The lesson here it to stay far, far away from both Critical Mass and the police.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20091013/FREE/910139985/-1#

“Michigan’s participation in a coalition of states pursuing federal dollars for a Midwest high-speed rail system isn’t a threat to the automobile industry, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said this afternoon.”

“LaHood spoke today at Detroit’s Masonic Temple as a guest of the Detroit Economic Club, offering a generally sunny outlook on the domestic auto industry and Michigan’s economic recovery while also briefly talking about mass transit.”

Who asked the man that question? And how dead does Michigan have to be before it starts thinking of the future instead of clinging to the past?

Welcome to America, 2009. Thanks, everyone who got us here.

While the police presence is definitely uncalled for, I welcome tickets for bikes without lights. They’re dangerous not only to themselves but others.

We talk about the windshield perspective a lot here, but in this case, it’s a good learning experience. Drive (or be driven) in a car at night and see how hard it is to spot bikes without lights on. Reflectors help, but depending on the angle they may not work at all. Same goes for pedestrians. We can obviously see the car with its bright lights, but they may not see you due to glare or other car lights. This is especially true in the rain.

Also, in the story, is it really illegal to not carry ID in NYC? How has that law/policy not been sued out of existence?

I hope we don’t have the same outcome here.

Another interest group with its own profound sense of entitlement? I think most bikers feel a profound sense of precariuosness in bike lanes — after all, the vast majority of lanes are mere strips of paint, offering little more than symbolic protection from cars & trucks. The “solution” that Sawyers seems to favor, turning the streets completely over to motorists (don’t they constitute an interest group? AAA?), is pretty lousy.

“If you think this is bad, wait until we get to the highway,” Ms. Huertas told them, according to the account Mr. Soto received from Kayla.

He said Ms. Huertas asked the girls: “Who thinks we’re going to crash? Raise your hand if you think we’re going to crash.”

Sounds like she learned how to drive from car commercials and action movies.

Bike to work 3 or 4 days per week. And on the other days, go downstairs to the BMT at 4th Ave, and take the BMT home, either climbing the stairs at 9th Street so you are on the F for less time, or riding the Brighton and walking across the park. That works for me.

BTW, things were much, much, much worse in the mid-1980s. But they will also be much worse for the next decade, as the signals and viaduct are repaired. And will be much worse forever if the money runs out and the signals and viaduct are not repaired.

In which case the only rideable line will be the Canarsie (L) which is brand new, as a result of a reconstruction that people kvetched about the whole time it was underway.