Thursday, August 17, 2006

Cars in Bike Lanes: A Modest Proposal


Cars park in bike lanes constantly, forcing cyclists out of their lane and into traffic. Anyone who bikes knows how dangerous this is. Drivers use the bike lanes with impunity, knowing that the cops almost never do anything about it.

To combat this, I started a group on flickr called Cars in Bike Lanes. Think of this as the flickr equivalent of posting john pictures in the newspaper. Your behavior doesn't look quite as pretty in the light of day, now does it? If the danger drivers pose to cyclists' lives isn't enough to convince them not to do it, perhaps public shaming will.

I invite everyone - bikers, pedestrians, people with cameras - to post their own examples of cars parking in bikes lanes. Include as much description as possible - the exact location (address or street and cross street), license plate number, date and time, and any other information - for example, your interaction with the driver, that the driver pulled over to read the paper, that the driver almost hit a cyclist pulling in or out, etc.

My hope is that by posting these pictures, city officials will gain a better understanding of the scope of the problem and some of the hot spots, and we'll give drivers an incentive not to be willfully oblivious to cyclists.

Photo by ianqui

3 comments:

dalton said...

I am right there with you - I despise those that park in the bike lane. The only problem is that I rarely have a camera with me when I'm riding my bike. But, I will do what I can.

My not so modest proposal involves printing stickers that say "look at me! i'm a putz that parks in bike lanes!" and pasting them on the window as I pass by. Too confrontational?

Anonymous said...

If you find any shots of public officials parking in bike lanes, definitely post them on Uncivil Servants, too!

Anonymous said...

Hey -
I mentioned this post on my website as well as your flickr group. Keep shootin'!