The Chainlink

Police Crack Down on Bicyclists

 

Heads Up!

 

A crackdown near downtown Chicago on bicyclists running red lights and disobeying other traffic laws led to dozens of warnings and at least one ticket Tuesday morning.

But the combination enforcement-and-education operation, conducted at the busy and chaotic intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Desplaines and Kinzie streets, may not have convinced all the violators to change their unsafe ways.

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IMO they should have stoped the driver as well and explain to both parties what the rules are regarding your situation.



Rhea Butcher said:

I actually started a (frantic) discussion with them this morning. I was mostly run off into parked cars, as happens every morning, due to the "right turn" lane that takes over the whole bike lane. As I talked to them about it (more like freaked out, which if you're reading this CDOT ladies, apologies)a driver pulled up and told them how wrong I was. Fun stuff. Glad there is a protected lane but I do really hope there are plans to put a lane in where it is drastically needed. Read: the entirety of Milwaukee.

That intersection has been part of my commute every work day since October, and this was the first time I've seen any kind of crack down.

It was pretty funny, I semi-legally made the turn from Milwaukee onto Kinzie from the right lane (the left lane was clogged with big trucks) along with 2 other cyclists. Some cop yelled at us to pull over, but I didn't realize this until I was down the block. Daily dosage of deviance! 

*this is just to vent here because there's no point to replying to newpaper online comments*

I'm always amazed when motorist assume cyclists don't pay taxes since there's no city bike sticker.  The fee of $75/year is pretty much a free ride for motorists that paultry fee doesn't comes close to compensating for the wear and tear on the roads caused by vehicles.

 

Do my property (even if you rent, the landlord is paying the property taxes with some of your rent money) and sales taxes not count because I cycle?

 

Also i'm not sure how buying "bike insurance" helps the city pay for road repair or how making cycling more expensive would mean that cyclists would be more likely to obey the laws. I see a lot of people on expensive bikes with helmets doing really stupid things.  

 

Minh said:

From the comments:

Mayor Rahm, believe us, these bicyclists are out of control and our city government helps pour it on.  Bicyclists are getting a MAJOR free ride - no city stickers (taxes/revenue); no insurance.  No mandatory safety gear. 

Hit them in the pocketbook and they should comply."

Meanwhile it is like downtown Mogadishu on the Gold Coast and they are powerless to stop it...
Too much ignorance there.

H3N3 said:
This.

Cameron Puetz said:
As always with Tribune articles, don't read the comments.
Not too mention the people who have no idea what turn signal are for. I say keep riding the way you want, when doorings, parking in the bike lane and just plain unsafe drivers get "cracked down on" THEN we'll have a start.

Rhea Butcher said:
I actually started a (frantic) discussion with them this morning. I was mostly run off into parked cars, as happens every morning, due to the "right turn" lane that takes over the whole bike lane. As I talked to them about it (more like freaked out, which if you're reading this CDOT ladies, apologies)a driver pulled up and told them how wrong I was. Fun stuff. Glad there is a protected lane but I do really hope there are plans to put a lane in where it is drastically needed. Read: the entirety of Milwaukee.

I'd go for a $25 a year sticker for my bike but it would also include registering the serial number and any theft would be treated similar to car theft. CPD really you want that?

 

Dedicated lanes, in a city with a budget,cta hike crisis it's a nice Idea but?

 

Banning? now about 1% of Chicagos pop. ride bikes to work but what would that do to the "oh so frail we might go into recession again" economy?The bike shops that employ people, and what about the children? my God think of he children!


 

Minh said:


I've seen many bicyclists go from one side of the street to the other, back to the other within seconds, they fly through red lights, not always directly across the intersection, but at right-hand turns, directly in front of speeding city garbage trucks. 

Mayor Rahm, believe us, these bicyclists are out of control and our city government helps pour it on.  Bicyclists are getting a MAJOR free ride - no city stickers (taxes/revenue); no insurance.  No mandatory safety gear. 

Hit them in the pocketbook and they should comply."

I agree- I would register and pay for a bicycle city sticker along the lines of what Mike Z. said.  Also, I would even be willing to buy some form of bicycle liability insurance if it had the option of comprehensive coverage for not only others, but for myself and my bicycle.

What I find hilarious about the Tribune comments is that the same people who say that a bicycle should not be allowed on public roadways and then also say bikes should be registered like a car seem to not understand that if cyclist is required to register a bicycle, pay a city sticker fee and get insurance, then the cyclists will have every right to the roads (as they already do) and the drivers will have no argument to say a bicycle doesn't belong there.  

Mike Zumwalt said:

I'd go for a $25 a year sticker for my bike but it would also include registering the serial number and any theft would be treated similar to car theft. CPD really you want that?

 

Dedicated lanes, in a city with a budget,cta hike crisis it's a nice Idea but?

 

Banning? now about 1% of Chicagos pop. ride bikes to work but what would that do to the "oh so frail we might go into recession again" economy?The bike shops that employ people, and what about the children? my God think of he children!


 

Minh said:


I've seen many bicyclists go from one side of the street to the other, back to the other within seconds, they fly through red lights, not always directly across the intersection, but at right-hand turns, directly in front of speeding city garbage trucks. 

Mayor Rahm, believe us, these bicyclists are out of control and our city government helps pour it on.  Bicyclists are getting a MAJOR free ride - no city stickers (taxes/revenue); no insurance.  No mandatory safety gear. 

Hit them in the pocketbook and they should comply."

This- I'd happily pay for some real services like previous commenters describe. Knowing someone in law enforcement would care if my bike was stolen would go a long way, and having some insurance would make me feel just a tad bit more protected riding around in the city. My renter's insurance covers some, but it's not something I can rely on for all possible mishaps while biking.

Also, honestly, I approve of police enforcing red lights for bikes as well as cars. I break a little sweat every time I am slowing to a stop at a red light and a car pulls up behind me, because I never know if they're going to assume I am the type of cyclist who runs red lights and just rear-end me.

 

Melanie said:

I agree- I would register and pay for a bicycle city sticker along the lines of what Mike Z. said.  Also, I would even be willing to buy some form of bicycle liability insurance if it had the option of comprehensive coverage for not only others, but for myself and my bicycle.

What I find hilarious about the Tribune comments is that the same people who say that a bicycle should not be allowed on public roadways and then also say bikes should be registered like a car seem to not understand that if cyclist is required to register a bicycle, pay a city sticker fee and get insurance, then the cyclists will have every right to the roads (as they already do) and the drivers will have no argument to say a bicycle doesn't belong there.  

Mike Zumwalt said:

I'd go for a $25 a year sticker for my bike but it would also include registering the serial number and any theft would be treated similar to car theft. CPD really you want that?

We ALREADY pay for these services which are supposedly paid for out of the general fund for police protection.  What makes anything think that paying for it again will change anything?  It'll just make it more expensive to ride a bike and keep more people from riding.  I know many bicyclists who have multiple bikes and would be hit pretty hard if they had to pay even $25/bike to register them (not even mentioning insurance -the biggest rip-off scam ever foisted on western civilization.)    I know of a number of folks to who have upwards of 4-5 bikes.  Bikes are not really like cars in that certain bikes are good for certain things.  

 

Having to pay yearly registration tribute to the city will not change a thing except be a burden for those of us who ride them.   The next thing they will come up with is licensing of bike mechanics and yearly inspections of bicycles which will  be yet another burden and make bicycling more expensive.   In the end, it'll just be about REVENUE for the city.  

 

If we go down that road don't be surprised when they want to start charging bicycles parking fees...

The Crackdown makes a cameo in today's (6/8/11) Bike Snob NYC. Sadly, no mention of Julie Hochstadter.

Great comments from all.

 

Speaking as a serious cyclist, I do think some of us need to be more mindful of common sense.

 

But as for the drivers, I wonder if they know how much traffic would increase if we didn't choose to bike.

 

Also, bikes are different than cars, traffic laws are in sort of a grey area for us, you wouldn't want us obeying the same laws that apply to cars. Imagine us riding smack in the middle of the car lane. That might slow you down. Now imagine us at every stop sign coming to a complete stop and then starting up again. Now that's really going to slow you down.

 

I guess what I'm saying to the drivers is, I hear what you're saying, but be careful what you wish for.

 

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