Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Bill Bratton Has the Perfect Response to a “Bike-Yield” Law for NYC

Yesterday Council Member Antonio Reynoso introduced a resolution calling for state traffic laws that recognize the differences between bikes and cars. The idea is that people on bikes should be able to treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs, proceeding after they check for crossing pedestrians and motor vehicles and the coast is clear.

He's the Energizer bunny of car-centric thinking. Photo: Policy Exchange/Flickr
Photo: Policy Exchange/Flickr
He's the Energizer bunny of car-centric thinking. Photo: Policy Exchange/Flickr

Well, the Post got the perfect response from Police Commissioner Bill Bratton:

"The city is going to great pains put bicycle lanes in, and to exclude the bicyclists from the traffic rules that everybody else, pedestrians and vehicles are supposed to follow, I would not be supportive of that under any circumstances."

Impeccable logic here. Can you believe these ingrates, the bicyclists? It doesn't matter if you're walking, biking, or driving a 55-foot tractor-trailer -- we all have to follow the same rules.

When I know I'm going to be walking, I never forget my front and rear lights before I leave my apartment. Out on the sidewalk, I always come to a full stop at stop signs, and I use hand signals whenever I turn or change lanes. I know not everyone is as scrupulous as I am, but if we excluded pedestrians from the traffic rules that everybody else, bicycles and vehicles are supposed to follow, the social order would collapse and there would be riots in the streets.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

‘Outrage’: Pols — And Even DOT Boss — Protest Trump’s Block on 34th St. Busway

A huge rally in Midtown to urge President Trump to get his meathooks off our transit included DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who is poised to capitulate.

October 20, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Uncharted Territory Edition

"No Kings" means hands off our busway. Plus the news.

October 20, 2025

More Tantrums: City Halts 34th Street Busway After Threat from Trump DOT

The feds threatened to cut city and state funding if New York doesn't halt all work on the 34th Street busway so the FHWA can review the project.

October 17, 2025

READY, AIM, ‘MISFIRE’: NYPD’s Bike Speed-Limit Effort Only Adds Confusion in Central Park

Two slowly ambling pedestrians were clocked at 19 miles per hour. So what's the point of this, exactly?

October 17, 2025

Friday Video: Drool Over This London School Street

That's cricket! Check out how London transformed a roadway around a big stadium into a play street.

October 17, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Queen James Edition

State Attorney General Letitia James gave our national security desk reporters Dave Colon and David Meyer the ultimate hat tip. Plus other news.

October 17, 2025
See all posts