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Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Different Boroughs, Different Rules
A certain close personal associate was bicycling today on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. She moved from the bicycle lane over into the left-hand turning lane in light traffic, cutting off nobody and near no cars. As she was waiting at the mid-street median that follows the entire path of the Concourse, a guy drove up, rolled down his window, and said "This isn't Manhattan! You need to ride on the sidewalk or something." He then hit the gas and took off before our erstwhile bicyclist could think of a witty retort. The motorist seems slightly annoyed, perhaps, but certainly not angry. Mostly just confused and genuinely concerned for the safety of our biker.What does this mean? New York City law requires bicyclists over the age of 14 to to ride in the street citywide. Do people think this rule is somehow not applicable to the Bronx? Does our cyclist appear to be under the age of 14? Manhattan has a lot of bike messengers and a lot of bike-mounted food delivery guys, two groups of people not particularly known for their tenacity in following traffic laws. Our associate's hypothesis is that these Manhattan riders push the envelope for what motorists come to expect, making law abiding bikers like herself appear to be excellent road sharers. In the Bronx, which has less biking going on than Manhattan, even timid, helmet-wearing, light-having bikers must seem too outlandish. They therefore come to think that even law-abiding bikers shouldn't be on the street at all in the borough that is home to anti-bike City Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano. Does anybody else have another hypothesis? - Posted at 8:34 PM |
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Comments: 2 | |
Motorists genuinely think that the road is solely their own. This is a major pathology all across the United States.
The NYC bike map shows Grand Concourse as a "recommended route," but evidently this is a well-kept secret. Maybe the City should put up signs that say "Bike Route" or "Share the Road," or something similar.
Or maybe the Critical Massers should go up to the Bronx every now and then.
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