.
I believe....
that in order for cities and towns to have parking fines over a certain amount ($35 to $50?) the state legislature needs to approve it. Something like that is written in the MGLs somewhere.
It's $50
Would love to see higher fines
The few that get ticketed for blocking bike lanes clearly will take the fine and not move their vehicle or avoid blocking in the first place.
Rode by this truck on Milk St. yesterday that was already ticketed, traffic enforcement can only do so much when the fines are so weak.
http://i.imgur.com/9OvjrVC.jpg
Note: Should also point out that the car turn left off of Arch St. decided to avoid the blocked travel entirely and drive into on coming traffic. Happens every week. http://i.imgur.com/4nJRF00.jpg
Many couriers and delivery drivers
stick old tickets on their windshield to make it look like they have just been ticketed.
Thankfully, most parking enforcement officers know this trick and will check the tickets. But it does deter some people from contacting 311 (or 911) to report scofflaws.
Sic The Predatory Towing Companies On Them!
Once a car receives a ticket, but is still blocking a lane, it should be fair game for tow trucks to remove the vehicle to the far away land of impounded cars.
It's no different than parking in front of a hydrant or blocking a fire lane. The driver made a choice to leave their vehicle in a place that endangers public safety. People will stop doing that if their vehicles are towed away, as necessary to restore the lane to a safe condition.
The problem with that is that
The problem with that is that it would only be fair if we switched to immediately towing for parking infractions, rather than ticketing.
If a ticketed car is fair game for a tow company if it's not moved after being ticketed, then what's to stop them from towing it 30 seconds after the ticket is placed, before the driver even had a chance to realize they had a ticket. There needs to either be a specific time limit (e.g. a ticketed car can be towed if left more than 30 minutes), or we need to just skip ticketing and go straight to towing.
I'm not endorsing either idea, just pointing out a logistical concern.
A Car In A Marked Parking Space Isn't A Menace To Public Safety
No one expects their car to be towed for a meter overtime violation, nor should it be towed.
Conversely, deliberately parking in a way that creates a safety hazard should be accompanied with the expectation that your vehicle may be immediately ticketed and towed. There's a big difference between the two situations.
I would not support towing without a police or parking officer first issuing a ticket for the violation. The towing companies have proven over and over again, they can't be relied upon to operate responsibly on their own.
How about writing tickets for
How about writing tickets for the drivers racing down Comm. Ave., and Beacon St.? I see racers daily and cabs honking at and driving aggressively toward lawful pedestrians and cyclists daily... nothing has changed.
mutuality
How about some $50 tickets for the bicyclists who come barrel-assing down my street going the wrong way on a one way, with earbuds in, while texting and ignoring elderly residents using the crosswalk.
I vote we start considering
I vote we start considering this when those cyclists start killing people.
It happened
If only one death is needed then that was supplied. A messenger into a man near City Hall during Menino's term. This caused the man to have a heart attack which killed him.
I almost ran into a person once because I went through a red light at a T shaped intersection. I was in the wrong and am grateful I did not hit the man.
Distracted bicyclists have killed at least once and are dangerous. When cycling basic safety rules still apply.
That's nice dear
IIRC, the pedestrian was at fault
Also, please supply a citation for this so we get a denominator. One in ten years? Twenty years? Wow - that's an epidemic! Let's see if we can go even two weeks without a hit and run by a motor vehicle.
It happens (plural)
Distracted motorists killed at least 3,000 in 2014 and are dangerous.
https://www.distraction.gov/stats-research-laws/facts-and-statistics.html
The man hit in the incident
The man hit in the incident you cite crossed in the middle of the block between cars. It's hard to place the entirety of the blame on whomever, driver or cyclist, that hits a pedestrian in those circumstances. Plus, Menino served a long time; that incident occurred more than twenty years ago.
Summary: once in twenty some odd years a pedestrian dies in a collision with a cyclist that most people wouldn't hold the cyclist responsible for.
it's interesting...
...that nobody every says that when a cyclist is hit. When a cyclist is hit it is invariably reported, even on this site, with a bias that the motorist was at fault.
A cyclist doesn't have to kill a pedestrian to alter their lives completely.
A broken shoulder or hip, for example, can be completely disabling for a senior citizen.
It's time for the cyclists to grow up and start obeying the traffic laws that govern the roads we all share.
No
You're either traffic, in which case you're treated as such and get a ticket every time you break traffic laws, or you're not traffic, in which case you STFU, stay off the roads and walk that oversized toy of yours on the sidewalk.
HARHAHAHAHAHAHAHR
Doubles over laughing while watching traffic violations ever twenty seconds from office window without anyone getting ticketed by the cop in the car off to the side.
This article is about
This article is about blocking lanes, not about anyone being killed. So you're saying it's ok to ride around recklessly and acting like an asshole, as long as the probability of killing someone is low? Makes perfect sense.
Statistics or shut up
Show that there is harm or STFU.
IDGAF about harm, GFY
IDGAF about harm statistics, GFY
Right
Right, because facts form a stupid basis for shaping policy.
Not talking about harm statistics in general
"mutuality
By Fenwickian (not verified) on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:20am
How about some $50 tickets for the bicyclists who come barrel-assing down my street going the wrong way on a one way, with earbuds in, while texting and ignoring elderly residents using the crosswalk.
By anon (not verified) on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 1:42pm
I vote we start considering this when those cyclists start killing people."
My comment was replying to above anon.......
Anon is suggesting people should only get tickets if they kill people.
F it I'm putting my trash out a day early next week, not like I'm killing anyone!
Get off the internet and see
Get off the internet and see the world around you... you'll figure out what the commenter above is talking about. What else ya got? Racism doesn't exist bc minorities can't prove it to you with statistics? smh
uhm
can you even prove minorities exist?? check & mate
Yeah, it's a quality of life issue at the very least
I regularly bike with kids, always with at least one on their own bike, sometimes two or sometimes additional neighbor kids tagging along. So many of the bike lanes are impossible to use. The one across from the Roxbury YMCA is constantly FULL of cars parked in it (with plenty of legal parking spots within 300 feet). Sometimes these cars include cop cars. City Hall tells me there isn't traffic enforcement on weekends and to call 911. I call 911 and they tell me thanks for sharing. I've called them when my kids and I arrived at the Y (the side toward the Y is usually clear), told them we'd be headed home at such-and-such time, and we'd like the bike lane to be safe for children to use. They say they'll send an officer. Then they don't.
So why the fuck is there even a bike lane? The city clearly isn't remotely interested in having it usable as one. When we ride in the right lane (it's a four-lane street, so plenty easy to pass us), people honk and yell out car windows to get out of the road. Which we're legally allowed to use all of, but people don't know this, because honking and yelling at cyclists also isn't enforced. There tends to be less of this behavior in Roxbury than in the South End or Back Bay, but it still happens.
We continue to ride, because it's how we get most everywhere, but we're all stressed out by the time we get places that should be reachable entirely on dedicated bike lanes. Sometimes we're late because we end up walking our bikes. We walked them about a mile on Mass Ave last week because the bike lane was completely covered in the vehicles of inconsiderate assholes. And we annoyed all of the people on the sidewalk who had to move out of the way of us walking bikes on very narrow sidewalks.
Alternately
they could write you a ticket for violating the fire code. That's one hell of a straw man you've got there, fella. One stray spark and BAM, the whole place will go up like a bundle of dried tinder.
That's already been a $100
That's already been a $100 parking ticket in Boston for several years now
Law is nice
but enforcement is necessary. It's already a ticketable offense in Boston and Cambridge, but you wouldn't know from riding around town.
Now obviously the police can't catch every violation, but the frequency of this type of violation suggests that enforcement needs to be stepped up before car operators start to obey this norm.
Hence the law
Apparently many cities already have the ability to write citations with a fine for this but the lack of a standard makes them more hesitant to do so.
I don't understand why the fine is so low. Should be at least $200 for willful obstruction of traffic in non-emergency situations. (And $500+ for "blocking the box" which is the biggest cause of congestion I see around Cambridge and Boston.)
$500? That's a week's pay for
$500? That's a week's pay for some people. Can't think of a traffic situation where a fine like that would be warranted without there also being injuries or property damage.
Expensive fines open up the door to selective enforcement, revenue-drive enforcement and general abuse. They'll also fill up traffic courts with appeals. If you want to generate more business for lawyers, this is a good way to do it.
If you can't pay the fine...
Well, you know, there sometimes are injuries or property damage, due to drivers parking where they shouldn't be. And while I think you're trying to say that in those cases, there is a greater penalty than a $500 fine, that's kind of theoretical given how easy it is for drivers to dodge responsibility for their actions. It's also beside the point. Improperly parked cars create an unsafe situation; if an accident results, it's unlikely that any fines or other penalties will make the matter right. They won't pay for someone's lost time or permanent injuries.
The rules are simple: you may not park in a travel lane. If there isn't a legal parking space available, then you may not park. You may go find a lot and pay what it costs to park there. You may circle the block until a space opens. You may leave your car at home and take public transit. But you are not entitled to park in a travel lane, and I can't think of a traffic situation that justifies it.
"$500? That's a week's pay
"$500? That's a week's pay for some people"
Fine. Let's follow the example of some European nations and make it income based. How about 5% of your monthly take home?
The whole point is to deter people from doing stupid things (like consciously blocking the box or fire or bike lanes)
Seconding this. I'd go so far
Seconding this. I'd go so far as to say that if you don't make the fines income-based, it's a tacit agreement that the rules do not apply to the rich.
How about this
$100 fine BUT it counts as a moving violation for the purpose of calculating your insurance premiums.
Also, $500 works out to $12.50 an hour ... and unless you are getting rent-free accommodations that kind of money generally isn't enough to afford a car in the city.
Repeat question
I'm sure I've asked this but why does it not make sense to have the police more aggressively ticket violators? There's a whole team for meter violations - why not enable them to cite people for blocking the box at bad intersections, go after bike lane blockers, etc...? It seems like it would pay for itself and without tying up 'real' cops needed for public safety stuff (like watching guys dig holes).
They can and they can't
The enforcement meter folks can tag a car stopped in the bike lane as it is a parking violation (similar to double parking), and not a moving offense. Blocking the box is a moving offense and the police union will not allow other agencies to take over their responsibilities (even though they rarely carry out those responsibilities).
There has to be a balance
I bike almost daily, but I also see where occasionally a motor vehicle will need to temporarily park and block the bike lane. Only those who have never double-parked, never "stood" in a "no standing" zone, and never live parked at a hydrant can say there should be no leniency for blocking a bike lane once in a while.
With that said, the bike lane deserves the same enforcement as auto travel lanes. If they are ticketing cars for illegal double-parking, then by all means they should do the same for the bike lanes. Making sure that the bike lanes do not become a de facto loading zone should be the goal.
Plenty of people have never
Plenty of people have never broken those laws. Imagine if drivers parked for 10 minutes in a "car" lane and blocked vehicular traffic. That'd be seen as a ridiculously selfish thing to do right? Fights would probably break out. But somehow its completely fine to do it in a bike lane.
Drivers have been generously given thousands upon thousands of free parking spaces in Boston yet they still insist on breaking the law. A $50 slap on the wrist that is rarely enforced is way too low for endangering other people's lives.
Uh
"Imagine if drivers parked for 10 minutes in a "car" lane and blocked vehicular traffic"
That happens all the time.
I'm imagining
I saw that this morning.
Very different situations
Very different situation.
- Block a car-traffic lane on a one-lane road and NOBODY can get by.
- Block a car-traffic lane on a busy 2-lane road (think Mass Ave) and you can tie up half the city.
But block a bike lane while you make a delivery.... while I agree it's not ideal, even the bikes can keep getting through, maybe requiring a very brief pause.
I support bike-lanes, and agree that our focus has been too car-centric for +/- 50 years, but imposing more than a nominal fine is mis-guided. And I'll bet you all a cold one that even die-hard cyclists get an occasional delivery or have a guest stop by for 2 minutes and find the bike lane is the only possible place where a truck or car can pull over.
Where There Are No Bike Lanes, What Do You Do?
( the sidewalk is the only possible place where a truck or car can pull over )
In case you missed it ...
Blocking a bike lane generally involves blocking part of the adjacent general vehicle travel lane, too.
Witness the mess on Seaport Blvd. when the valets decide to commandeer the bike lane so that they don't have to pay for the parking that they are supposed to pay for. Bikes shift over a lane, but cars can't use one of their lanes.
Live parking in front of a
Live parking in front of a hydrant in in a no parking zone does not block traffic. It drives me crazy how many people double park, blocking an entire travel lane rather than pull into a hydrant or no parking spot.
Or the parking spot 10feet up
Or the parking spot 10feet up the street!!! Some people seem to have a door to door rule, even if there is a spot feet away!!!
Except in Malls
Then they will walk 3/4 mile across a parking lot, and then complain that the mall is too big and they are tired of walking.
Actually...
Call me excessively fearful if you want, but I'm one of those people. I just assume I won't get away with it. If I can't park legally, I don't do it. I had my car towed once because there was a snow emergency and I didn't know what I was doing, and that experience cured me of parking violations.
What is the "need" to park and block the bike lane, exactly? An ambulance doing a pickup, sure, but they can (and do) block any travel lane if necessary. Other emergency vehicles. But anything else? How is it justified?
And
is there a plan for winter, when all of the snow is piled in the parking lanes and there is *no parking at all* along major business thoroughfares?
Not that the bike lane should be blocked, but taking away miles of parking isn't a practical solution either.
It isn't practical?
It would make it a lot easier to plow to the curb if cars were banned from the bike lane as their private vehicle storage location.
How are bike lanes which are
How are bike lanes which are in between parked cars and/ or bollards and sidewalk curbs going to be plowed? It's often too narrow of a path for even small snow plows.
It can be done.
It can be done.
Protected bike lanes in snowy
Protected bike lanes in snowy climates are not a new concept. Montreal has hundreds of miles of them. Boston even already has some.
A two-way cycle track is a minimum of 10 ft wide. That's usually wide enough for a truck with a plow. Especially on-street ones where next to that 10 ft is a painted buffer. Even if there are bollards in it, count on an extra foot+. For comparison, 11 ft is standard lane width on state highways. There are city streets around here with 9 ft lanes.
Plenty of room.
And for one-way cycle tracks, that's what bobcats are for! The city already has tons of them for sidewalks, parks, and other places you can't fit a truck.
Temp needs
Assuming there really is a genuine need to park illegally temporarily, then they should park in the regular lane and block cars not bikes.
Cambridge police tweetedthis morning
that they ticketed 3 cars for parking in a bike lane I think they're on it.
Cambridge
Cambridge has been generally on the ball about this, at least in certain areas.
JP at the Monument
Nearly every Saturday and Sunday a large white unmarked (except for a mall hand painted truck number and company name sign) is parked in front of the Monument. Supposedly it is for a company in Dorchester. The truck always juts out to occupy half the bike lane. Sometimes the truck is closer to the turn lane from Centre to South blocking visibility of on coming traffic from Centre to South.
The traffic department doesn't work on weekends and so won't do anything about it. So it's left to local PD. But they have more important things to do than ticket illegally and dangerously parked vehicles.
So what is the solution here? Increasing a fine that is not applied doesn't solve the problem. So what can?
I keep a stack of these with
I keep a stack of these with me all the time. If it's a repeat offender who doesn't get the message, can I suggest a stencil and fluorescent orange paint?
There's more to this story
Currently, communities can make tickets up to $50 without State House oversight (and handicap and fire plug tickets are already allowed to be higher).
Brookline's ticket for blocking a bike lane is $50
Boston's is $100 (they got legislative approval)
Cambridge has a $100 fine though they say it's for "traveling in a bike lane" -- does (not!) traveling count too I wonder?
Sure
As soon as police starts ticketing bikes for disobeying every traffic law imaginable - I mean, they are traffic after all, aren't they?
Okay!
Oh, so the goal is to ticket vehicles of all kinds for all traffic violations? Sounds great! So, try this: as you commute home tonight, take note of every vehicle that violates a law. This includes: failure to come to a full stop at a stop signal. Rolling past the stop line. Turning or changing lanes without signaling. Speeding. Crossing the center line. Crossing the fog line. Following too closely. Failure to yield. Note the number, and then note how many are ticketed. Compare numbers of motor vehicles to number of bicycles. Compare the potential damage caused by the two different types of vehicles. Now ask yourself if the next, most important priority should be to vigorously enforce traffic regulations on cyclists.
Guess what
A car driver WILL get a ticket if a cop happens to be around and sees one doing any of the above. Same cannot be said about bikecritters - I've seeing plenty scurrying through a red light or stop sign right in front of a cop with no consequence whatsoever.
The Man in the High SUV
Someone slipped into an alternate dimension again.
What is the provision for those
who need to make deliveries, such as UPS? Or those who need to pick up and drop off people, especially people with a disability that need to be near the curbside? What if you need to move - where to you park your moving truck? I'm all for not blocking the bike lane so folks can pedal merrily along but I would not want to make it more difficult for the aforementioned.
Loading zones
If we don't have enough in certain areas, the city needs to look at removing parking to replace with loading zones that commercial vehicles can use for deliveries.
Ubers, cabs, Lyft, etc can also petition for more Cab Stands, again reducing parking. Zero reason that the bike lane should be a pick up/drop of zone for private businesses using public streets.
As for dropping someone off with a disability, I don't know, I guess a designated dropping off zone on each block? Maybe an exception that they can use both Loading and Cab Stand zones?
As a cyclist
I don't grudge handicap dropoffs in the bike lane, so long as they don't park there for several hours. Those are folks with minimal choices.
The lazy heffers can learn to hoof it like humans are meant to.
As a cyclist
I generally don't care if someone stops for 5 seconds to let someone out of a car or someone to jump into a car. What's annoying is when the Uber driver sits there for 10 minutes putzing with their phone or when someone suddenly swerves into the bike lane without looking and abruptly stops when the find the address they were looking for.
There's not enough temporary
There's not enough temporary / drop off zone parking around. Cities need things to function - namely, people and goods. We can either have huge parking lots everywhere to accommodate this, or we can make room near building entrances, residences, offices, etc food UPS, food delivery, taxis & ride shares, etc. It shouldn't have to be at the expense of cyclist safety, but people in cities demand access to services like Amazon, Fedex, Instacart, Foodler, Lyft, etc, and it doesn't do anyone any favors to make it hostile toward the people working these jobs just trying to pay their rent.
It's called comercial parking and handicapped parking.
If the bike lane is at the curb then it is already an no standing zone (that means no "hot" parking" No parking tow zones are there to allow emergency vehicle access to buildings. it has nothing to do with bike lanes. If the bike lane is not at the curb, then you are double parking in a traffic lane. This is is dangerous for all,not just bicyclists
I see delivery drivers double
I see delivery drivers double-parking even when there are open and legal parking spaces on the same block. I'm sure they are in a rush, but so are we all in a rush... it comes down to arrogance and a
sense of entitlement when they block the lane instead of parking. Regardless of how many bike lanes with bollards, painted boxes and signage the city adds, cyclists will always be more at risk on the roads than auto drivers. If you don't have excellent city cycling skills, then you should stick to taking the T like the rest of us. Sorry!
Simple Answer
Get rid of all the dangerous motor vehicles. Drivers kill!
They need to find a way to do business legally
If they operate in a city with limited parking, they need to use vans or bikes to make deliveries, or pay for a garage spot. The rest of us whose jobs involve travel around the city plan for these things.
And businesses without loading docks need to specify this and pay extra if needed to have the delivery done by van. Or hire a police detail if your delivery honestly requires a large truck right at the door (like something fucking huge being delivered.)
Everything would be a lot
Everything would be a lot easier if at the end of each block there was a 50 foot zone (adjusted up or down depending on the actual needs) dedicated to 5 minute live parking for delivery trucks, Uber, cabs, people unloading cars or moving etc. It would make it easy to pull in and out, greatly reduce the need for parking on the bike lane and double parking, and give much less excuses to the people who do so. Then in the middle of that short term parking space, I would paint a huge sign on the asphalt saying "Always use your blinka and don't door the bikes".
People wouldn't use it
End of the block? People wouldn't use it. They can't be arsed to walk half a block.
I wonder
if there is a much needed decision that allows bikers to ticket police who park in bike lanes.
I kid, I kid.
this guy will not be writing any tickets
http://www.universalhub.com/2015/trooper-bicyclist-coming-longfellow-who...
I support this with a caveat:
Start ticketing cyclists (and yes, actually ticketing cars as well) for breaking traffic laws. Especially blowing stop signs and red lights, and riding the wrong way down one-way streets. I'm a supporter of bike lanes, bicycles as primary mode of transportation, and enhanced measures to ensure the safety of cyclists, but the latter is a two-way street.
Now before you write that angry response, stop, breathe, and think about it for a moment. You can't have it both ways. You can't have it both ways. Say it out loud: "I can't have it both ways."
This is speaking as someone who used to kick cab doors closed on occasion when riding through Central Sq. as a cyclist, drives regularly, and once suffered a sprained ankle as a pedestrian while avoiding a cyclist who ran a red light.
Yes, I can have it both ways
The important difference that you are ignoring: Drivers kill other people, suicyclists kill themselves.
Spirited "fair is fair" statements are nice - comparative data are nicer. I dare you to find a single instance where a cyclist in the Boston area has killed a pedestrian who wasn't jaywalking. I'll give you a five-year window to take a look.
Meanwhile, it would be nice if we could go a single week without a motorist killing or maiming a cyclist or pedestrian and driving off.
Seriously?
You're arguing that the laws shouldn't be enforced for one group, I'll assume your group, because the other is more likely to cause harm?
Masshole mentality at it's finest.
Consider this
If you had your choice between using a specific amount of resources to save 200 lives or 2 lives, which would you pick?
And, no, there is no world where you could save all 202.
By your "moral" arguments, you would save 101 lives.
But is that moral? Nope.
this disagreement is based on a lie.
no one is willing to admit that cars disobey traffic laws more than bicyclists. It is dishonest to keep pretending it is an equal problem.
yes
I'm a non-car-owning cyclist and I fully support this.
"start ticketing cyclists"
Do you propose to ticket cyclists for violations that drivers routinely commit and aren't ticketed for? Because if you want to ticket cyclists for rolling through stop signs, you'll have to do the same for motor vehicles, and that isn't happening now. Or are you proposing selective enforcement?
Well considering
the first sentence in my comment was:
You tell me...
Furthermore, the "you don't do it to the other group" argument is bullshit. If you're going to advocate for enforcement of laws, you can't selectively advocate either.
Sense of proportion
Proportional to prevalence of road users or proportional to the body count by mode?
Idiot cyclists are dangerous to themselves. Idiot drivers are dangerous to everyone around them, including people inside buildings. From a public safety perspective, motor vehicle law enforcement is massively more important than anything cyclists do.
Disagree....
Despite your logic - I completely disagree with you and I say this primarily as a pedestrian, than a driver. I see the occasional car blast through a light just as it changed, but bikes seem completely unaccountable to anyone and do as they please. I see them as much as a danger to me (a ped) as a car (a neighbor's mom was killed by a cyclist when I was a kid - it CAN happen!) I am annoyed at the flagrance of the rules of the road by cyclists to stops signs, traffic lights, ped lights, one-ways, sidewalks - it's a freaking free-for-all with them. Plus - bike are not the majority of travelers in this city - they are the miniority - I have lots of traffic counts to prove it. (try 1% to 5% of all moving traffic in a given day). That said - I see the importance and health of cycling as a commuting option. But the rest of the public is one day going to not support bike lanes or cycle tracks and fight back politically if the disrespect and lack of enforcement continues. Don't believe me? See Trump.
It is unbelievable how poor traffic enforcement (all modes) is by cops in Boston and Massachusetts. You never see them. Yet, the minute there is a robbery, or, God forbid, a fallen officer - they are all over the place - more than I ever knew existed at one time. Where are they the rest of the time?
Newspaper article?
Sorry to hear it - got a press clipping for that? These things are so rare that they make national news.
What you see
And what the reality is are two different things.
One pedestrian killed himself by jaywalking in front of a cyclist in a 20 year period versus weekly hit and run pedestrian deaths (plus others when the perp stays around).
Not equivalent at all. Does not justify the use of resources.
statistics don't agree with you either
Most accidents involving cyclists are the fault of the car. And if the cyclist is over the age of 25 the disparity is much wider. This is not an equal responsibility any way you look at it.
I disagree, if people want to
I disagree, if people want to be suic-cyclists, I don't want to be involved. I don't need someone t-boning me because they didn't feel like stopping at a stop sign. Don't want to see or deal with the aftermath or the guilt.
In what world
should laws be upheld and enforced based on any sort of proportions? Laws are laws, and all should be upheld equally.
The real world
You know, that place where people only want to pay so much in taxes?
Where impact and outcome matter when it comes to resources used?
Alright
then you can ride around cars parked in the bike lane and deal with it. They're most likely not stopping suddenly, and you have plenty of time to go around them, so it's not worth the resources compared to other, bigger issues.
Then no ticketing of anybody
Until you pay more taxes to cover the costs.
You sound like you should be working for Baker with your attitude and aversion to facts.
Fact: cars parked in bike lanes endanger cyclists.
Fact: cars parked in bike lanes discourage cycling, which has a real consequences for the health of everyone in the area (encourages motor vehicle use with attendant pollution, congestion, ill-health due to sedentary lifestyle, and death toll - externalized consequences count and cost us all money, too!)
Fact: misbehavior by cyclists is no more prevalent than misbehavior by motorists (they come from the same pool of people)
Fact: misbehavior by motorists is vastly more dangerous than misbehavior by cyclists
so let's start ticketing everyone who drives 56mph in a 55 zone
Also, a ticket for everyone who does a rolling stop. Also everyone who jaywalks, and everyone who spits on the sidewalk.