Several months ago I had lunch with Chief Press and Deputy Chief Jose Monteagudo from the Key Biscayne police department. Chief Press invited me to meet with him after I posted a blog regarding the ticketing of cyclists on Key Biscayne. We agreed on mostly everything, even the fact that bicyclists needed to be ticketed because most were riding their bicycles through Key Biscayne as if it were the Wild West.
Education and enforcement is certainly working on Key Biscayne. Recently I have noticed an increase in the number of cyclists that are stopped at red lights on Key Biscayne. Chief Press explained to me that along with enforcement his officers have been educating cyclists. Most cyclists who are caught breaking the law are cited. I was shocked to hear that the Key Biscayne Police department had cited several cyclists for repeated infractions. This is unacceptable. Cyclists which regularly break the rules of the road are the very same ones that give all cyclists a bad name. Grow up. This ain’t the tour.
4 Responses to Education and Enforcement on Key Biscayne
Leave a Reply
Contact Us!
Planetizen- Going, Going, Gone: High Plains Drains its Water Supply May 21, 2013Years of record drought and more intensive farming are draining the High Plains Aquifer, distressing farmers from Colorado to Texas. Rural communities are suffering from dwindling water supplies. […]
- Syracuse Confronts 'Most Important Civic Decision in 60 Years' May 20, 2013To demolish, or not to demolish? As Syracuse considers what to do with its aged elevated highway, special interests are mobilizing to prevent tearing down the crumbling I-81 viaduct and replacing it with an urban boulevard, says David M. Rubin. […]
- 54 Arts Projects Awarded Creative Placemaking Grants May 20, 2013ArtPlace America has announced the 54 recipients (out of over 1200 applicants) for its most recent round of creative placemaking grants. The $15.2 million in grants will support projects in 44 communities and a statewide project in Connecticut. […]
- Minister Reins in Mumbai's Haphazard Development Controls; Will the City's Skyline Suffer? May 20, 2013The chief minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra (home to Mumbai) is pushing to rationalize the region's density controls, which had been prone to abuse by developers. Some fear the controls will result in more homogenous designs. […]
- Poverty's Sprawling Tentacles May 20, 2013From 2000-2011 the number of poor Americans living in the suburbs increased at a rate double that of the country's cities. The result is that more poor people now live in the suburbs than in cities. A new book examines this troubling trend. […]
- 10 Exemplary Approaches to Station Integration May 20, 2013Different contexts call for different approaches to inserting new transit stations into existing urban environments. From iconic statement to net-zero depot, Ron Nyren looks at 10 stations built recently in cities across the world. […]
- The Urban Diary as a City-Dweller's Tool May 20, 2013Chuck Wolfe champions the 'urban diary' tool as a universal means to understand the city around us. […]
- Rush to Rebuild Could Cause Long-Term Damage to NY/NJ Beaches May 20, 2013Just seven months ago Hurricane Sandy damaged 94 percent of New Jersey's beaches and eroded dozens of miles of coastline in New York. As waterfront communities rush to rebuild before summer, some fear disastrous long-term consequences. […]
- How Miami Lost Its Way to a Transit-Rich Future May 20, 2013Forty years ago, Dade County officials sketched a vision for a paradigm shift away from highways and towards a multi-model transportation system for the area. Four decades onward, highway expansion is alive and well in Miami-Dade. What happened? […]
- Cities Gain a Brain; But Will They Lose Their Souls? May 20, 2013In the quest to improve efficiency and effectiveness, "smart" technologies are helping cities become more intelligent machines. But a growing chorus fears the side effects of increased privatization, surveillance, and technological sophistication. […]
- Going, Going, Gone: High Plains Drains its Water Supply May 21, 2013
- Green Mobility Network
- An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.
Not defending law-breaking cyclists, but – It would seem that enforcement priorities are a bit off. Sure, reckless bicycling can lead to accidents – but speeding cars are the much greater threat to personal safety. Felipe, I would be interested in hearing what measures Key Biscayne is taking to slow down drivers.
Well-said, Thomas. I agree.
I agree that law enforcement in general could do more to protect cyclists, you won’t find an argument from me here. But the reckless disregard that hundreds of cyclists were showing in Key Biscayne was unacceptable. Cyclists by the dozen, blowing through major intersections when the light is red, is just plain stupid. It needed to stop and for the most part has. the Key Biscayne Police department is not responsible for enforcing the speed limit on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Miami Dade PD and Miami PD are responsible. I have seen increased enforcement recently, but it does little to discourage speeding, when you have a roadway that is designed to encourage cars to safely cruise at 50+mph.
Cyclists who disregard traffic laws are a big part of the problem. They anger and frustrate motorists because their behavior is unpredictable. They make things worse for cyclists that do adhere to traffic laws.
That’s why I always say we need to frame the argument differently. It’s not motorists vs. cyclists, its bad drivers vs. good drivers.
Assuming the ticketing is fair (and that’s a big ASSumption given what we’ve learned about cyclists being harassed to leave the road by uniformed law enforcement personnel), a cyclist who commits multiple infractions should have his or her bike confiscated and not get it back until they attend some kind of safety class. I wonder, if you get a ticket while riding your bike, does that add points to your driver’s license?