New Signs Encouraging People To Use Lights On South West Corridor
Written by Boston Biker on Nov 19I have gotten multiple reports that there are big signs urging people to use lights at night (as well as reminding them its the law) on the southwest corridor. This is for sure the time of year when you need some good lights on your bike, be sure to have a white front light, and a red back light, and make sure they are bright!
Its things like this that don’t cost the city much money or effort that are going to be important in changing the culture of Boston. Little things do matter, thanks City of Boston!
Pictures via bike forums, thanks Fenway for the tip!
EDIT: now with video! Thanks William!
He says:
Looks like the Boston police are enforcing light laws on the SW corridor bike path. I passed a flashing traffic sign that said, “Be Bright, Bike With Lights At Night, Massachusetts State Law”. Here’s a short video I took of the sign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JxiN_pA6QE
The next time I passed through, there was a police car with lights flashing at the intersection. At Lamartine and Atherton, I think. A helmetless, lightless biker passed me on the path, and was flagged down, lectured, and probably ticketed by the cop.
Thought you’d like to know and maybe pass that on to your readers. Looks like the Boston police are serious about enforcing at least some cycling laws.
I doubt they were given tickets (I could be wrong) but they most likely were given a talking to, which is totally fine in my opinion.
Add to Reddit. Tags: lights, signs, the law, use lights
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8 Responses
to “New Signs Encouraging People To Use Lights On South West Corridor”
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By Ron Newman on Nov 19, 2010 | Reply
I’m getting three big blank squares (with little blue question marks in them) instead of your photos.
By Ron Newman on Nov 19, 2010 | Reply
The pictures are fixed now, thanks.
I’m surprised that the law requires using lights on the bike path (as opposed to the road). Obviously it’s a good idea to use lights anywhere but it would seem less important on the well-lit SW Corridor path.
By MHalle on Nov 19, 2010 | Reply
Hi there, I’m the creator of the new “Be Bright” bike lights campaign in Boston. Be Bright is a project of Boston Bikes. Our goal is to encourage the use of bike lights throughout the cycling community, particularly now after the end of Daylight Saving Time when it gets dark at about 4:45pm in Boston.
Our partnership with Boston Police helps us get the word out more widely than we could as a pure volunteer effort. The police in Boston have traditionally ignored bike-related laws (infractions both by and against cyclists). We agreed this would be a good way to get officers visible to and involved with the biking community promoting an issue that involved the safety of all road users, not the least cyclists themselves.
With the BPD’s help, we are deploying mobile message boards in a variety of locations throughout Boston (currently Lamartine and Atherton/Mozart and Tremont and Columbus), and we’ll move them around over time.
The police are just providing educational material at this time. The flyers the police are giving out appeal to cyclists’ sense of safety but also cite the Massachusetts law. They double as spoke cards! I can send along a PDF if people are interested.
At some point in the future, it’s potentially an option to give tickets that get torn up if you bring in a receipt for a light, but that’s not currently being implemented by the BPD. (I guess if someone fails to stop for the cop or does something else crazy illegal in front of them, there’s a chance they’ll get a ticket, but that’s not part of the lights campaign).
The BPD wouldn’t be enforcing on the Southwest corridor anyway, but from an educational point of view it’s one of the best places to reach people. The path is dark enough in some places that not having a light puts bikers and other path users in significant danger of collision, so the benefits should be fairly apparent.
We’re also working through advocacy groups to spread the word about lights and are partnering with youth cycling programs like those run by Bikes Not Bombs to get free lights into the hands of kids in the community.
This is the first year of the program, so we don’t have all the pieces we ideally should have in place, but we hope to continue working throughout this winter and be even better next year.
Mike Halle
By Lucas on Nov 20, 2010 | Reply
Strong work Mike. I really like the effect of impacting the community through a message while simultaneously (and in a fairly sneaky way I might add) gaining exposure for police men/women of what the cycling community is up to. It cuts effectively both ways.
In future, why not just give out lights outright? Sounds simpler than redeeming a ticket with a light receipt.
By MHalle on Nov 20, 2010 | Reply
Great question. We’re in the process of getting the police some lights for giveaways, but there are some good reasons not to give lights out to everyone who doesn’t have one. We want to partner with bike shops and outdoor stores to promote lights, and we don’t want to compete with them. Retailers are better equipped to help people figure out the right lights for them. For instance, some people might be fine with the cheapest lights, but others should spend a little more to get lights that are brighter or have longer-lasting batteries.
We also have a limited amount of money for giveaway lights. In Boston, we have a choice to focus those resources in the community through, for instance, the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs where it’s more likely that financial limitations might keep people from buying lights. That’s why we’re working with Bikes Not Bombs to help prototype our neighborhood outreach.
Targeting our giveaways also helps us make sure that the lights actually get used and not just have them considered as a disposable freebee for those people for whom the cost of the light isn’t a major issue.
If this program really takes off (and we’ve been very happy with the response for the community) then maybe we’ll have more resources next year to do more and to experiment.
Mike
By Ron Newman on Nov 21, 2010 | Reply
At various bike events in past years, I’ve received free little circular tail lights that clip onto a helmet. Are you using these too?
By Jiffy on Nov 22, 2010 | Reply
I’d feel a little better if the police would instead ticket the people who feel it necessary to walk, often three or four abreast, down the bike path. The Southwest Corridor has the potential to be the best place to bike in Boston, but until the pedestrians realize they have their own walking path, the bike path will be tremendously unsafe — lights or not.
By Paul Schimek on Nov 24, 2010 | Reply
@Jiffy: Despite the signs, it’s legally a sidewalk, so there’s no law the police could enforce to keep people off it, even if they wanted to (not that they want to).
@Mike Halle: This is a great beginning. I hope it leads to further positive collaboration with the police. And real tickets some day. Thanks for your work on this.