New York Could Use Cameras To Keep Drivers Out of Bike Lanes

“Drivers entering bike lanes are breaking the law, even if they have their blinkers on while dashing into a store to drop off a package or grab a coffee. But they’re unlikely to be cited by police, both because the infraction is usually brief and because officers seldom prioritize bike lane enforcement.” Even worse, police cars can often be seen blocking bike lanes themselves.

Reporting for Bloomberg CityLab, David Zipper describes a New York state bill that seeks to address this issue by deploying cameras that record bike lane violations. “The bill would give the city’s transportation department the green light to install up to 50 such bike lane cameras, with violators mailed $50 fines.”

Unlike a similar law passed in June that allows English towns to use bike lane cameras (London has announced it will install camera-based bike lane enforcement), the New York bill doesn’t apply to painted bike lanes that are not already semi-protected by flexible delineators or other physical infrastructure.

Of course, this effort still falls short of fully protecting people on bikes. “The obvious way to protect bike lanes is, literally, to protect them — with hard infrastructure that physically prevents motor vehicles from invading cyclists’ space.” As Zipper notes, “Research shows that protected lanes offer a powerful way to boost street safety — and that fear of a collision (especially among women) may be the single greatest obstacle preventing more people from using a uniquely healthy, climate-friendly, and space-efficient means of transport.”