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. ;-)
Tags:
That was my initial thought as well, then I read that there is motor vehicle access to accommodate emergency vehicles and the like when necessary. Makes sense I guess.
Cities need to have pricing on the parking meters that encourages turn over. Cities also should have reserved parking zones leaving them open for short term parking for a) police, first responders b) delivery drivers.
If cities plan for those drivers better, there will not be AS MUCH of a need for enforcement.
Also, with delivery drivers, they park in spots that are convenient for THEMSELVES. I wonder how such drivers, FedEx, UPS, etc. would respond, when parked in a bike lane, if cyclists started blocking their movement for 5 minutes (they're on a tight schedule!).
If the driver backs up, follow them back, walking the bicycle to not allow forward movement. Tell them to call the police if they have a problem with people blocking lanes.
If such a bicyclist blockade happened even once to a driver, you can bet a bike lane would seem less enticing as a place to park.
some thoughts/ideas:
a) it would be good for everyone to save their local police/dispatch number in their phones. It's not good to tie up the 9-11 lines with calls about parking.
b) if you see any of this sort of parking PLEASE take a pic then contact the company with a call, post the pic on their fb page, etc.
c) if you ask the driver nicely (such as when they are getting back into their vehicle, before the illegally parked vehicle can be reported) to avoid parking in the bike lane and they are dismissive or rude, what I would do is block them in for a few minutes sitting in front of their vehicle holding them up. If they start to back up, I would walk my bike bike back to them. If they have a problem with people blocking the lane, they can call the police. I wouldn't do this unless it was a "professional" driver though...
If you take away the "time savings"/convenience of the space for delivery drivers that are in a hurry, they will look for other options.
If a driver has their hazards on it may be that they are experiencing car trouble. Probably not, but it's possible. Maybe that would be a courteous way to start a conversation? 'Having car trouble?'
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