After all the attention Casey Neistat brought to the perils of biking in bike lanes, and how it is not actually illegal to bike outside of them, you would think the NYPD would stop issuing tickets for this non-offense. But alas, the quota-driven cycling crackdown continues, and it has led one biker to sue the state DMV.
Evan Neumann, a long-time cyclist, recently received a ticket for something as offensive as crossing the road, according to the Daily News. He was riding in the bike lane on the left side of the road, then passed into traffic so he could make a right turn at the corner. Voila! Un ticket.
Mr. Neumann took his case up with the Department of Motor Vehicles, believing it would be routinely dismissed, since it is indeed legal to ride outside the bike lane in New York. The state, however, has certain laws that make the violation legit, so the ticket was upheld and Mr. Neumann was even slapped with an extra surcharge, too.
“I was caught up in a Kafkaesque lose-lose situation,” he told the News, adding that this was the first bicycling ticket he had ever gotten.
Now Mr. Neumann hopes the state Supreme Court will rule in his favor and overturn the tickets, giving New York City precedence in these matters over the state.
