In Case You Need a Reminder: This is How Drivers Treat Bike Lanes
Drivers — they’ll drive in anything that isn’t barricade-protected.
A typical Friday night on the bike lane on Plaza Street West in Brooklyn. There are lots of drivers frustrated that they can't go faster — and, frequently, drivers who commandeer the bike lane because, well, they can.
The latest example popped up on Reddit — and shows again how painted bike lanes are, essentially, meaningless stripes that drivers drive over or park on (warning: inappropriate language below).
"She was driving through bike lane to dodge traffic," our tipster told us. "[She] could have run over cyclists easily as she had loud music in her car and [was] completely unworried about law she was breaking."
To its credit, the Department of Transportation does not label the two-way lane on Plaza Street West as a "protected" bike lane, but it is a crucial portion of the route many cyclists take from Prospect Park West's two-way protected lane to the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
The ease with which drivers can seize cyclists' space is hardly limited to this spot. Drivers encroach on the DOT's "protected" bike lane on Second Avenue so frequently that the NYPD has had to put up its own barricades.
Streetsblog ran the North Carolina license plates on the car in question. It has three tickets — two for running red lights.
Read More:
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Wednesday’s Headlines: Concerted Effort Edition
The Great Lawn will be closed to the public six weeks earlier than normal because of those damn rockers. Plus other news.
Broadway Vision: Watch 15 Years of Transformation in a Single Streetfilm
It's hard to see the big picture of just what has been accomplished between Times and Union squares. That's where Clarence Eckerson Jr. comes in.
What Do ‘Livable’ Streets Look Like in an Era of Driverless Cars?
In today's Brake podcast, Kea Wilson asks Bruce Appleyard what future livable streets have in a world of autonomous cars.
NYPD Steps Up Effort Against Illegal Mopeds, But Some Advocates Want a Different Approach
The NYPD seized some illegal wheels from delivery workers in the middle of their route on Wednesday, part of a stepped-up effort.
Astoria Organizers Lead the Way on Street Safety with a Reddit Strategy
The western Queens neighborhood has become a hub for a new kind of safe street advocacy.
