Cyclists sentenced to class

The NY Times has a story about remedial cycling class for people ticketed for riding outside the bike lane and riding on the sidewalk.

I like the guy who told his story about being run off the road by a car and whilst picking himself up, bloodied and battered, off the pavement was given a citation for riding on the sidewalk..... classic...

Honestly I think this is a bit unfair. Can you imagine the uproar if they started sending drivers to class for each traffic offense? *and* giving them a day of community service?

Do they think tourists who use the upcoming bike share program are all going to know the rules of the road, especially in a city like NY? That seems like a fast way to make that program fail.

Yes, this should be interesting with the tourists. Most do not have a clue of what to do or where to ride. I work right next to Battery Park City and walk along the West Side during my lunch hour. One of the locations to rent bikes is here.

What annoys most are the messengers and cyclists that ride the wrong way on a one way street. What really irks me is along the West Side Hwy there are "2" paths side by side with shrubbery separating the 2. One is for bikes and roller bladers and the other is for walking and joggers. Why do the walkers and joggers feel it necessary to do their thing on the bike path side. I really feel like asking them if they are clueless but reserve opening my mouth. I can assure you I have not seen a cyclist riding on the other side.

Lots of NYC bike lanes are close to unusable because of people double-parking there (and numerous other obstructions). I'd love to see the double-parkers get community service, but I doubt they even get a ticket.

In some cases, I actually avoid streets with bike lanes because it's nerve-wracking to deal with dozens of double-parked cars and worry about getting ticketed at the same time.

It will be interesting to see what happens with bike share.