Active Citizens Ticket Brigade?

If the city can issue tickets against photos of vehicles breaking the law robotically, why can't it leverage the cycling population to submit pictures of cars, trucks, and taxi cabs parked and/or stopped in lanes designated for cycle traffic - and issue tickets against those as well?

A pilot program seems likely to attract dozens of eager volunteers. It would raise awareness about the issue, and if it were successful, it would help keep Rage Cagers out of the bike lanes and in the streets, where they belong.

Crazy talk? Sick fantasy? Or FREE municipal revenue generator?

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on January 18, 2013 at 3:06pm

Reminds me too much of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwEvysDpNm0

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Permalink Reply by Chi Lowe 12.5+ mi on January 18, 2013 at 6:43pm

Again, 62% cheek - don't take any of this too seriously. The ACTB will never happen. Where the suggestion of an ACTB is more than half snark, here's the best distillation I can make of the thoughts that inspired the thread:

When a person parks in the bike line, cyclists have to go around them. That puts us face to face with oncoming cyclists and/or traffic, and pedestrians who are not expecting us to be where we are when we come around an illegally parked vehicle. That puts us, oncoming cyclists, and peds at risk.

I can stop for a ped (haven't hit one yet), and most cyclists are naturally vigilant about avoiding other cyclists in these situations (haven't collided with one yet). Even if I did collide with either of those types, it would take a special kind of bad luck for debilitating injury or death to result. But if one cager hits me while I'm trying to avoid another, illegally parked cager - I may die.

To ratchet up the pedantry and bring the issue to a point of crystal clarity, to ride a bike legally in the BIKE ROAD, I have to risk dying to accommodate people who are unapologetic (or clueless) about breaking the law.

Call me a busybody, but since the city will never have the resources to enforce parking restrictions in all the new bike lanes (thereby reducing my risk), I'd love to have a way to quietly, politely, and properly thank the folks whose thoughtlessness, impatience, or lack of situational awareness threaten my health.

Jason said:

The "Active Citizens Ticket Brigade" idea sounds like a bunch of neighborhood busy bodies that think they should be able to dictate the lives of everyone around them. I would actively oppose such legislation.

And yes, never going to survive legal challenge. Oh, and how long till one of the busy bodies gets shot for pissing someone off?