On the commute home from work on Tuesday evening we happened upon a frustrating, albeit typical bicycle lane condition. Pictured below is the 16th Street bicycle lane and the overt blockage of the east and west bicycle lanes by none other than MBPD.
Perpetrator 1, 16th Street heading east.
Perpetrators 2 and 3, 16th Street viewing west moving travel lane.
This well-used bicycle lane has certainly improved east-west access in South Beach. The striping even narrowed what was an overly-wide street, effectively slowing the traffic and causing drivers to be on the alert for bicyclists. However, one small drawback of bicycle lanes are that they often condition riders to expect a clear right of way at all times, save for the pesky door zone. After all, the lanes are striped for us, right? Well, in actuality a cyclists should probably expect all traffic conditions to be present and be prepared to navigate safely, bicycle lane or not. After all, we must do it on 99% of greater Miami’s thoroughfares, why should it be any different in the presence of a rare bicycle lane?!
Nonetheless, I have grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of enforcement on 16th Street. I see cars parked in the lane frequently and for extended periods of time. I also see motorcycles and scooters taking the liberty to travel within the bicycle lane (particularly unsafe for all involved). What’s worse, per the above images, I now see cops abusing this space as well. (I might also add that I travel on 11th street heading west in the morning and am routinely impressed by A. how many police cruisers travel that street at 7:45 in the morning and B. their reckless driving habits; no turn signals, too fast, running lights etc. It is atrocious).
To be fair, I fully understand how certain situations necessitate the blockage of bicycle lanes . Any emergency is a primeexample. Of course police or firefighters who need direct access to a building should take the lane!
Yet, in general I do not expect the police to park in both lanes while chewing the fat. Seriously, while I stopped to take pictures, the officers, to the left in the second image above, were merely hanging out, laughing and having a grand old time. Clearly, there was no emergency.
South Beach may be the most bicycle friendly precinct in Miami, but it certainly has a long way to go. I might suggest adding police and driver education / enforcement to the physical improvements already underway.
the best way to get action is not by blogging but getting ahold of the people who can do something.
send an e-mail to the MB chief of police Carlos Noriega
carlosnoriega@miamibeachfl.gov
and if you want to make sure you get some action send copies to the mayor and all of the city commissioners.
You can find their e-mail addresses on the city website. this method works like a charm and gets action.
no one ever changed a thing by blogging!
good luck
This is quite interesting, as just last night I was perusing a website designed for reporting bike lane parking. I was looking through the Atlanta area pictures and saw cop after cop parked in our lanes. I didn’t see any of cops in Miami, but perhaps you should add them. Check it out at mybikelane.com.
It does seem like most of the people posting on there also report the violations to the authorities.
Ralph, thanks for your comments. However, why would you assume that I had not already taking action.
I am not trying to complain and let it be left at that. Blogs can be limited yes, but they also raise awareness and can garner significant attention. Don’t underestimate that.
I lost my job because of blogging…
Cops are pigs. They are the ones that break the laws first and get away with it. They suck.
One thing that I wonder about - does the percentage of cops on bikes affect how a department views and prioritizes bike-related issues? I see the occasional Coral Gables cop on a bike, and that may help down the road. I’ve not been to the Beach much lately, but I did see a few bike cops on Ocean Drive a couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday night. I found Chicago to be a bike-friendly place, and many officers there were on bikes as part of their job - a pretty high proportion of the downtown cops, in fact. The city even placed a cop substation in the bike center in Millenium Park. Perhaps one way to do make Miami Beach more cognizant of this issue is to put more cops themselves on bikes on the Beach. Rising fuel prices are our friends in this regard …
You have got to be kidding me. You know the reason the cops parked there because you were passing by and ASSUMED that they were just leisurely talking? That’s quite a callous oversimplification of the duties of law enforcement. Those guys lay their life on the line for YOU every day and you are going to get on them because they made you go all of 4 feet to the left to get past them? Give me a break. How do you know they weren’t looking for someone, or getting ready for a traffic stop? Go ahead, report it. I’m sure it will reach the appropriate shredder. I’m sorry having police presence is an inconvenience to you. If I had to choose between a safer Miami or a happy bicyclist, well, I’ll gladly transport you and your bike to one of many locations where you won’t ever encounter law enforcement taking up a bike lane.
Someone has their panties in a bunch.
My friend is a police officer who was driving me around in his undercover vehicle. I understand cops may need nice cars for possibly better and faster engines, and so that they can blend into certain upscale neighborhoods, but it bothered me that he had this great need for speed when it was completely unnecessary. I told him to slow down, not only because I felt unsafe but because of all the gas he was wasting that the city is probably paying for. He said that all cops speed like crazy all the time - something I can’t say I respect. Yes they do put their lifes on the line, but the purpose of this website is to teach us about effective transportation and it’s natural to be annoyed when your tax money goes to jobs that seem like they are being ineffectively done.
Hey Chris,
You were not even at the scene, so it is actually a bit more unrealistic for you to make assumptions. No, its not that big a deal in the grand scheme of all-things-screwed-up-in-Miami. However, I stopped and observed the police officers behavior from close range. They were not on the radios. They were not communicating about public safety. They were were parked on either side of the street, engines running freely (yes wasting gasoline and taxpayer resources) and joking for about 4 minutes. I observed this very carefully. I have no problem with cops in general and realize the role they fulfill. I do however, think they could find a parking lot. I do think think they could turn off their engines. I do think they should stop speeding on the same neighborhood streets they are suppossed to keep safe. I do expect them to use turn signals for crying out loud.
If you don’t expect excellence, you will never receive it.
Mike