The NYPD is “sick” of brazen bicyclists—and has started a major campaign to slam the brakes on riders’ out-of-control behavior.
Early this month, the police began a ticket blitz targeting bike scofflaws by handing out a slew of summonses to riders who refused to follow basic traffic-safety laws, sources told The Post.
In just the first two weeks of January in Manhattan, cops handed out nearly 1,000 tickets charging wayward riders with breaking the kind of laws many seem to constantly ignore: going the wrong way, running lights, making illegal turns and riding on the sidewalk.
“Bicyclists should travel like vehicles and must obey the same laws,” said a police source familiar with the crackdown. “The department and the people are sick of it.”
The sources said that bike riders—including messengers and pedicab drivers—had better get used to the hardened approach toward violations.
“It’s from now until forever,” a source said. “There is no set time.”
The NYPD did not have the exact number of bicycle tickets written out in Manhattan over any other two-week period, but sources are sure they broke a record in early January.
“It’s an all-time high,” one high-ranking source said.
In addition to 979 Manhattan tickets, 315 were issued in Brooklyn and 167 were doled out in Queens.
Sources said that lawbreaking by cyclists has become the top quality-of-life complaint in some neighborhoods.
“I think the moral of the story is it’s not just obey the rules of the road, but to utilize the bike lanes and safety first,” a police source said.
(Source: NY Post)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
4 Responses
NYC reminds me of some bizarre science fiction novel, in which people are controlled like automatons by the authorities. I doubt there is anything left in that hellish place that isn’t regulated or outlawed. It’s little wonder New Yorkers are the second rudest people in the country after Los Angelenos. Los Angeles is a Left Coast version of NYC.
Well its about time. As a driver i can’t “do what i want” and neither should the cyclists. They got the city to set up all these bike lanes to the driver’s inconvenience and then go aroung and flaunt the law — making it dangerous not only for the drivers but more so for pedestrians. How many times has a driver gone through a green light, only to nearly hit a cyclist running the red? Not only should they be ticketed, but Adult Cyclists should be forced to carry regular driver’s licenses and liability insurance.
If you breathe, Bloomberg WILL find a way to give you a ticket.
The City is already doing too much harrassing and plundering of the citizenry.
Bicycle messengers are among the poorest of the poor in our City. We don’t need another excuse for the mayor to rob hapless cyclists of their hard-earned money.