What's this doing in the bike lane?

Share your pics, videos, streets, stories of what you find in the bike lane of the non-bike variety that has an impact on your ride and/or your safety. I've decided to keep it a little more open ended - cars, snow, buses, garbage, cabs, etc. If they shouldn't be in the bike lane, go ahead and add it to this thread. Please be safe if you are taking pics or video! :-)

My hope is that we can collectively build some evidence of what we see when riding in the city with the overall hope of better enforcement of "bikes only" and improving maintenance.

Update: More Hashtags to Capture Vehicles in the Bike Lane

With popular hashtags:
#BikeLaneShaming

#LaneSpreading (Chicago Bike Selling)

#ClearTheWay (ActiveTrans), there are many options to capture violations.

We think you should use ALL of them AND post your photos on The Chainlink. ;-)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on August 2, 2016 at 4:25am

This guy was in the northbound Elston bike lane just north of Cortez around 5:30 pm last night. I called 911, took a photo, and as I started riding off overheard that he was in the bike lane because he'd hit another car parked (legally) about 6 car lengths ahead.... hope he was there yet when the cops showed up.

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on August 8, 2016 at 6:41am

In a 3-block stretch of Canal this morning, I came across two parked cars and two pedestrians obliviously walking right down the middle of the protected lane as if it were some kind of special green sidewalk made just for them.

The second parked car was a State Trooper vehicle, carefully positioned so that it both blocked the lane and made it very difficult to pass without coming to a complete stop. As I was wondering what emergency would cause a police officer with no meaningful jurisdiction in the area to park in such a glaringly horrible manner, I saw him waddling back to the car with a large bag from Portillo's.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Quist on August 9, 2016 at 2:43pm

Well... At least it wasn't a bag from Krispy Kreme.

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on August 9, 2016 at 6:47am

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 11, 2016 at 6:43am

Today's special one: USPS truck in Washington lane between Dearborn and State at lunchtime.

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Permalink Reply by Bill P on August 11, 2016 at 3:43pm

Again eastbound on Washington between Canal and Wacker, today about 9 am. Sorry I didn't take the time to take pictures showing the names on the sides of the trucks involved.

1. Driver left truck unattended but I didn't see where he went.

2. Party supply (?) truck next to opera house at Wacker.

3. Party people (?) between opera house and truck.

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on August 12, 2016 at 4:03am

This guy blocking the Elston bike lane at Ashland.... sat there until the light turned green and traffic moved enough for him to get over to the right. Then he drove in and turned from the bike lane, instead of the right turn lane. SMH.

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Permalink Reply by Gage B. on August 12, 2016 at 10:09am

What is your camera setup?

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on August 12, 2016 at 12:07pm

Rear-facing Fly6. The video quality is great, even better when there's not a rack and bag in the way! :-)

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on August 12, 2016 at 4:39am

And this guy on Elston just south of Cortland making a Ready Refresh delivery. He set out cones so apparently it's okay to block the bike lane then....

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on August 23, 2016 at 5:04am

This is a new one (to me at least). There is, at this very moment, a Harold's food truck parked in the northbound Canal parking "protected" bike lane in front of Northern Trust, along with about 20 customers milling about.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on September 1, 2016 at 7:45am

Pretty typical morning on the Dearborn Bike Path. In just seven blocks I encountered five different asshole drivers casually blocking it. Finally started a Facebook album so I could tag the drivers' employers. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154440229583555.1073741...

Hey Van Eerden Trucking, tell the driver of MI-D424990 who loudly laughed when I suggested he shouldn't be unloading in the bike lane, that no sane person thinks the several cyclists killed this year by trucks is funny.

Hey Krishna Lunch NU, tell the driver of IL-R42_2548 that doing food truck business out a window ACROSS THE BIKE LANES is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen in my long life.

Hey Yellow Cab Chicago, tell the driver of IL-3929_TX that unlike what he yelled at me he does NOT "have the right to be in the bike lane for drop-offs".