The Metro reports on a request from Mayor Menino to the state legislature to increase fines for red-running bicyclists from $20 to $150.
Boston Biker says fine, but only if the city does the same for pedestrians:
If you passed a law giving police the ability to write $150 j-walking tickets, you could go downtown on any given weekday and solve the state budget problem. Not only would this make pedestrians more likely to follow the law, but it would make everyone safer (not the least of which the pedestrians themselves). I can't count the number of times I have almost been knocked off my bike by a pedestrians walking out from between parked cars.
Meanwhile, the Boston Cyclists Union is urging Menino to file another home-rule petition, to cut the speed limit on all local roads to 20 or 25 m.p.h., in the wake of Monday's fatal crash involving a bicyclist. Union Director Pete Stidman says:
Though we have no access to the details on this crash while police are investigating its cause, one sure way to reduce fatalities for both cyclists and pedestrians would be to reduce speed limits in Boston to 20 or 25 mph and enforce them well in areas with high foot traffic. We know that the 30 mph speed limits in the city of Boston are set higher than most major cities in the U.S. And American cities on average have higher speed limits than the most bike-friendly cities in Europe, which often limit speeds to around 20 mph. According to the UK Dept of Transportation, at 30 mph a pedestrian or cyclist strike has a 45 percent chance of causing a fatality, whereas at 20 mph there is only a 5 percent chance of a fatality.
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Comments
a moron
By Anonymous
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 1:14pm
or a narrowly-focused advocate... or both. Nice critique of his argument.
You might care how fast a car is going...
By Pete Stidman
Fri, 02/04/2011 - 6:44pm
...if you happen to get hit by it.
As we can see from dozens of studies, each analyzing thousands of crashes, vehicle speed as well as posted speed limits has a significant effect on survival rates. It's just a fact. So while it may not bother you to think about speedy cars next to you, I'm sure you would not choose to have a car that's about to hit you floor the accelerator rather than hit the brake. Common sense.
Simply quoting NYC's speed limit does not negate the fact that most cities are indeed at 25 mph. And despite the work that has gone on there, NYC is not yet a model of bicycle safety. Several cities in Europe are, and their transition to 19 mph speed limits has been documented to have significantly reduced fatalities and injuries.
Also it is clear there are also a lot of differences between Europe and here, but how pedestrians are injured by cars is not one of them.
So, we can rely on our anecdotes and "feelings" to make decisions on speed limits and their effects, or we can read up on the research and make an informed decision.
Red-light running cars
By chicken
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 1:19pm
When are they going to do something about the sheer number of cars that blow red lights? They pick on bicyclists instead? I mean, I'm annoyed when a cyclist almost hits me that way, but the cars are much worse.
The masshole drivers even blow red lights when the other side is jammed up, and they just sit in the middle of the intersection blocking cross traffic -- and even blocking the trolley. The cops just stand around and twiddle their thumbs. I see this all the time at BU Bridge. Just last week I waited, packed like a sardine, as the green light cycled 3 times before we could proceed.
Before increasing fines on pedestrians how about making the intersections more pedestrian friendly? The reason why people jaywalk in this town is because the walk signals are so infrequent, and the intersections are so confusing. If traffic is stopped, why isn't the walk signal on? Why doesn't the walk signal come on more often than once every 20 minutes? I know lots of intersections you could ask these questions about. There's places with heavy foot traffic where the walk signals simply haven't worked for months, that I go every day.
Menino doesn't care about pedestrians.
which was it?
By Pete Nice
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 1:58pm
The masshole drivers even blow red lights when the other side is jammed up, and they just sit in the middle of the intersection blocking cross traffic -- and even blocking the trolley. The cops just stand around and twiddle their thumbs. I see this all the time at BU Bridge. Just last week I waited, packed like a sardine, as the green light cycled 3 times before we could proceed.
Did they not cite people for blocking the intersection or did they not let you block the intersection?
I've yet to see them cite people for blocking the intersection
By eeka
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 6:56pm
Most of Dudley Square, in front of the police station, is a clusterfuck around 4pm. The cops pulling out in their cruisers will either sit there, sometimes blocking the intersections themselves, or will flash their lights to pull through the blocked intersection and then proceed at a normal speed without flashing lights once they're out.
People here are idiots regarding this law, and I regularly have people honk at me and sometimes even GO AROUND ME when I won't block an intersection. Seems like that could rack up several fines alone.
Not sure how that's ambiguous
By chicken
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:01pm
Not sure how that's ambiguous but: I was on a trolley watching the green lights cycle while pressed against the window.
And no, they don't cite people for blocking the intersection.
You mean you don't see it during rush hour
By Pete Nice
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:19pm
when there is absoutly no place to pull anyone over for gridlock. Look at the D-14 stats for gridlock citations and then talk.
The BU bridge is another issue. The State Police are supposed to monitor/pull/hold traffic at the circle in Cambridge. The Boston Police are supposed to prevent gridlock on Comm Ave and the Bridge, and at Comm Ave and University Rd, and another cop at Carlton St. at Mountfort St.
When a truck backs up in Cambridge, the entire street backs up including those who are coming from Cambridge and want to get onto Park Drive towards the Riverway. There is simply no where for cars to go.
Or ANY OTHER TIME
By eeka
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:02pm
They'd find somewhere to pull someone over if they saw a car on the wanted list, right?
I drive throughout the day, and I never see people getting pulled over for blocking the intersection. I do see cops block it frequently. Mass Ave headed toward 93 is a good one too, at the last 3 or 4 streets there. Lots of intersection blocking at all hours, lots of cops, never any pulling anyone over. Fields Corner too. Oh, and Ashmont, where there are three or four detail cops most of the time.
I-
By Rockne
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 2:01pm
-think what we're all missing here isn't that bikers are bad. I wait for each-and-every red light I come across and I have been hit TWICE by motorists who didn't even bother to notice I was sitting at the red light with them. I took off at the green, so did the car, and turned right right into me.
Driving rules need to be enforced much more closely than any biking rules. I'd like to listen to Menino explain this and then ask him in person what to do when you're hit even AFTER waiting for that red light.
My opinion
By Pete Nice
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 2:04pm
Bike riders are a problem less than 1% of the time. Very rarely do I find myself driving a car and having to avoid crashing into a bike because of what a bicycle does legally or illegally in front of me. Sure they can be annoying when they drive slow on a narrow road, but all in all bikes going through red lights aren't really an issue imho.
I wait at every single red
By Alison
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 4:19pm
I wait at every single red light too and I've been hit once this way, and then once again by somebody turning right on red where they weren't supposed to while I had a green light.
The only time pedestrians bother me (and the most annoying time when I am riding) is when I am riding down Comm ave towards Allston to go home at the end of the day and swarms of jaywalking BU students cut me off while I'm trying to ride. I've taken to yelling "Get out of the way or I'll hit you!" They've been stopping since I started doing that.
Cyclists can be a PITA
By polarbare
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 2:41pm
but honestly I agree with Boston Biker on this one; Pedestrians walking in the road, crossing against the light, and jay walking anywhere they feel like it is a bigger problem in Boston.
I routinely have to go to Tufts Medical Center, and Chinatown is a nightmare because pedestrians just do whatever they want.
Severe and illogical
By J
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 4:10pm
Can someone explain to me how two days of wages is a proper punishment for crossing a red light with not a soul in sight? How much damage can a bike do to anyone? Very little.
And as I wrote on that website,
"Cracking down" on jaywalking is an idiotic idea. Jaywalking makes the city safer, not less safe, because drivers expect it and are constantly looking for it. That means they drive slower. It's like traffic calming.
Go to LA, where they do enforce jaywalking, to the point that if the timer says 15 seconds in red and you start to cross because you know it will only take 10 seconds, you get a ticket. Compare the environment there to here. There, pedestrians are a nuisance and must be pushed out of the way. Here, we respect walking.
Jaywalking rules were only invented so cars could go as fast as they want and not worry about anything getting in their way. Is that the kind of city we want?
Also, most people have no idea what jaywalking actually means. People barely grasp the concept of unmarked crosswalks, never mind being able to legally cross if the nearest signal is x feet away, or if you're between unsignalzied intersections.
Good points J
By Pete Nice
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 4:36pm
But Jaywalking does effect traffic patterns in many areas of town. One person crossing late at a don't walk signal can sometimes hold up dozens of cars at certain intersections.
I think pedestrians have far
By anon
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 6:54pm
I think pedestrians have far more notion of when they can beat a car vs. beat a bike. This is why cyclists find pedestrians far more frustrating than drivers do. (For this analysis, I'm ignoring places like South Station or stops on the B-line, where masses of pedestrians just pour out.) I've seen a pedestrian look down the street, make eye contact with me, and proceed to step out in front of me on my bike under the belief that they can get across before I reach them. 95% of the time they're wrong and I have to swerve to miss them.
I think this is largely due to the variety of speeds at which cyclists go down the road, I'm usually at 15-20 mph. I know there are people faster than me and people slower than me. Cars have a much narrower range of speeds going through a certain intersection, so pedestrians tend to guess correctly with them.
Yes and no
By eeka
Wed, 01/26/2011 - 7:02pm
No, I don't think we should ticket people for quickly and alertly jaywalking when there isn't a lot of traffic. Most people do this, and it's a victimless crime.
I do think cops should ticket people, or at least SAY SOMETHING when people are doing the Dorchester Special Passive-Aggressive Jaywalk in which they slowly wander across the road without looking toward the traffic, because then the cars have to stop since they person isn't looking up. Also when people jaywalk in traffic with small children; they should be charged with endangering the child. Oh, and when people walk out at a signalized intersection when they have a BIG RED HAND, but they scream at cars that aren't stopping for them. Usually if there's a cop in sight, I see him/her stop and wave such people across. Why in deity-of-your-choice's name would they do this rather than roll down the window and say "hey, how about you cross with the signal next time?"
You answered your own question
By KellyJMF
Thu, 01/27/2011 - 9:45am
If there is no one in sight, who wrote the ticket? If there is someone to see you, you're not as observant as you think you are.
The real answer is, you should obey all the traffic laws all the time so that it is a good habit rather than something you have to think about each time. It's the cutting corners on the law that leads you to bad habits that eventually catch up with you, sometimes fatally.
No matter what the fine, you can avoid it by following the rules. Even when you're a special snowflake who deserves special treatment because you know better than everyone else when it is safe to cheat.
good give them tickets,
By Daniel
Mon, 01/31/2011 - 3:33pm
good give them tickets, bikers think the rules don't apply to them
running lights why pedestrians are crossing the street (zipping by on sidewalks)
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