You've got the threads mixed up. No mention of auxilliary cops here.
I'm pretty sure Aux Police cannot write summonses.
Ticket Blitz for Cyclists
Wed, 06/09/2004 - 1:34pm
#51
Ummmmm....
Tue, 05/25/2004 - 6:44am
#52
Try this
I recommend showing an officer of the law a photocopy of my British passport and driving licence. Surely they wouldn't pursue one of her majesty's citizens. Copies available on request.
Tue, 05/25/2004 - 8:35am
#53
British Passport
Don't know if your UK passport will work around my neighborhood (especially..Inwood).
Most of my friends who are from the NYPD are Irish descent.
They will have a field day w/ your British passport.
Tue, 05/25/2004 - 8:18am
#54
Last Night in Central Park cars were buzzing through at 7:30
The cops should focus on that. and cyclists should take the road. They can't ticket us for taking all the lanes when the park is officially closed to cars. (they can't ticket us for taking one lane if we choose at anytime of day can they??)
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 8:25am
#55
More ticketing today for bicyclists, only
This time 10 blocks up the street - 6th Avenue at the 47th St crossing. Wednesdays appear to be the day of choice for 6th Avenue, midtown. I don't ever recall witnessing a motor vehicle ticket blitz - 14th amendment be dammed.
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 12:08pm
#56
Motorists get ticketed too
Peter, motorists in the city get ticketed for violations all the time. I've seen a lot of ill will generated against us decent law-abiding cyclists by the actions of irresponsible ones (I've been hit, once I intervened to help an woman who had been hit and suffered a black eye and busted glasses as a result.) Cycling is fun, even with lights. The law is the law, it's there to protect all of us. I'm with the police on this one.
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 2:02pm
#57
Motorists get ticketed too - where?
"Peter, motorists in the city get ticketed for violations all the time.
True, but they are not for moving violation ones. ;-)
The law is the law, it's there to protect all of us.
Sure laws are laws and I'm not debating specfically the veracity of ticketing cyclists. Among others, rather my displeasure is one of:
- priority (as a ""quasi"" tax-payer/citizen),
- safety (as a pedestrian and cyclist) and
- equal protection (cyclist).
I'm writing this from the perspective of a pedestrian. Motorists running red lights, blocking the box/ped paths, not yielding to the right of way is much more a troublesome and common problem for me than cyclists.
How many deaths or accidents have occured involving M.V.s in the city? And for bicycles? I don't have the stats in front of me, but I reckon it's a safe bet to say the former is much greater by a big margin.
Likewise, how many tickets are issued to motorists? Not many, I'm sure. It's hard for me to recall any, especially so during this ticketing bike blitz (which I've seen quite a few cyclists written up). I speculate the ratio of traffic to ticketing volume, car v. bike, is so out of balance and disparate to the point of being discriminatory.
Here's one example, today a food delivery person and a bike messenger were being written up a ticket between 47th and 48th by a few cops on bike patrol. While crossing 48th St, two taxis ran a red light and got stuck blocking car and pedestrian traffic on 6th Ave (the other side of the Ave). Another cop in a 3-wheeled SOV approached them and just waved them on to move out of the way.
I don't recall anyone being runned down by a pizza delivery cyclist recently in the news and yet this blitz has been happening for quite some time now. In my opinion, this is very bad policy on many different levels."
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 6:21pm
#58
"Peter, I used to work with a a bird's eye view of 6th Ave from 40th to 42nd & saw plenty of cars being pulled over. I never saw a car going south on 6th, but saw lots of bicycles doing that.
""Cyclists making their own rules"" is a double-edged sword. The more we break the rules, the less ""moral high ground"" we stand on when we ask for ""equal protection"" or more (e.g., bike infrastructure & building access) or protest against idiot DJs who advocate violence against us. Besides, I find that there's a slippery slope from ""running a red in the wee hours when there's no traffic"" to cutting off pedestrians in crosswalks when it's their light. Happens on Powell & St Nick's almost every time I'm on a ride.
"
Thu, 06/03/2004 - 7:50am
#59
street view & ticket effectiveness
"I walk along 6th Ave, passing by 40th - 42nd, at least Peter, I used to work with a a bird's eye view of 6th Ave from 40th to 42nd & saw plenty of cars being pulled over. I never saw a car going south on 6th, but saw lots of bicycles doing that twice a day, I don't ever recall seeing a car pulled over.
I could guarantee you 80%+ of the time you will have at least one car run a red light at the intersection of 6th and 42nd even when there are NYPD and traffic cops in the area.
Besides, I find that there's a slippery slope from ""running a red in the wee hours when there's no traffic"" to cutting off pedestrians in crosswalks when it's their light. Happens on Powell & St Nick's almost every time I'm on a ride.
Maybe NY's finest should be their time and resources instead ticketing jaywalkers. Of course that's not a problem on ""Powell & St Nick's"".
While I have yet to get a ticket for jaywalking or while riding my bike, I know others who have. It hasn't deterred them from jaywalking or rolling through red lights. The same would be true for me if such were to happen.
I do know getting ticketed for going through a red light is a big deterrent. Increased insurance premiums and possible (temporary) revocation of a license among others make such possible."
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 6:28pm
#60
BTW: My wife was hit on the sidewalk by delivery cyclist in November. Too stunned to do anything about it. Cyclist just kept going. She was not hurt but had a bottle of wine in her backback that was smashed and stained the pack and the clothes she was wearing. (And she has a cyclist advocate husband to reasuure her that responsible cyclists don't act that way...)
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 8:02pm
#61
Run down by cyclists
"Peter O'Reilly wrote: ""I don't recall anyone being runned down by a pizza delivery cyclist recently in the news and yet this blitz has been happening for quite some time now. In my opinion, this is very bad policy on many different levels.""
Well, people getting hit by cyclists don't always make the news. But I'm one of those people. I regained consciousness surrounded by a crowd of pedestrians as the enraged cyclist loudly berated me for getting in his way (I was crossing with the light at 90th Stret and Lex as he raced toward the corner on this downhill street, in the dark, with no light -- for which you also can get ticketed.)
""Look what ya done!"" he screamed at me, when I regained consciousness. He pointed to a pretzled front wheel, ""You fucked up my wheel!""
Well, he also gave me a concussion, put me in the emergency room at Mount Sinai hospital, and cost me four front teeth, which were replaced by dental implants at a cost of over $12 grand. My reimbursement? Zilch! Implants are not covered by major medical and the cyclist made off in the night. I was in no condition to run after him. Later, I found the imprint of a bicycle tire track running up the front of my raincoat.
The law's the law, Peter, even if you don't like it. Get a light. Get a bell. And get civilized about your bicycle-mounted street behavior. The cops aren't ticketing events and violations that don't happen. They're ticketing potential pedestrian killers. The first time you overconfidently do something thick-headed on your bike and kill somebody, you'll be full of regret. But she'll be dead just the same."
Thu, 06/03/2004 - 7:34am
#62
Run down by cyclists
You miss the point completely. Not long ago there was a big stink about people getting runned down by cars on Queens Boulevard. The NYPD took action. The same can be said for my old and very residential neighborhood - G. Village with car honking, stereo playing at night. The cops cracked down on it.
Point is there was some external pressure to take action. Additionally it was known that the NYPD would be taking such corrective measures. In the case of this bicycling ticketing blitz these two factors are apparently unknown to the public.
Thu, 06/03/2004 - 11:55am
#63
Cops only tkt. for actual violations, Peter? Read about Ed R.
"Peter writes, ""The cops aren't ticketing violations that don't happen.""
With affection to Peter for being a sometime fan of mine, and with much, much more than mere upset to learn of his injuries caused by an a**hole cyclist, were what he wrote, that police only ticketed actual violations, true, there would be no findings of ""not guilty"" in traffic court and no reason to have a traffic court.
Here's an outtake from my May column in MetroSports/NY:
I don’t mean to suggest that the park police do nothing. They do. Some years ago a cyclist was given four or five tickets at the same time, including one for failure to signal his lane change. The tickets were given the night after the alleged infractions. The preceding night there had been a demonstration by cyclists in favor of closing the park to cars. The ticketing officer testified that he recognized the man from the previous night. As it happened, the cyclist hadn’t been in the park the previous night. But the officer correctly recognized him as a leader in the movement to keep cars out of the park, and that was good enough for him.
Richard"
Thu, 06/03/2004 - 2:41pm
#64
Actual violations and actual police abuses
I'm not saying that some cyclists aren't unfairly ticketed simply because some cop is in a mood to ticket a cyclist. (See posts on the Nyack ticket blitz.)
But that doesn't give us the right to run lights. If we have miscreant cops, let's go after the miscreant cops. Take down their badge numbers. Open some dossiers. Maybe NYCC would care to set up a database on this website. Let's see who contributes what.
But that doesn't forgive miscreant cyclists. If you run lights, you're a menace. You deserve the tickets.
Fri, 06/04/2004 - 5:53am
#65
Well then...
Do you stop at every red light while riding in Central Park?
;-)
Fri, 06/04/2004 - 9:02am
#66
funny
doing laps in the park around 6 pm yesterday, a fellow cyclist up ahead of me was reprimanded by cops for going through a red light. there were no pedestrians and only minimal traffic. thankfully no ticket was issued.
Fri, 06/04/2004 - 10:40am
#67
Fine law enforcement against a NYCC cyclist in Central Park
On a bitterly cold, very early morning last January, with the wind-chill hovering just above zeroº, as you can imagine, Central Park was virtually empty. In fact, the concrete walkway that crossed the park in the 80s WAS empty. Except for a club member well into middle-age (no, not me), on a commuter bike, en route to art class.
Well, no, there was one other person there: a cop. ...Who ticketed him for biking on a walkway.
Meanwhile, have you ever, once seen a driver ticketed for being in the park when it is closed to cars or for speeding or for going through a red light? I haven't. But then I've only been riding in the park for 25 years.
Richard
Fri, 06/04/2004 - 2:15pm
#68
Yes I have
I have seen a car getting a ticket in the park when it was closed to cars, but I agree most get off with a warning if they are ever even stopped.
On the other side, I saw a cyclist ride up next to an unmarked police car last night and scream in the window at the top of his lungs that the park was closed to cars.
I am sure that really made the officers in the car endeared to cyclists.
Wed, 06/09/2004 - 12:21pm
#69
Thank you, but I am healed
On another thread, having to do with cyclists not observing red lights, I mentioned that I was knocked unconscious and lost four teeth to a cyclist who chose to ignore the lights. All one hundred percent true, but...
Jeez Louise! I didn't say it was effin' yesterday! It happend back in the '80s.
I do thank all of you for the kind phone calls of concern, cards and letters. But I have long since healed, sent a son through college, gone to his weddding, been through a divorce, and found several new romances (serially). And I suspect the resident in the Mount Sinai Emergency Room who treated me is now sailing in the Caribbean, probably rafting his yacht at night to the sloop of the periodontist who did the implants.
If you didn't know this was old news, your dentist should have. If you can tell me where I can still get four titanium implants for $12 grand, please do. Those were the days, my friend!
Wed, 06/09/2004 - 5:30pm
#70
Ti mouth
Peter writes of getting titanium implants to repair the damage done to him by that a**hole cyclist.
1980s? Titanium? Peter, you were a man ahead of your time.
Hmm, do you think today's cutting edge dentists use carbon?
Richard
Wed, 06/09/2004 - 8:19pm
#71
Titanium of the Titans
"The Titans of dentistry (if there is such a thing) have been using Titanium implants since at least the early 1980s, when I was informed I would either need some, or have to take my teeth out at night. I chose the former.
However, Richard, on reflection I am concerned about letting the word getting around. Before long, they might be making bicycles out of the melted-down heads of recycled dental catastrophes.
I can see the legal papers now. ""I will my heart to little Johnny, who will die without it, my liver to his alcoholic father who is wasting away, my lungs to Marlboro Mary, and the little titanium pins in my upper jaw to Conard's Bicycle Shop.""
Only thinking aloud."
Wed, 06/02/2004 - 7:18pm
#72
This from a recent Transportation Alternatives Bulletin:
In the last 90 years, 11 New Yorkers have been killed in a crash while riding
the Staten Island ferry and at least 25,000 New Yorkers have been killed by
motorists while walking or bicycling on city streets.
And one more thing: sub-Orwellian incantations like 'War Is War' and 'The Law Is The Law' lack even the merits of contradictions, and are utterly empty tautologies, not arguments. Certainly not cause to strap a bell onto my bicycle.
