iblockthebikelane.com - New Bicycle Awareness Campaigns

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Duppie on March 2, 2011 at 6:37pm

+1

It's give and take indeed.

milesperhour said:

with all due respect, we live in a big city.  it's conjested.  everyone is trying to get where they need to be and do the jobs they need to do.  do you really expect a UPS driver to seek out a street without a bike lane and walk with all of his packages?  he'd be fired for taking too long on his delivery route.  someone hailing a cab?  does this really bother people? i see this more as the biker's annoyance with being slowed down and having to look over their shoulder.  "but this is MY lane!" well guess what?  as a biker you are constantly getting in the driver's way too, slowing them down, and they are just as annoyed. standing cars block cars in driving lanes all the time too, making them go into oncoming traffic.  should we have the cops ticket them too?  do we really want big government ticketing everyone left and right? i'll happily go around someone in the bike line, if it means i can roll through stop signs and run red lights without being bothered. it's give and take. i know i'm in the minority here, but go around it and move on. 

 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on March 2, 2011 at 6:44pm

+2. You're not alone in the minority.

Duppie said:

+1

It's give and take indeed.

milesperhour said:

[snip] it's give and take. i know i'm in the minority here, but go around it and move on. 

 

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Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 2, 2011 at 6:44pm

I'm guilty of hating on the cabbie hailers, but it isn't that they stand in the lane, they tend to jump out from between parked cars and do not bother to check that a bicycle is passing at the same time, forcing me out into traffic. So yes, it is an inconvenience and a hazard, and really, it was a joke in the first place.   I can understand the UPS drivers needing to double park, and they are usually gone in a few moments, but I think it is those cars that stand in the bike lane for more than 15 minutes, or actually just don't bother parking their cars correctly in the first place, that are the worse offenders.  Also, I for one, do stop at stop signs and stop lights, not all cyclists disobey traffic laws, as I am quite afraid to go through them and get nailed by someone who isn't paying attention while driving their car.

milesperhour said:

with all due respect, we live in a big city.  it's conjested.  everyone is trying to get where they need to be and do the jobs they need to do.  do you really expect a UPS driver to seek out a street without a bike lane and walk with all of his packages?  he'd be fired for taking too long on his delivery route.  someone hailing a cab?  does this really bother people? i see this more as the biker's annoyance with being slowed down and having to look over their shoulder.  "but this is MY lane!" well guess what?  as a biker you are constantly getting in the driver's way too, slowing them down, and they are just as annoyed. standing cars block cars in driving lanes all the time too, making them go into oncoming traffic.  should we have the cops ticket them too?  do we really want big government ticketing everyone left and right? i'll happily go around someone in the bike line, if it means i can roll through stop signs and run red lights without being bothered. it's give and take. i know i'm in the minority here, but go around it and move on. 

 

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Permalink Reply by milesperhour on March 2, 2011 at 6:55pm

Understood. I see this discussed on here with some frequency and I think people should be careful what they wish for.  I don't like the idea of getting cops and alderman involved.  Those cops that park in the bike lane are the same ones who ignore the biker going through a red.  The cop talking on his cell phone while driving?  He'll ignore you talking on your cell phone while driving too. If I wanted to live in a petty big brother society, I'd move to the suburbs.  The Chicago cops will leave you alone unless you're shooting someone and I'd like to keep it that way.  If I don't want to be ticketed for my traffic violations, then I'm not going to fight for others to be.

Melanie said:

I'm guilty of hating on the cabbie hailers, but it isn't that they stand in the lane, they tend to jump out from between parked cars and do not bother to check that a bicycle is passing at the same time, forcing me out into traffic. So yes, it is an inconvenience and a hazard, and really, it was a joke in the first place.   I can understand the UPS drivers needing to double park, and they are usually gone in a few moments, but I think it is those cars that stand in the bike lane for more than 15 minutes, or actually just don't bother parking their cars correctly in the first place, that are the worse offenders.  Also, I for one, do stop at stop signs and stop lights, not all cyclists disobey traffic laws, as I am quite afraid to go through them and get nailed by someone who isn't paying attention while driving their car.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 3, 2011 at 9:47am

I think that using collected evidence to persuade people in authority would be the best use of such a site.  Sharing it among ourselves isn't enough.  Sharing it with aldermen and others could be more effective, if presented to them in the right way.

Joel said:

I think if someone convinced a person of authority to act if we present him with evidence, I think people would be willing to help.  

James Baum said:

Well, WE know that of course.  But it seems nobody else cares -especially the cops as they are one of the worst offenders.  If people think that having photographic evidence to point to and thousands and thousands of specific incidents and license plate numbers (especially the cops and the UPS mulitple offenders) maybe it would be some leverage which could help someday.

 

But if it isn't going to help then I guess we can just put stickers on cars.  My fear is that confronting people directly with these stickers is going to contribute to rageyness on the driver's part if they catch someone doing it.  There are drivers out there who are already high-strung and ready to snap on someone.  Touch their cars (with a sticker that is easy to peel off even though they won't know that at first) and maybe one of them will snap.    I draw the line at messing with other people's property and really wish they would honor that same line with me.  

 

I had hoped that a site like mybikelane would eventually draw the attention of the media and help spread the message but I guess that  probably just pie-in-the-sky wishing in one's hand. 

Joel said:

I think it is because the website ultimately does nothing -- hey look, people park in the bike lanes!  We already know that.  

 

If we could get an alderman to care, it might be worth it.  Parking in a bike lane is a $150 fine, and I bet there are a couple streets in any given ward that could rack up a few thousand dollars an hour in revenue if they were to enforce it.  

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Davo on March 3, 2011 at 9:47am

I hate it when people double park when there was a spot open maybe 20' away. IMO vehicles that are clearly marked as work vehicles (UPS CPD...) shouldn't be ticketed. Anyone else who is too damn lazy to find a spot, should be ticketed.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Kenseth on March 3, 2011 at 10:50am

I will post it on the ISEC website and include it in the Bicycling Resources I'm working on for the site.

James Baum said:

I never understood why this site, MyBikeLane/Chicago never really took off.  If everyone on this forum were to take the time (like 20 seconds to stop and yank out your camera) to photograph these violators and post them (another 5 minutes) on a daily basis there'd be a huge database of the worst offenders in town. Maybe something could be done. At least it would be something to point to when trying to convince city leaders that there is a real problem.   But anyone looking at that site must only conclude that bikelane violating is not a problem in this city due to the almost lack of any posting on that site.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Y on March 3, 2011 at 11:09am

Seriously how can we get them to ticket the double-parking cars more? I am sure the city could use extra money. I was riding on Wells last night and it seems that people think the bike lane is a temp. parking lane. 

What is really annoying was that right in front of where they double parked was all these actual parking/standing spaces.

And some of those cars looked like they've been sitting there for more than just 1 minute or 2.

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Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 3, 2011 at 11:13am

I think that is my greatest annoyance- there usually is a parking spot/place that they could park their car at approximately 10 feet from where they are double parked.  I can sometimes sympathize when the street is jam packed with parked cars, but not when there are spots available to park in. Just because someone is only going to run into Starbuck's  or the cleaners for 1-2 minutes doesn't mean they can't at least put their car in a legal parking spot a few feet farther down the street if one is available.

Amy Y said:

Seriously how can we get them to ticket the double-parking cars more? I am sure the city could use extra money. I was riding on Wells last night and it seems that people think the bike lane is a temp. parking lane. 

What is really annoying was that right in front of where they double parked was all these actual parking/standing spaces.

And some of those cars looked like they've been sitting there for more than just 1 minute or 2.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on March 3, 2011 at 11:34am

I'd rather have a vehicle parked in the bike lane than parked to the left of the bike lane.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on March 3, 2011 at 11:47am

I don't mind UPS guys, people who let a passenger hop out to get some dry cleaning, etc. What really irritates me are people who just straight up drive in the bike lane (I see this a lot on Elston and Roosevelt) and truly chronic offenders like valet services. There aren't really any bad ones in my neighborhood that I can think of, but anyone who lives around a business that is habitually clogging a lane should absolutely collect some evidence and reach out to their alderman with a suggestion that a few tickets might change their behavior.

As to the stickers, the intention is good but they seem like a road rage incident waiting to happen. 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 3, 2011 at 12:08pm

They get really mad when you kick their stupid middle of the bike lane signs over too...

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