Streetsblog interviewed bike lawyer Steve Vaccaro about the refusal of NYPD and the State DMV to apply the Cyclist Head Start Law that allows cyclists to proceed on the white “WALK” pedestrian signal ahead of a green vehicular signal.
Police officers and judges with the Department of Motor Vehicles are rolling back street safety in the city by insisting that the law the City Council passed in 2019 allowing cyclists to cross with the pedestrian walk signal doesn’t actually exist.
Cyclist Darren Goldner told Streetsblog that he was stopped by the NYPD on Fourth Avenue between 34th and 35th streets in Sunset Park last week. Goldner said he was following a green pedestrian signal during a red light, a signal setup known as a leading pedestrian interval. The cop gave him a $190 red light ticket anyway.
“I did try to explain I thought I was going with the pedestrian walk signs, the leading pedestrian intervals. I asked him if he was familiar with them and he did not respond before getting back in his car,” Goldner said. “When he returned to hand me the ticket, he told me, ‘You’ve already made it clear that you disagree with why it’s being issued so follow the directions on the back, plead not guilty, and when you come to court it will be explained again.'”
The purpose of an LPI is to give pedestrians and cyclists a head start through an intersection before drivers get a green light and begin to make turns through the intersection. The city introduced the setup in 2017 for pedestrians and extended the safety benefit to cyclists in 2019 with a law carried by then-City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, to much celebration from street safety legislators and advocates.
What’s going on with the law? It’s hard to say. The city Department of Transportation referred questions on how the law is being communicated to police and judges to the NYPD and DMV, but neither organization acknowledged a request for comment.
“We make jokes — ‘Didn’t you get the memo?’ — but there are 40,000 police officers, hundreds and hundreds of DMV administrative law judges,” said attorney Steve Vaccaro. “The law changes, now all of a sudden bicyclists don’t have to follow red lights anymore. That’s kind of weird sounding to them. They should have sent a memo about it. But I don’t know if anyone did.”
Vaccaro said that his office doesn’t typically represent people who get simple traffic tickets on their bike, but he has yet to hear of anyone actually getting a judge to enforce the law correctly, even though New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1642 allows New York City to create its own laws regarding how pedestrians and vehicles use the right of way.
Visit here for the full report: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/09/06/the-nypd-and-dmv-are-punishing-cyclists-for-legally-crossing-with-the-pedestrian-signal