OTBKB Verse Responder Leon Freilich got this email from Rick Tulka, a former Park Sloper, who now lives in Paris, about city bike riding and "the men—it's always men; never women, never boys— who ride their bikes on sidewalks." This was obviously in response to Freilich's poem Where There Are Spoke, There's Ire
Here in Paris there are groups of three police who ride bikes. A lot of them are on the look-out for bikers who are violating the biking laws and give tickets on the spot.
Our friend was going up to a red light on a corner. He wasn't going to go through the red light, but stop at the corner, but in doing so he went through the red light. The police caught him and gave him a ticket. 90 euros. His partner told him to fight it. He did.
They raised it to 300 euros!!!!!!!!
I think something like that would help in NY if people on bikes are idiots!
spandex) and most kids ride on sidewalks…btw, kids under 16 are
legally *allowed* to so ride in NYC.
As a regular, if slow and plodding rider, there are times I deem it
safer to take the sidewalk for a short while, and, yes, I go against
traffic and only pause for red lights too. It's expedient, it's usually
safer (cars coming at you are more likely to slow) and, like jaywalking
(another NYC sport) it's benign if done right.
That said, I hold no truck for the speeding and entitled cyclists who
yell at you and terrorize pedestrians. Nor for cars that speed, come
too close to me and honk at me.
It's a two-edged sword: safety vs. letter of the law. If we all
respected the other modes, there'd be no problem. And if more people
cycled, benignly, it would become safer for all.
I have kids, so I already looked up the law about bike riding on sidewalks. Kids under 14 (not 16) are legally “allowed” to ride on the sidewalk.
I always worried I was gonna get a ticked when I accompany them.
—AC § 19-176 Bicycle operation on sidewalks prohibited.
a. For purposes of this section:
(1) The term “bicycle” shall mean a two or three wheeled device upon which a person or persons may ride, propelled by human power through a belt, a chain or gears, with such wheels in a tandem or tricycle, except that it shall not include such a device having solid tires and intended for use only on a sidewalk by a child.
(2) The term “sidewalk” shall mean that portion of the street, whether paved or unpaved, between the curb lines or the lateral lines of a roadway and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians. Where it is not clear which section is intended for the use of pedestrians the sidewalk will be deemed to be that portion of the street between the building line and the curb.
(3) The term “child” shall mean a person less than fourteen years of age……….
“it’s always men” Rot…I’ve seen many women (usually with helmet and spandex) and most kids ride on sidewalks…btw, kids under 16 are legally *allowed* to so ride in NYC.
As a regular, if slow and plodding rider, there are times I deem it safer to take the sidewalk for a short while, and, yes, I go against traffic and only pause for red lights too. It’s expedient, it’s usually safer (cars coming at you are more likely to slow) and, like jaywalking (another NYC sport) it’s benign if done right.
That said, I hold no truck for the speeding and entitled cyclists who yell at you and terrorize pedestrians. Nor for cars that speed, come too close to me and honk at me.
It’s a two-edged sword: safety vs. letter of the law. If we all respected the other modes, there’d be no problem. And if more people cycled, benignly, it would become safer for all.