Casey Neistat: New York Man Gets Ticket For Not Riding In Bike Lane (VIDEO)

Casey Neistat, the East Village-based film maker who taught us about Chatroulette and that red subway emergency brake is at it again, this time making a video about his experience getting a $50 ticket for not riding in the bike lane.

Yes, a ticket for riding his bike in the street.

But Neistat didn't set out to make a video protesting getting the ticket.

"My number one motivation to make this movie was to be funny," Neistat told The Huffington Post. "I’m not trying to rise up against the man. I'm just trying to make a funny movie."

There is some ambiguity about what exactly is legal when riding a bike. In a summary of New York City's bicycle laws, rules and regulations, the New York City Department of Transportation says that "Bicycle riders must use bike path/lane, if provided, except for access, safety, turns, etc." But it also says that there is "No parking, standing or stopping vehicles within or otherwise obstructing bike lanes."

Regardless whether or not the police officer was justified in giving Neistat his ticket, he certainly accomplished his goal of making a hilarious video about the perils of New York City's bike lanes.

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The The author of this post previously worked for a company that employed Casey Neistat on a freelance basis so the two have met before.

Comments

[Fergus Kelly]

07:02 AM on 06/16/2011

a great spokes man got a real handle bars on it.

[subwaysubcultur]

01:51 PM on 06/13/2011

check out interview with casey neistat here:
www.subwaysubculture.blogspot.com

[BabaLou7]

10:09 AM on 06/13/2011

It isn't funny. He is completely correct.

[Moarku]

01:13 AM on 06/11/2011

Interesting (though a bit off topic) - I finally got around to reading the full DOT summary of rules from that link in the article. This particular tidbit really jumped out at me.

N.Y.C. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
§ 10-157 - Bicycles used for commercial purposes
• Business must be identified on the bike by name and identification number.
• Operator must wear upper body apparel with business' name and operator's number on
the back.
[snip]

This is the kind of thing that really needs to be enforced. From my experience, the overwhelming number of bikers (particularly in my neighborhood) who flagrantly blow red lights into traffic and ride on sidewalks are delivery guys. As it is, there's no way to identify them unless I want to throw myself in front of their bikes and risk injury, not to mention probably starting a fight. Something as simple as forcing them to wear identification of the restaurant they work for would go a long way.

[DannyEVillage]

07:16 PM on 06/10/2011

I cycle in NYC all the time. Now that we have so many bike lanes it's simpler and safer in many places. The issue I'm finding is that to date many pedestrians pay no attention to the bike lane and step off the curb without looking--usually while their texting of talking on the phones. Similarly, vehicular traffic still tends to ignore the bike lane many times. To deal with this, I don't ride as fast as I would do in traffic because of the number of people who do things that PUT THEMSELVES IN DANGER that I have to look out for.

And would you like to hear my rant about the women who push baby strollers off the curb without looking for traffic while talking on their phones?

[butchcliff]

08:42 AM on 06/12/2011

Vehicular and pedestrian traffic have as many complaints about bicyclers as you do about them Too many people feel theyre special on the streets because theyre walking driving or pedalling All break the rules of civility and understanding of each other Its no easy fix

[jeffp26]

12:38 PM on 06/12/2011

This is the crux of the situation. I recently went to Copenhagen, and ignoring whatever demographic arguments proponents of a certain type of motion want to argue, there they have three lanes on most large roads: cars/trucks (mostly small and electric/hybrid); bikes; pedestrians. Each has it's own system of traffic lights, and all the people do two things: they respect each others lanes, and they obey the signals. Bikers don't ride in pedestrian spaces; people don't walk or even step into the bike lanes, and drivers stay on the road and politely wait for other traffic to pass. Until we rethink the way we hustle around our city, this won't happen.

But I believe that it is inevitable.

[DannyEVillage]

09:28 AM on 06/13/2011

Yes, that's part of the issue--civility. But I actually think mindfulness is more of a problem since, no matter how uncivil a person is, she or he will seldom take steps endangering to life and limb. This is why I mentioned the person who "thoughlessly" pushes the baby stroller off the curb and sometimes even into the lane of traffic, from between parked cars, etc, etc. I've even seen it done against Don't Walk signs. I fear that many - including babies--are going to have to be injured before we awaken from our cell-phone induced obliviousness. Meanwhile, of course one expects a period of adjustment to the new bike lanes but I do see people taking note of them in my riding. Corners with turning traffic can be particularly confusing. And I admit it, many bikers have earned the resentment aimed at them by many by crashing through crowded pedestrian crosswalks. I have learned that cultivating courtesy pays off - at the very least, by keeping me out of trouble; and often by actually paying dividends.

[Ryan Booker]

06:05 PM on 06/10/2011

I love this video. Whether or not the ticket that Mr. Neistat received was deserved, this is a hilarious depiction of the ridiculous situation cyclists face while riding in bike lanes in virtually every state (at least every state I've ridden in). I appreciate that many cities are now making an effort to better accommodate cyclists but most simply must do more on this front. Bicycle lanes are often poorly though out, are frequently obstructed, and are rarely maintained. Here in Denver, bicycle lanes frequently go unplowed after snow storms (even when the rest of the street has been plowed) and, worse, often snow from the rest of the street ends up piled in the bicycle lane. Beyond that, cars, debris, construction equipment, etc. frequently block the lanes, as Mr. Neistat demonstrated so well in his video. As far as I can tell, the authorities rarely pay attention to any of that. As a result, I sometimes end up riding in other lanes.

I certainly don't consider myself some sort of martyr for riding a bicycle; I ride because it saves me money and because I enjoy it. I don't think a holier-than-thou, "I'm doing the world a favor" attitude on the part of cyclists does anyone any good. That being said, cyclists have many legitimate complaints. Our roads aren't just for motor vehicles and cities should be doing more to ensure that bicyclists and others who choose not to drive are safe and accommodated.

[Rebecca Paxton]

04:31 PM on 06/10/2011

If you look behind him in the video you can actually see that there are ZERO obstacles behind him to cause him not to be where he was supposed to be. Go NYPD!!! Great Job!!!!

[Ryan Booker]

05:48 PM on 06/10/2011

—34 RCNY § 4-12(p) Bicycles.
(1) Bicycle riders to use bicycle lanes. Whenever a usable path or lane for bicycles has been provided, bicycle riders shall use such path or lane only except under any of the following situations:
(i) When preparing for a turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(ii) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, pushcarts, animals, surface hazards) that make it unsafe to continue within such bicycle path or lane.

Notice how, under subsection (ii), most of the the mentioned conditions that allow for bicycles to ride outside of the bicycle lane are things that move. The fact that you didn't see an obstruction in the video is meaningless. Perhaps there was a motor vehicle, another bicycle, a pedestrian, a pushcart, an animal, etc. that was in the the lane and then moved before the video was shot. If that's the case, the officer was clearly in the wrong. If, however, it wasn't the case, and there was no obstruction, then the ticket was deserved. The point is, the video tells us nothing about that.

[Rebecca Paxton]

04:23 PM on 06/10/2011

Good, I'm glad you got a ticket. I'm positively sure that you were not out of the bike lane to avoid any of the obstacles portrayed in your film or any obstacle for that matter. If you were you wouldn’t have gotten the ticket. I have to obey the driving laws; you don’t see me driving in your bike lane do you?
I like how you said that your riding out of bike lane wasn’t causing harm to anyone, let’s see how you feel after you get clipped by a student driver for so blatantly shirking the rules.
I understand it’s wrong to have your lane loaded with obstacles but two wrong don’t make a right; they make a schmuck. Don’t be a schmuck stay in your bike lane.

[Moarku]

10:43 PM on 06/10/2011

Maybe you don't drive in the bike lane, but lots of people do. That's part of the point. He specifically asks why the guy parked in the bike lane wasn't getting a ticket (something I've never heard happening once), and the cop ignored him.

And I don't see how you can be "positively sure" about the context at all. It's not shown. Any conjecture on either side of WHY he wasn't in the lane is just that. Conjecture.

[jeffp26]

12:40 PM on 06/12/2011

Rebecca, How can you be "positively sure" of anything when you weren't there? You can't be. But the way you think, I am not surprised that you have zero fans.

Oh, and I flagged you for your obscenity.

[BabaLou7]

10:18 AM on 06/13/2011

schmuck is not an obscenity, happy flagger - otherwise good points

[supertamsf]

01:03 PM on 06/10/2011

Seriously, this 3:04 bit of film will do wonders for bridging the divide between motorists, law enforcement & cyclists.

[MauroP]

12:55 PM on 06/10/2011

Nice and true! I just broke a bone in my hand about 2 months ago in a bike accident. Watching him fall so many times made me cringe.

[supertamsf]

12:53 PM on 06/10/2011

Look, it's Sean Penn, as Harvey Milk, as a modern day stuntman. Brilliant.

[NHGranite]

11:29 AM on 06/10/2011

Falling into the truck doors! Hilarious. Hope he didn't get hurt by all the other obstacles. Including the illegally parked cop car - was that a donut shop, could anyone tell?

[ttaz4dqm]

11:13 AM on 06/10/2011

Good to see our Boys in Blue keeping Amurr'ca safe for Democracy!

[nappyman]

09:32 AM on 06/10/2011

Awesome!!! And absolutely right. People are upset about giving up 4 feet to a bike lane. How much space do we give up for street parking?!!!!!! Space for an inanimate object!!!!!!

[IMissAmerica]

08:50 AM on 06/10/2011

Is he a stunt man? That was hilarious but it looked like he could have really hurt himself in some of those, er, spills....