NYPD Bike Crackdown Season Has Nothing to Do With Vision Zero

When the weather warms up you can count on two things: more New Yorkers riding bikes, and NYPD bike ticket blitzes.

Keegan Stephan of Right of Way tweeted that the 19th Precinct was handing out flyers to cyclists this morning and warning of a “crackdown” starting tomorrow.

The flyers feature the city’s Vision Zero graphic along with NYPD, DOT, and TLC logos. They advise cyclists to "be visible" and "use bike lanes." Pedestrians are directed to “do what you can to be seen.” Drivers are told to “slow down” and “expect people in the crosswalk.”

You might get the impression from the flyer that motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists are equally responsible for carnage on NYC streets. In fact, driver behavior causes most serious crashes.

NYPD bike crackdowns have never been about targeting dangerous behavior. Instead, police stake out locations where infrastructure leads people on bikes to violate the letter of the law, and then the citations pile up.

While the 19th Precinct is gearing up to ticket cyclists, as of April local officers had ticketed just 24 drivers for speeding in 2015.