June 23, 2008
Web Site Lets You Report Cars Parked in Bike Lanes
Let the bike vs. car wars continue! Toward the end of last week Matthew Yglesias linked to a new D.C. version of MyBikeLane.com, a site that allows users to upload photos capturing the license plate numbers of cars that park in city bike lanes. Yglesias promised to start uploading photos straightaway, and sure enough, a handful of photos at the top of the page are courtesy the Atlantic blogger, including the one above.
The web site itself is pretty slick and easy to use -- users can anonymously upload a photo and pinpoint the location, date and time they snapped the shot, as well as add commentary. It's safe to say that any cyclist in D.C. runs in to cars parked or idling in designated bike lanes on a near daily basis. But do you think a site like this will really do anything? Greater Greater Washington guesses that it's already captured the attention of Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells.
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So where is the website to upload pictures of the bikes that are in the way in the underpasses or sitting in the intersections?
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My camera doesn't have enough memory to capture all of the cars in the "bike/bus only" lanes on 7th and 9th streets, though...
And I actually agree with vxsarin, what's good for the goose is good for the gander - let folks upload pics of cyclist behaving badly as well.
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I bike around the city all the time but it seems kind of presumptuous to put someone's license plate on blast if you maybe don't know why they're (temporarily?) parked in a bike lane. How do we know that this van's owner isn't stopped for a minute to help his grandma out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk? This is the CITY after all - not everything is going to kept inside the proper lines and lanes at all times. As a biker, can't you just look behind your for second and then safely pass the parked vehicle? Or will you self-righteously stop behind it and take photos of the license plate? Anyway, I have more of a problem with people who DRIVE in the bike lanes.
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They're double-parked and blocking a lane, no matter if it is a bike lane or a car lane.
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This is consistent with cyclists being the most whiny segment of the American population. Well, next to bloggers.
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for all the bitching bicyclists in this city do, you'd think they'd follow the rules every now and again. as a pedestrian commuter, i daily encounter bicyclists who don't follow either the rules cars or pedestrians are expected to follow - and have been nearly hit by bicyclists running lights while i'm walking in accordance to the walk sign at least a dozen times.
let the city ticket these people for double parking and get off the high horse.
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Exactly the city needs to be aggressive about ticketing double parkers who are blocking bicycle traffic and especially people who drive in the bike lanes.
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inthecity, I agree that DC bikers are a bunch of whiny babies with extreme tolerance for double standards, but relying on the city to ticket double-parkers is not going to fix the problem.
In case you hadn't noticed, double parking laws don't get enforced in the city. I have no idea why, but it's the way life is.
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I wish I had in my car an "Air To Surface Missle" device so I can blow off the road ever car I see that souble parks.
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I'm not sure if this site will do anything. New York's site has many more photos and many repeat offenders. All of the worst offenders are UPS, FedEx and delivery trucks, but I don't see any push by UPS to change their ways.
But, the site is born of the frustration that cyclists have. They aren't welcome in the street, on Metro, on the sidewalks or even on the trails (see the 15mph speed limits) and when they're finally given a space all their own - a space in the door zone no less, drivers park in them.
If the city won't enforce the law, shame is the only weapon cyclists have. Well, shame and surprise.
Actually, the weapons in are arsenal are shame, fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope and nice red uniforms.
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Sweet. Gotta start somewhere. Let's see if this one gets us anywhere, and here's hoping.
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[snippy] Actually, the weapons in are [sic] arsenal are shame, fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope and nice red uniforms. [end snippy]
...And a nice sharp screwdriver to puncture tires and f*@k up that Simonized finish.
Bikes are legal on city roadways as long as cyclists obey the laws. Shouldn't really need bike lanes.
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And if the cops aren't ticketing drivers, why should cyclists be singled out for a ticket-writing campaign? MPD needs to enforce the laws for EVERYONE. Chaos breeds chaos, and then you eventually get what we have here in ol' Dodge City.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my hillbilly heroin, a couple vodka tonics, and a quick bike ride through happytown.
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Posting photos of actual tags is trouble. Even gossip sites blur the license plates they shoot. A motorist will eventually file suit and this site will be taken down.
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hey, vxsarin, be a little entrepreneurial and go out and register gettingbackatbikers.com
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While I AM an avid city cyclist, I think this website is essentially ridiculous.
First of all - if they problem the cyclists' have is that the parked cars slow them down, then STOPPING ALTOGETHER to take a picture is obviously NOT the solution. And if they are going to claim that their problem with the cars in the bicycle lanes is that they pose a threat to safety, they have to ask themselves - who are we kidding? It's not like the car/van SNEAKED UP ON YOU. Get real.
Also - I'm a resident of Mount Pleasant, and our main drag is always ridden with doubly-parked cars. I gather that this is not considered rude in El Salvador (not to be prejudice or anything ELSE someone could accuse me of, it's just something I've noticed seeing as many residents of the neighborhood are El Salvadorian) and is therefore a very understandable & excusable practice. Again - get real and get rational, folks.
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"All of the worst offenders are UPS, FedEx and delivery trucks, but I don't see any push by UPS to change their ways."
How exactly should they 'change their ways'?
Where exactly do you think these folks can park?
In my hood at mid-day there can be literally no parking spaces for blocks.
How do you think packages are going to get delivered if UPS guys can't park anywhere near the delivery address?
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Bikes are legal on city roadways as long as cyclists obey the laws. Shouldn't really need bike lanes.
That would be fine if motorists didn't (a) honk at cyclists for merely being in the street, (b) zoom around cyclists with about a foot's leeway even when there's a WHOLE OTHER LANE unoccupied, and (c) try to drive IN BIKE LANES because they don't want to wait their turn in normal traffic. Look, motorists have a steel cage and I have a styrofoam hat. It's pretty apparent how the safety differential works there.
as a pedestrian commuter, i daily encounter bicyclists who don't follow either the rules cars or pedestrians are expected to follow - and have been nearly hit by bicyclists running lights while i'm walking in accordance to the walk sign at least a dozen times.
And as a bike commuter, I daily encounter groups of pedestrians obliviously crossing against the light even when I have the right-of-way, forcing me to jam on my brakes to avoid hitting them. Who wins?
I wish I had in my car an "Air To Surface Missle" device so I can blow off the road ever car I see that souble parks.
I'd settle for having an airhorn on my bike, but as luck would have it, startled drivers would probably swerve right into me. Sigh.
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pedestrian, cyclist, driver...you're all a bunch of pricks. that's why i warp to work
wave of the future, i'm tellin' ya
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Let me tell you about this one time I saw a bicycle disobeying traffic laws
>:O
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Whenever I see doubleparking UPS/Fedex/USPS trucks, they always seem to be within 50 feet of a legit parking space. That goes double for cops and churchies.
Anyway, I'm sure this will be just as effective as the number DC gives you to report people using your back ally for a toilet/shooting gallery.
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So here's an honest question. When you're in your car and you want to make a right at an intersection, what's the protocol if there's a bike lane to your right? Do the cyclists have the right-of-way? Sort of makes it difficult if you ask me because then you're turning into bike traffic. I know cyclists might get angry about this, but I actually move into the bike lane with my turn signal on just so both cyclists and drivers know what I'm doing. I might make some people angry, but at least I know I won't hit them because as I looked to turn they were in a blind spot.
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Its completely asinine to expect the UPS, FedEx or any other delivery person to not double park. Like they can find any parking in this city? Jesus let them double park for the short time they need to do and do their jobs.
Jesus just go around the damn thing you whiny babies.
I just love watching these packs of yuppie bicyclists on the George Washington Parkway riding in groups in their bright colors and funky hats acting like their in the Tour De France. lol I mean just because your can dress like a professional cyclist doesn't mean you are one. I bet when they are done they all gather in their favorite Starbucks, drink Cappuccino, and speak bad French.
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will585 - spend a weekday afternoon on Hains Point and you'll see all the semi-semi-semi-semi-wannabe-semi pros riding around in their skin tight clown suits. And they do all the drafting, passing, and what not that professional cyclists do. It's actually quite amusing.
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But during the week, these same bike clowns hang around Starbucks with their laptops pretending to be writers. Joke's on them though, because they forgot to turn encryption on and a hacker's already wardialed onto their hard drive, stolen all his credit card numbers and passwords, and is even now selling them to the Chinese who will resell them to South Korean teenagers so they can play more World of Warcraft at the arcade and buy virtual crap in Second Life.
That's what you get for wearing bright spandex.
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washcycle: That's overstating things a bit. Bikes are allowed in the street, in the bike lane if one is present, and in the regular stream of traffic if one is not. Bikes are allowed on Metro buses at any time, and on Metro rail during non-peak hours (and really, with how crowded the trains are, can you blame them for that policy?). Bikes are allowed on the sidewalks save for certain parts of downtown (which, with all the foot traffic and vendor carts and outdoor seating and the like, seems reasonable). The door zone issue affects motorists and cyclists equally in terms of potential for collision (though cyclists are, of course, more likely to suffer physical harm from such an impact). I can't speak to your example regarding trails, but my point is, making those kinds of overblown statements about how hard it is for cyclists doesn't advance the dialogue on this issue.
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guest121: Signal and move over. Most of the bike lanes should have dotted lines at alleys and intersections which show cars and cyclists using the lane that cars can (and should) move over into the lane to turn.
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while i can understand the frustration of having to swerve around a car/truck in traffic, i would be hella upset if someone posted my license plate online. i'm no legal expert, but something about that seems so illegal.
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I don't think it's illegal to post a picture of someone's license plate online.
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Bikes are legal on city roadways as long as cyclists obey the laws. Shouldn't really need bike lanes.
Shouldn't but they do. Bike lanes are shown to increase the number of cyclists on the roads. An expansive study by the City of Toronto determined that bike lanes increase cyclist safety.
How do you think packages are going to get delivered if UPS guys can't park anywhere near the delivery address?
mr moonpie answered this pretty well, but to add it to I'd say that maybe they could think about using delivery bicycles. They have them and use them in other countries. Bike parking is much easier to find. Or they could stop delivering packages at rush hour.
When you're in your car and you want to make a right at an intersection, what's the protocol if there's a bike lane to your right? At the intersection the line should go dotted. This is where drivers are allowed to move over into the bike lane - if it's safe and after signaling - to make their turn.
mellbell, I said that cyclists were not welcome in the street/sidewalks/metro, not that they weren't allowed. (Also they're allowed in the regular lane even if a bike lane is present) I was referring to the way cyclists are yelled at, honked at and often intimidated by drivers. Yes, cyclists are allowed on Metro, but not during the most desirable times. If all the trains at rush hour were full I'd see your point. They aren't. In fact most aren't (think reverse commutes). So the policy is pretty stupid. I don't feel my statement was overblown at all. This is how cyclists who I talk to and hear from feel.
Will585 and flapjack, a cycling conversation isn't complete without some jackass making a joke about the gear that some cyclists wear. It was sort of funny the first 2000 times someone made the joke, but frankly it seems hack now. Work on some new material. Odd that no one makes fun people playing golf, tennis, softball, soccer etc...wearing the same gear as the pros.