Mission Mission

When a cop does something unexpected or outrageous bystanders are sometimes compelled to capture pictures or video.

What you’re seeing here is a cop issuing a $110 ticket to a driver for double parking in the bike lane. And this isn’t just any cop. This is the Captain of Mission Station.

“I tagged two people today who I’ve warned before,” Captain Perea said.

Cyclists and pedestrians alike seemed confused by the rare sighting. But none more than this Uber driver (pictured above and below) who seemed to be just hanging out between fares. Note the big empty spot he could have pulled into to allow rush hour cyclists access to the bike lane.

“What we’re doing in this district is what all stations are doing across the city. We call it Focus on the Five. Every district will identify the causes of the most collisions.”

Focus on the Five is one of the tools the SFPD is using to support Vision Zero – the city’s goal to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2024. It includes both enforcement and education.

“[Focus on the Five] Is not about tickets, but enforcement is one way we can track data to see how we’re doing.“ Captain Perea continued, “We’re just trying to keep people safe. And this is what we got. So we work with what we’ve got.”

TryCaviar.com driver finds an awesome place to park and wait for his order earlier this month.

Before Capt. Perea headed out to write one more ticket, he said, “We have to make sure that the streets are safe for public travel. It’s public safety at its most basic.”

This troublesome stretch of Market between 8th and 9th Streets seems to be giving everyone a lot of trouble, and this morning was no different.  Everything is wrong with this picture.  For instance, a white pickup double-parked in the right lane, which wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that the right lane needs to be used by cyclists because delivery vans and trucks are blocking the bike lane up ahead directly after the barrier ends.  And how did that sedan get across 9th?  Doesn’t look like Muni or a taxi to me.  Hrmph.

Maybe I”m just grouchy because of the weather, but it still is nice to see some justice once in a while.  Luckily, it’s Wednesday, which means Butterlap Day!  See you there probs!

Previously:

Taxi Strikes Cyclist Who Happens To Be Me

The powers that be have been installing these safety posts dividing the bike lane from the rest of traffic on Market Street.  The latest ones (pictured above) can now be found on the stretch between Gough and Van Ness. 

I like the spirit of this idea, since it creates a visual safety barrier and clearly denotes to vehicles that it is unnacceptable to use the bike lane to pass other slower vehicles on the right.  Ultimately, this will foster an overall sense of cycling security and will probably encourage the more cautious riders to start commuting to work every day.  Furthermore, this will definitely prevent delivery trucks from parking in the bike lane.

However, there is another side of me (the one that doesn’t think twice before splitting Muni buses with an inch of clearance on each side) that so far has only experienced these things getting in the way.  Sometimes it is necessary to exit the bike lane and veer into the traffic lanes, such as when passing slower riders who are travelling side by side or when a car inches out of a driveway a litte too far without looking and you need to make instant evasive maneuvers.

like this jerkface

Was it really so bad before?  I don’t recall ever feeling unsafe on this stretch of Market Street while riding in the bike lane.  On the other hand, the ubiquitous placement of these posts would probably have come in handy when fellow blogger Adrienne Johnson of Change Your Life, Ride A Bike was antagonized and almost purposefully knocked off her bike by a douchebag cop in an undercover vehicle.

What do you guys think?  At least they’re fun for slalom practice; that is, until THIS GUY shows up: