Saturday, March 30, 2024
In another fit of confusion, New York City has created miles of bike lanes, which are largely populated by motor bikes, electric bikes, and regular bikes driven by crazed delivery people. The lanes are immediately off the curb, so that if you do what’s natural—step int the street to check for oncoming cars and trucks—you’re likely to be confronting these bikes, which predominantly don’t obey the traffic laws. We’ve had to jump out of the way several times. (It says “walk” but there are people coming at you in the bike lane.) These have made things worse in navigating New York streets, not better. Providence is currently considering shutting down some bike lanes to ease traffic congestion.
We seem to fall victim to “nice” laws which are intended to help certain segments of the population but which manage to cause problems for the great majority of the population. These lanes are appropriate in Florence of Amsterdam or Seville, where a great many people use bikes as primary transportation, perhaps.
Last year, 240+ people died in bike accidents on the streets of New York City, bikers and pedestrians. That’s the deadliest ever. Is that worth it just to feel you’ve done some kind of good deed? This is symbolic of the law of unintended consequences (aka: bad planning).