It's About Time (Seattle: 2014, taxis, cost)

[Blackhawk4440]

For those who complain that I never commend the City for anything, the Council and SPD have apparently finally gotten off their butts and decided to take action against a long-standing public nuisance:

Seattle bicyclist crackdown moving toward enforcement

Hopefully, the City is serious about this, and doesn't end up another hollow threat, like their previous 'crackdowns' on aggressive panhandling, etc.

"The majority of cyclists do follow the rules" says a police spokesman, although one can seriously dispute that assertion. For those who complain about Seattle traffic, road rage, and rude drivers---the motorists have nothing on the cyclists when it comes to any of that kind of behavior.

The SPD states that the crackdown is the result of increasing accidents and fatalities caused by cyclists: a problem that's been ongoing for some time. This is what Seattle needs---coming out of denial about problems, then finding solutions.

[Hemlock140]

We agree on this one, Blackhawk!

[thatguy950]

About time indeed, although I fear it'll be an empty threat and the cyclist mafia will be too strong (aka whine and moan) so nothing will come of it. I have never seen a city full of worse stewards of the cycle than in Seattle, it is absolutely atrocious throughout the entire area.

[RVD90277]

of course the cops should enforce the laws to cyclists. i'm a cyclist and i stop at red lights, stop signs, etc. it annoys me when other cyclists don't follow the rules.

my only plea to all of your drivers is that sometimes when the road is narrow (usually a bridge, etc.), there isn't enough room in our lane for both the car and me on the right. if i go off to the right, then you will hit me or buzz me so i will occasionally take the lane briefly until we get to a slightly wider stretch of road where i can go off to the side so you can pass...

[GatsbyGatz]

I agree with you, Blackhawk, it's about time. I mean, who really argues against the enforcement of the law.

What I hope this city eventually addresses though is the fact that we need to accommodate more space for bike lanes. Protected bike lanes like those implemented on 2nd Ave are great, but honestly, how about just a slap of paint onto the street that gives bikers a lane of their own? There are bike lanes in only a very small handful of streets throughout the city. Seattle tried to initiate measures to accommodate bikers by painting "sharrows", but sharrows don't help bikers at all besides giving a warning to drivers that bikers will be darting into vehicle lanes.

I think we can all agree that it is insanely irritating to have a huge lane of traffic slowed down because some jerk biker decides to take up the entire vehicle lane just to bike slow. This results in everyone having to speed up into the next lane and pass the biker, or for everyone to suffer more traffic congestion due to one biker.

As someone who bikes to and from my office where I work at in downtown from Capital Hill, I can confirm how insanely dangerous my commute can be. Most streets have no bike lanes, so you have a ton of bikers darting in practically every street lane. Then you have taxis and buses driving aggressively with practically no concern for the value of human life. And then you have idiot drivers who are simply not paying attention to the road and turn right into you. If only bikers could be offered a simple lane to stay in, so much chaos could be avoided.

But of course, drawing a painted line would cost the city a couple dollars (probably the same amount Seattle city counsel spends on their daily lunch budget for themselves). This city only actually DOES anything when a tragedy strikes (It took the death of a biker for Seattle to actually add that protected bike lane on 2nd Ave after YEARS of protest for some more accommodations for bikers and their safety.

... Sorry for this rant. I just get frustrated at the political apathy for actually doing something helpful. In regard to the situation for Seattle's bikers, there is a simple solution that would help tremendously (paint more bike lanes), but the city is simply slow to act. Hopefully we will see a lot more protected lanes (and simply regular painted lanes) in the upcoming year.