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ThisAmericanSatire t1_jd5fhjp wrote

Reply to comment by _brobeans_ in DON'T PARK IN BIKE LANES Due to the increased 311 reports in the area, we are increasing E Monument St between N Broadway & N Washington. by BmoreCityDOT

I've said this before but...

I will continue reporting FOR FREE if someone actually shows up and writes a ticket or tows the vehicle.

Almost every single day at lunchtime, I report 1-3 commercial vehicles parked in the Potomac bike lane at O'Donnell Square.

The fact that this is an ongoing problem tells me that enforcement is nowhere near the level where it needs to be.

Reporting the violations is not the issue.

The real issue is getting someone to respond to the violation fast enough to actually do something about it.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_jd90msl wrote

Thank you for reporting them! Those reports help us focus our enforcement, which is what this post is about.

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orlitzky t1_jd5n3sf wrote

That's why issuing a citation from the photo you took while they were still parked in the bike lane would help.

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ThisAmericanSatire t1_jd5pgc1 wrote

And then people will challenge the tickets saying it was photoshopped, so you'll have to show up in court and testify, but you will be like "eh, do I really want to go down to court and go through all that just to get paid $25? Nahhh."

And then every asshole in town will realize they can just challenge the tickets in court and the witness is unlikely to show up and deal with the hassle, resulting in the fines being dismissed, which will defeat the whole purpose.

The idea of paying bounties for photo evidence is an idea that sounds really great in theory, but will likely not produce meaningful results.

At worst, it'll be just another means for blaming victims and dismissing complaints - "Stop complaining that there's cars parked in the bike lanes! Be part of the solution! Take pictures and we'll pay you!"*

*After you waste a day of your life in court that will probably cost you more money in lost wages than the bounty pays.

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orlitzky t1_jd6bc1m wrote

It wastes the driver's time to appeal even if the witness stays home. This raises the cost of parking in the bike lane significantly from its current level of zero.

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monkeycat909 t1_jd89zni wrote

The photoshop issue can be mitigated by requiring a video instead of a photo. In NYC, the city offers bounties to people who submit videos of commercial vehicles idling. I'd love to see Baltimore do the same.

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