Bicyclists find cars in the bike lanes

Kate Ryan, who's written several very balanced articles about biking over the years for WTOP has another one about bike lanes and that tries to explain why cyclists are sometimes not in them or are not all the way to the right. Some excerpts below.

Craig Chester works on L Street in Northwest. He says he's actually had a car trail him inside the L Street cycle track, "and a driver came up behind me, honking, basically telling me I wasn't going fast enough in the bike lane."....

Last November, when D.C. Council member Mary Cheh joined business leaders to unveil a new bike rack on L Street, she witnessed up to 15 cars zipped into the bike lanes. Cheh, a cyclist herself, was surprised to see it. When a D.C. government vehicle slid into the bike lane, Cheh shook her head.

"Now see, that -- to me -- is totally unacceptable. Our own government truck?!" she said.....

The fine for stopping, standing or parking in a bike lane is $65, and according to MPD statistics, 4,236 citations were issued in calendar year 2013. That's up from 2012's total of 3,281.

Comments

[jeffb]

Does anybody know if DDOT employees can issue citations to cars parked in bikes lanes?

Seems to me that MPD priorities don't include much traffic enforcement (outside of automated cameras).

[washcycle]

DDOT has people called TCO (Traffic Control Officers) and they can write traffic tickets.

[jeffb]

Thanks WC - I asked because I see the TCO's constantly circling the blocks near downtown and I've noticed that they bypass cars parked in the lanes.

Next time I'll do a little citizens action and stop then and ask why!

[charlie]

Lesson learned from the L st is work with MPD/and or these TCO (they never seem to do much?) when the M st lane open.

L st has gotten better and I don't see that many cars in the cycletrack. Parking is still a problem, and the "left hook" is a nightmare.

[SJE]

Did Mary Cheh get the name etc of the DC employees driving in the bike lane. Statements in the media are ineffective if there is no enforcement.

[DE]

4,236? Okay. I guess I just never have seen it downtown around 7 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. at any time over the last 5 years.

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

imagine a world where parking or driving in the bike lane had as high a fine as driving in an HOV lane with out sufficient riders, and where it was enforced as consistently.

[Andrew]

I was heading north on 14th st between Q and U, and nearly ran into a car as it pulled into the bike lane in front of me and abruptly stopped, all without signalling.

I pulled up to the drivers window and told him to move, which he did not appreciate. I informed him what he was doing was illegal, and dangerous. I passed and then he ended up behind me. I turned left onto U st, and he continued to follow me. At the next stop light a cop ended up behind him. I went back to the cop and told what had happened. The cop told me that it wasn't illegal to park in the bike lane, and that sometimes it's necessary if you are waiting for a spot.

I gave up with the cop and then proceeded on.

It surprised me that any citation were given out at all.

[Chris Adams]

I'll second @jeffb's comment - I've seen an MPD officer enforce a traffic violation exactly one time. Block the box and force an oncoming officer to wait? Not even a peep. Illegally double park? No problem. Unless you hit another vehicle, nothing seems to get a reaction.

Changing that culture would make a lot of things safer and improve traffic for everyone.

[DE]

Slightly related: I was almost doored in a bike lane by an Arlington County cop yesterday. Luckily I always ride on the edge of the lanes so he didn't get me. But, he never even looked. So it's not just DC (obvs).

[Crickey7]

I think it's actually gotten much better since the lanes opened. Hotels are the worst offenders, to be sure.

I see they've striped M Street up into the West End. Any ETA for opening?

[John]

I'm constantly seeing cars pull into the cycle track on 15th street near the White House. Taxis are the worst about it because they'll decide to stop there to let people out or let them in and they block the whole cycle track. Some guy this morning just pulled into the track, stopped, and got out of his car to meet a friend. I yelled at him as I passed by. Ugh.

[pjk]

There's always a line of parked buses partially blocking the bike lane on New York Av. right by the White House. Every damn morning.

[T]

Over a three year time frame, I've seen at least a few hundred cars parked or driving through the cycletrack. When I had time and the occupant was in the vehicle, I talked to them. Probably a dozen or so times. In all but two cases, they were apologetic saying they didn't realize and asking where they could park. The worst offenders were always the delivery trucks.