In recent weeks, there have been numerous reports about stepped up enforcement of New York City’s bike laws. Along with the crackdown, there’s a major public education campaign underway. This morning we got a call from Dennis Schmidt, the 7th Precinct’s community affairs officer.
He wanted to let us know officers are making the rounds throughout the neighborhood, passing out bike safety brochures (you can find online versions of the Department of Transportation’s web site). As the city aggressively adds miles of bike lanes, there’s been an increase in accidents between bikes and pedestrians, as well as bikes and cars.
Some bike activists have argued enforcement should not be selective. Streetsblog noted:
We’ve written here before that from a public safety perspective, more cyclist enforcement only makes sense as one piece in a broader effort to police traffic safety, especially by targeting the most dangerous behavior on the street, like motorist speeding and failure-to-yield. But it looks like the orders from One Police Plaza are just about cycling infractions.
