Does NYPD Understand the NYPD Bike Crackdown?
Streetsblog reader Hilda sent us a report of her encounter with two NYPD officers on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday evening, when she was handed a two-page flier explaining the rules of the road.
“A friendly head’s up,” said the first officer. “It is getting more dangerous out there, and we are doing what we can to keep it safe.”
The officer continued, and to paraphrase, said that I should not be surprised if I was pulled over for not following traffic regulations, like running a red light, or riding the wrong way in a bike lane, or on the sidewalk.
The officer seemed apologetic, and very friendly. I assured him that I was all for enforcement, and that I was absolutely confident that this was a universal approach, to target all unsafe and illegal actions, by cars and pedestrians as well as bicyclists.
“We will do what we can,” he responded.
Setting aside for a moment the questionable value of a bike crackdown when drivers continue to maim and kill unimpeded, it’s encouraging that a precinct at least has officers engaging — rather than harassing — cyclists. Thing is, the papers Hilda received cited city regulations for commercial cyclists.
It’s hard to perceive “Operation Safe Cycle” as a serious effort to reduce cyclist-involved collisions when beat cops, courteous as they may be, don’t know the difference between private commuters and commercial delivery workers. And it makes one wonder what, if anything, NYPD is hoping to accomplish.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
