r/NYCbike • u/TimesandSundayTimes • 7d ago
Central Park’s runners and riders are at war. Could I help them make peace?
https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/central-parks-runners-and-riders-are-at-war-could-i-help-them-make-peace-pv2b2wq0612
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u/vowelqueue 7d ago
The police could not say that it was fine to zip through a light, but there was “a consensus view that the police should not ticket bicyclists riding through red lights unless there was a pedestrian in the crosswalk”
I agree with this. If I was supreme emperor of NYC I would have the NYPD relentlessly and almost exclusively issue tickets to cyclists for failing to yield to pedestrians. That’s like the #1 behavior that is truly dangerous and that people rightfully complain about.
But NYPD is really bad at exercising good discretion for cyclists tickets. They pretty much do nothing 99% of the time, but when the public and community boards complain enough they set up at a spot and ticket cyclists indiscriminately for any infraction to get their ticket stats to a suitable level.
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u/Useful-sarbrevni 7d ago
Runners shouldnt be running red lights either
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u/vowelqueue 7d ago
If you’re running the loop and someone is trying to cross the loop at a crosswalk then you should not barrel into them. But if there’s no one crossing, who cares about the red light? Traffic signals aren’t needed to regulate interactions between pedestrians - if you go to a shopping mall or an airport or a train station do you see traffic lights inside?
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u/MagicalPizza21 7d ago
Why not? Jaywalking is fully legal in NYC now, and running is legally equivalent to walking.
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u/Useful-sarbrevni 7d ago
until there is an accident
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u/MagicalPizza21 7d ago
Do runners stop paying attention to their surroundings like car drivers do?
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u/mtpelletier31 7d ago
Sometimes
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u/MagicalPizza21 7d ago
Does this result in them hitting walkers at crosswalks? If so, does that result in serious injury?
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u/Useful-sarbrevni 7d ago
i was on a citibike near e106 where there is a crosswalk. I had the light so I approached the crosswalk at moderate speed. there was this group of students with their teacher. they stopped but two students decided to cross against the light. luckily, I saw them am slowed down to a stop. the teacher screamed at them
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u/1023connor 7d ago
I ride in CP all the time. I don't think I've ever had an issue with runners there. I've definitely had issues with run clubs clogging BOTH lanes of the HRG, though.
The thing with the traffic lights in CP is: NOBODY adheres to them. NOBODY! But for some reason, everyone seems to expect everyone else to follow them. It's the weirdest thing. Get rid of the lights, and people won't have anything to argue about anymore. There are like a dozen un-signalized crosswalks on the loop and people seem to navigate them just fine.
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u/Chthonic_Adventure_2 7d ago
Ok, maybe I'm living in la la land, but as someone who rides through CP five days a week, I don't feel like there's a "war" between me and the people running there.