'Don't Be A Jerk' Bike Ad Campaign Launched By Department Of Transportation (VIDEO)

We're all aware celebrities have an overblown sense of entitlement, but did you know they're also jerks when it comes to bike riding?

That seems to be the premise behind the Department of Transportation's "Don't Be a Jerk" ad campaign, featuring Mario Batali, John Leguizamo, and Paulina Porizkova behaving improperly on bicycles.

Batali gives a sleazy "hello ladies" as he rides by a couple of fans going the wrong way down the street. Leguizamo nearly mows down several pedestrian while he rides on the sidewalk. And Porizkova can't be bothered to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks.

The DOT says its campaign "humorously highlights the essential dos and don’ts of safe, responsible biking."

Via Animal New York

Comments

[dwangelo]

04:42 PM on 05/12/2011

This is nice, but the people that break these rules will never see them or care.

As a bicyclist, nothing drives me crazier than someone riding AT ME in the bike lane. Almost always forces me into traffic. I'd push them over, but then I'M the bad guy.

[BassguyGG]

09:54 AM on 05/12/2011

It's good that bicyclists be reminded to follow the rules of the road and be considerate of pedestrians, but the money for this campaign would be much better spent trying to educate drivers to share the road with bicyclists. Here on Long Island you are taking your life in your hands if you get on the road with a bicycle. Back in the early Nineties I participated in a "Green" effort my company was sponsoring by bicycling to work, but quickly discovered that it would be suicide to continue. It's even worse now. Drivers here have no clue or awareness of pedestrians, bicyclists or even motorcyclists. Every day in Newsday you read about someone being hit by a car on a bicycle or on foot. Sometimes the person being hit did something dumb but most of the time it's the driver's fault.

[lemmyk73]

09:31 AM on 05/12/2011

Batali reminds me of one of those adult baby fetishists.

[jonnyquest]

11:26 PM on 05/16/2011

Overrated cook too.

[tcny]

09:26 AM on 05/12/2011

Y'know, instead of making a video telling people not to ride on the sidewalk, they could for once, JUST ONCE(!), actually enforce the law.

[Moarku]

02:11 AM on 05/13/2011

Actually they've been doing that quite a bit lately. They even rather famously busted Robin Williams for it (but unlike most of the other people who got ticketed, his celebrity status got him a free pass).

Now the only question is when they're going to have equal enforcement on cars and pedestrians in bike lanes, or pedestrians who walk in front of bikers who have the right of way.

[jonnyquest]

11:26 PM on 05/16/2011

If only.

[jamesjm]

09:01 AM on 05/12/2011

We don't need to reinforce name calling. In return, bicyclists don't need to call New York J-walking pedestrians Jerks. Or taxi drivers who swerve in front of us or come to close. Or drivers on cell phones. Or pedestrians on cell phone or ipods for that matter who walk out unaware into bike lanes. Or folks that open car doors without looking. The bicycle community has to deal with a dozens of common jerks every day. The offensive behavior goes both ways.

It is in the best interest of bicyclists to be safe otherwise reckless behavior will catch up to them.

We just ALL need some COMMON SENSE. Have humility and decorum. We shouldn't have to resort to the adolescent throwing of name calling. This could create an escalation of words and easily turn physical.

[Sam Salinitis]

08:46 AM on 05/12/2011

they should also tell hipsters to take a bath and stop freeloading on society.

[thelyssa]

01:50 PM on 05/13/2011

Cool story.

They should also tell people to stop equating everyone who rides a bike with hipsters. Can you even define hipster? Most people ride a bike because its cleaner, more efficient, and better exercise. Get over it.

[captainswife]

08:40 AM on 05/12/2011

Bikers need to realize that their bikes are supposed to be licensed, as they are included on a list of vehicles. Therefore, following traffic laws can be (and should be) penalized just as a motorized vehicle driver would. No one's special just because they're riding a bike and are not above traffic laws. Learn to ride or get off the road.

[Moarku]

09:12 PM on 05/16/2011

This is flatly untrue. Yes, you could make an argument that they *should* be licensed, and there are factions in City Hall who are trying to make that a reality (personally I'm against it for several reasons I don't feel like getting into here), but the reality is that the law does not require that right now.

Also, bike riders *are* more and more frequently being ticketed for riding on sidewalks and other violations which you are referring to. The only question now is if there will be equal enforcement of cars in the bike lanes, pedestrians jaywalking in front of bikers with the right of way, etc.

[jeffp26]

04:40 AM on 05/12/2011

I am in Copenhagen right now. Here cars, bikes and pedestrians all peacefully coexist. Why? Because they all respect each other, and obey the signals. That means cars don't cut bikes off, or try to get around a corner fast to they can wait at the next red light. It means bikers stop at red lights, and it also means pedestrians walk in their own designated paths -- not in the bike paths.

But alas, citizens of the US are too stupid and in too much of a hurry to behave like this.

Over time, however, as gas prices move towards $10 a gallon, behavior will change. The only thing that motivates americans is the mighty (not really) dollar.

[SteveDenver]

06:26 AM on 05/12/2011

Fan and favorite!

We have a plague of "fixie hipsters" riding their single-track bikes, weaving through traffic, stripping off all reflectors, using no lights at night and causing a lot of motorists to despise cyclists.

It is American narcissism, the same disease that results in drivers not using turn signals or driving erratically while using cell phones.

[MrBadExample]

07:59 AM on 05/12/2011

Hipster culture is a small part of the problem. We also have a motorist culture with a sense of entitlement. In most of Europe, misbehavior behind the wheel costs you your license. In the US, motorists can argue (truthfully) that depriving them of a license means they can't get to work--most of the US lacks a plan B for transport if driving is taken away.

But the sense of entitlement in cars goes farther than that--all the toys that drivers must have (everything from the cup holders to the texting capabilities and the cell they can't do without, even while driving). And unlike cyclists, drivers have NO SKIN IN THE GAME--a distracted driver bends some sheet metal, while a distracted cyclist ends up in the ER.

Europe doesn't have hipsters (at least not to a great degree). It also doesn't have drivers who shouldn't be behind the wheel.

[STParker]

12:29 AM on 05/12/2011

As a pedestrian I think that both cyclists and motorists are rude ignorant of the traffic laws and obtuse about their impact on other people. The bicyclists may even be worse than the motorists but they do have one advantage in my perception of them, they have less mass and MORE manuverability.
As a cyclist I have followed ALL the traffic laws and STILL been nearly run over by cars. As a pedestrian I have followed ALL the rules and STILL been nearly run over by drivers.

My conclusion is that most drivers who complain about cyclists simply don't like to share the road with other people, and most pedestrians who complain about cyclists in general ARE the drivers so it doesn't register to them that cyclists are noworse than drivers.

[Johnny in Queens]

12:23 AM on 05/12/2011

I ride my bike every single day 7 miles from Brooklyn into Manhattan. I ride in bike lanes - the right way. I stop at stop signs. I stop at red lights. Basically I ride my bike the same as if I was in my car. I probably encounter anywhere between 100 and 200 other bike commuters every single day. Most days I'm surprised if I see a single other biker following traffic laws. Bottom line is bicyclists as a group can't complain about others if we can't bother to slow down at red lights

[TruenoBoricua]

07:47 AM on 05/12/2011

I commute about the same distance from the bklyn/qns border to manhattan every day. I use all of the hand signals and stop at every red light or stop sign. I mention to bikers who are biking the wrong way or pedestrians who are in bike lines whats going on. Yet its funny that i get called the bike police by guys that blow through red lights and are a menace to pedestrians. And you know what i ride a track bike...

At the end of the day like you 99% of all cyclists i see dont follow the laws from not wearing a helmet (how can you not wear a helmet, i dont understand it i have cracked one helmet already from skidding on concrete dust near a construction area, to not wearing lights, to not stopping at red lights.

I am hoping if more people do the right thing, over time this will become more socially acceptable.

[MrBadExample]

08:10 AM on 05/12/2011

Much of the NY bike culture seems to have assimilated the ethos of the Bike messengers, a largely outlaw group whose membership can justify their antics on the grounds that their pay depends on their speed. There were never more than a few hundred of these folks, but the city doesn't function well if thousands of bike commuters emulate their antics. Food delivery people are also a huge problem. Many are from places where cyclists are allowed to ride against traffic, and their tips depend on quick delivery so they're encouraged to do whatever it takes to get that kung-pao chicken to the customer's door by any means necessary.

Fixing the former is a matter of busting people for riding through lights and on sidewalks. There's something of a crackdown right not, although the cops are ticketing for non-issues like missing bells or not wearing a helmet. busting the food industry guys is probably a non-starter in NY--the lobbyists for the restaurant trade will block any serious attempt to regulate their guys or force them to buy insurance for them. It's the same reason you won't see licensing of cyclists--the immigrant population that delivers food is not going to license, and the owners will get on City Hall if it gets hard to find delivery people.

[art525]

09:13 AM on 05/12/2011

Another thing bikers do is blame the delivery men for the problems. THey are no worse than the average biker. And I have a certain sympathy for them because they are working hard to make a living. That's not to say it isn't annoying and unsafe.

[HekmagaJuximaxx]

11:58 PM on 05/11/2011

I think if you require bikers to put license tags and registration stickers on their bikes, then there would be near 100 percent compliance with the law. Now if we can somehow get pedestrians to stop jaywalking, it would be nearly perfect.

[MahatmaCoat]

08:10 AM on 05/12/2011

Actually, anyone suggesting that New Yorkers stop jaywalking really ought to move. Jaywalking in NYC is a god given right.

[jeffp26]

11:24 AM on 05/14/2011

We can always count on you to give the "stupid" view point.

Thanks, gerbil.

[Moarku]

09:14 PM on 05/16/2011

...and people call bikers arrogant.

[MrBadExample]

08:30 AM on 05/12/2011

You're not going to get bicycle licenses and registration in NY--the restaurant lobby has fought any attempt to regulate their many undocumented delivery people. A delivery guy has to be breaking some pretty serious laws to get pulled over, especially if he's carrying somebody's meal.

As for pedestrians, there hasn't been a jaywalking citation since the Beame administration (the folks who jumped Rudy's barriers at Fifth Avenue were charged with some other infringement). It's a dangerous place to walk or ride. Cops don't ticket jaywalkers or cyclists, but they almost never ticket motorists who cause fatalities, even when they've broken the law. A driver in Chinatown left his van in gear when he got out to pick up a delivery, and it plowed into a group of school children on the sidewalk. No charges filed.

[harumph]

11:07 PM on 05/11/2011

The sucky part is that a little bit of illegality used to be tolerated because bicyclists put in a little effort to not be jerks. I'm on both sides of this argument, because I have had some really dumb experiences with bikers.
However, no form of transportation will ever top the insanely dangerous behavior of cars here. I drive every day and the proportion of stupid and dangerous crap perpetrated by cars compared to bikes is easily 1,000:1.

[art525]

09:48 PM on 05/11/2011

One biker wrote an editorial in the Daily News recently complaining that she had gotten a ticket for going through a red light. She said she could decide for herself if it was safe to cross against the light. We've been hearing from a lot of indignant bikers lately whose noses are out of joint that they are expected to conform to traffic regulations like stopping for red lights. They have lots of reasons for not stopping. They say they need to get ahead of the traffic. It's dangerous otherwise. As far as the danger to pedestrians? Not a lot of thought given to that, Its all about them.

[Kellygobraugh]

10:47 PM on 05/11/2011

Then pedestrians should get tickets for jaywalking and walking in bike lane. Going through a red light as a cyclist is a risk. Most of us treat the red light as a stop sign. We slow down, stop, look both ways and, if the coast is clear, we go through the light. I don't see the problem with that.

[HekmagaJuximaxx]

11:51 PM on 05/11/2011

In New York City, there is NO turning on a red light unless there's a sign posted. Yet many bicyclists do it. When motorists do it and get caught, they get ticketed. I think it's due to ignorance of the law more than anything else, hence the campaign.

[MahatmaCoat]

08:12 AM on 05/12/2011

Why shouldn't people walk in bike lanes? Someone's gotta use that space, and it sure ain't people on bikes -- there just aren't that many of them in the scheme of things. And a large number of those that DO ride bikes always seem to be riding in the street somewhere other than the bike lane that's been built for them to ride in! Ridiculous.

[Moarku]

11:21 PM on 05/11/2011

What Kelly said. There's a big difference between blasting through a light and almost hitting a car or pedestrian with the right of way, and making sure that nobody is coming and crossing over when there's no traffic (i.e. the same thing pedestrians do all the time). Your assertion of, "As far as the danger to pedestrian­s? Not a lot of thought given to that," is pure conjecture in the context of the editorial you're talking about.

Yes, there's the pure law, and there are different schools of thought (even among bike advocacy groups) regarding how strictly they should be adhered to. But I'll make it simple. You can either say it's ok for both bikers and pedestrians or you can say it's wrong for both bikers and pedestrians. You can't have it both ways. And unless you can honestly say that you never cross the street outside of a crosswalk and that you always stand on the curb until the sign says "walk" regardless of whether there's traffic or not, then you need to cut bikes the same slack you cut pedestrians.

[HekmagaJuximaxx]

11:52 PM on 05/11/2011

As long as you don't do it in New York City, fine.

[art525]

09:19 AM on 05/12/2011

Again the arrogance of thinking that you can determine which laws to follow.

[filo]

09:33 PM on 05/11/2011

Do be a Do-Bee.

[scud420]

08:54 PM on 05/11/2011

lol I love living in Idaho. I ride my bike wherever the hell I want.

[art525]

09:33 PM on 05/11/2011

That's OK New Yorkers ride their bikes wherever the hell they want to. Pedestrians be damned.

[Kellygobraugh]

10:48 PM on 05/11/2011

and pedestrians run through red lights, cross in the middle of a road and walk in the bike lane.