A couple of weeks ago, I was riding northbound on the Crescent Street bike lane. Someone steered a sports car of some kind—tuned to make as much noise and be as generally obnoxious as possible—pulled into the bike lane. I avoided doing a flip on that car’s hood only by hopping into the sidwalk.
Another driver, in a pickup truck that looked like it was actually being used for the kind of work done by people in overalls, rolled down his window and yelled, “You outta get that piece’a shit’s license numba!”
I didn’t. But it occurred to me, later, that I should take that guy’s advice the next time I see someone blocking a lane.
Doing such a thing would definitely be worthwhile if cycling advocates in Ann Arbor, Michigan have their way.
They are proposing something that is under consideration here in New York: a bounty. It would be a percentage of the fines collected from scofflaw drivers.
I am definitely in favor of the idea, at least in principle. But I wonder how aggressive either city would be about going after such drivers: More than a few I’ve encountered were police officers having a cup of coffee or watching videos that, shall we say, aren’t job-related.
Now, I understand if cops, firefighters or first responders need to use the lanes in actual emergencies. But I object to anyone just hanging out in them, or waiting for fares or passengers.
I also wonder whether either city would be as aggressive in collecting fines or disbursing whatever percentage of them as they are about ticketing cyclists, especially if they’re darker than I am.
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