New York City bicyclists are getting fewer tickets. The drop comes as biking safety is in a spotlight.
The New York Post reported Monday that about 32,500 tickets have been issued to cyclists from Jan. 1 through Nov. 30. That’s about 25 percent fewer than during the same period last year.
The tickets can reflect offenses ranging from going the wrong way to going through red lights.
Two bike crashes killed pedestrians in Central Park this year and prompted the city to lower the cycling speed limit there from 25 to 20 mph.
The city also is looking at redesigns that could help make crosswalks safer for park-goers.
(AP)
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2 Responses
Perhaps it would be a good idea to include in the article ( or in a separate one) some information/ advice on ticketable offenses to do with bikes, for the sake of our general safety.
I live in Boro Park and walk regularly with my baby in his carriage. Grown men cyclists often whiz past us on the sidewalk (illegal – only small children are allowed to cycle in pedestrian areas), and we also see many kids on bikes without helmets, who do not use bells, and who dart across dangerous junctions ignoring traffic lights. It’s pretty scary stuff.
The other day I saw a bochur of perhaps fifteen or sixteen zig zag speedily through multi- lane traffic and violate several red lights at a busy intersection on New Utrecht Avanue. It was pitch black, but the bochur no light on his bike and was not wearing a helmet. He was talking into his cell phone and steering the bike with one hand.
This is a common, if terrifying sight, as I am sure readers have noticed.
P.S. Not to criticize, but neither of the gentlemen in the picture is wearing a helmet.