Traffic Enforcement
Streetsblog Basics
Cyclists Need Protection From Reckless Driving, Not From Themselves
The 19th Precinct, on the Upper East Side, tickets more cyclists than almost any other precinct in the city. So it was fitting that the above tweet this morning came from the 19th. It encapsulates NYPD's failure to recognize how dangerous driving behaviors, not cyclists' own actions, are the big threat to people on bikes.
July 27, 2016
NYPD “Bicycle Safe Passage” Stings Aren’t Creating Safe Passage for Cyclists
Earlier this year, when City Hall announced NYPD's "Bicycle Safe Passage" enforcement initiative to ticket drivers for blocking bike lanes and failing to yield to cyclists, it sounded like a step up from predecessors like "Operation Safe Cycle" -- which were notorious for fining cyclists, not protecting them. But the new NYPD bike safety approach still looks a lot like the old.
July 26, 2016
Vox Pulls Back the Curtain on “Scam” to Save Lives With Red Light Cameras
You can usually count on Vox for accurate, research-based explainers of public policy issues. That's why the new Vox video on red light cameras is so monumentally disappointing.
July 19, 2016
Victim-Blaming Commences After Bruckner Boulevard Claims Another Life
A motorist struck and killed a man last night on Bruckner Boulevard, a Bronx street designed to facilitate speeding and one of the borough's most dangerous places to walk.
July 11, 2016
Driver Who Killed Senior in Queens Crosswalk Not Charged With a Crime
A motorist who killed a senior in a Ridgewood crosswalk was summonsed for failing to yield, but NYPD did not charge her with a misdemeanor under the Right of Way Law.
July 8, 2016
With Matthew von Ohlen’s Killer Still at Large, NYPD Is in Bike Blitz Mode
You read that right: While the driver who brazenly struck and killed Matthew von Ohlen last weekend has yet to be apprehended, police officers are handing out frivolous tickets to cyclists on the Manhattan Bridge.
July 6, 2016
Hit-and-Run Driver Murders Cyclist, So 90th Precinct Tickets People on Bikes
A hit-and-run driver killed a cyclist in Williamsburg this weekend. Though police believe the motorist ran over the victim on purpose, the 90th Precinct responded by ticketing cyclists and handing out bike safety fliers.
July 5, 2016
Advocates Don’t Expect Judge’s Ruling Against Right of Way Law to Hold Up
In rejecting the case against a school bus driver who struck and killed an elderly woman in a Queens crosswalk, a criminal court judge deemed the city's Right of Way Law unconstitutional. The constitutionality of the law had previously been upheld in a different court, however, and street safety advocates don't expect the new ruling to hold up. Applying the same logic would render criminal statutes against drunk driving unconstitutional as well, they say.
June 28, 2016