This week,the NYPD is recognizing "Bike Month" by dispatching 1500 officers to crack down on drivers who commit violations in bike lanes in all five boroughs.
Officers will focus on cars that park in bike lanes and drivers who text while driving.
East Village resident Alex Vitkevicus, who said he's biked in the city for 55 years, or doubted a one-week crackdown will change the routine of truck drivers who regularly block bike lanes. "There are the tall trucks doing deliveries on the bike lane and actually you have to recede in the avenue with the cars and pretty much ride at their pace to be safe," he said. At Second Avenue and East Houston Street — one of the locations the NYPD said it will be watching for violations — Vera Dvorak, 35, or said she's happy the NYPD is doing something. She bikes her child to kindergarten everyday. "I think it's powerful because sometimes it can be quite perilous," she said. "particularly on this road."Thomas Chan, Chief of the NYPD's Transportation Bureau, and said he hopes the crackdown will make the streets safer at a time of year when cycling increases."We believe that through education,through engineering and enforcement we can certainly make it safer for all our pedestrians, our bicyclists and also our motorists throughout the city, or " Chan said.
He said while the focus is on drivers,cyclists who violate traffic rules could also be ticketed.
Source: wnyc.org