Amazon delivery vans were parked in bike lanes all over Cambridge today.
Amazon delivery vans were parked in bike lanes all over Cambridge today.
Attached: 3 images #Amazon delivery vans were parked in bike lanes all over Cambridge today. #FuckCars
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/33126960
In my country you can submit a photo of this to the local police with a statement swearing it's a true photo, then your name and tax ID number. Then in 6-9 months the vehicle owner will receive a citation and fee in the mail.
It's fun because you have a serial offender who thinks they are getting away with it like this, but in 6-9 months they will get the first few and correct their behavior but continue to receive the citations. Then they will finally look at the dates of the offense on the citation and realize they have thousands of euros in fees still coming for months of shitty behavior.
Oh, man. We want immediate justice so often, but I almost think the delay is the best part of that.
Still means 6 months of cyclist frustration though…
That's the dream. Where do you live?
Well, would be better if you could submit it anonymously.
we need an (optional) open source app for that where you just open the app and take a picture (with license plate visible) and click "submit". It submits the time, location, and photo. If it takes more than 30 seconds to report this, they failed.
We have a suckhead that parks his delivery van on the middle of a cross over (we call it a zebra pad) everytime to deliver goods to our local flower shop. So I tell him he is unlawfully parked, he says I shouldn't worry, it is just for a minute. I tell him it takes only a second for a pedestrian to get hurt. He didn’t care the slightest bit.
Call the cops on him. Every. Single. Time.
Next time I will photograph his license plate along with the zebra crossing. I've seen him doing it twice before. So the third time I talked to him.
In Germany, parents cannot be held liable if their child under 12 (or 14?) damages illegally parked cars with their bike.... Just a random fact of the day, nothing to do with your comment.
I tell him it takes only a second for a pedestrian to get hurt. He didn’t care the slightest bit.
while this clown is surely an asshole but let's not forget that his behavior and attitude is likely the very direct result of his economic and employment conditions.
who benefits from this most? the merchant then the buyer...
Delivery trucks, full stop, around here. Though some stop on the street instead, which I prefer, but car drivers usually don't.
In the end, I find it hard to be angry at overworked, underpaid people, who have to work around infrastructure that clearly hasn't been planned with their job in mind.
At least UPS is switching to large bike-like vehicles around here. Hope that trend continues.
Thank you for being the only one in this comment section that isn't a spoiled piece of shit punching down
That can be both incompetent and arseholes. The 2 aren't mutually exclusive.
As a person who does this job I have to say I have zero sympathy for the entitlement expressed in this thread and find no fault in any parking job these people use to save themselves the extra 50 steps x 200 places a day they have to deliver to. If you don't feel safe going around then you can fucking wait the literal minute it takes for them to walk back and forth.
You feel entitled to them literally wearing their bodies down to dust for your convenience because you think of them as lesser human beings to yourself and you need to do self crit immediately.
Maybe you guys should unionise so you don't have such shit working conditions.
A car lane is dedicated to the through traffic of cars. Similarly a bike lane is dedicated to the through traffic of bikes. If it is truly such a nothing burger to wait one minute, surely you would have no problem stopping on the car lane either and telling drivers to wait. And yet I have never seen a delivery driver attempt this - probably because it is considered socially acceptable for drivers to honk at shout at anyone blocking their way. Not so for cyclists, even though they are the more vulnerable road users.
Perhaps you could also stop at a bus stop and tell the bus driver to wait a minute. Or you could stop in a stranger's driveway while they are attempting to leave. Or hey, stop on a train track. Let me know how that goes for you. It's only a minute, right?
My first response to this was expletive-laden, but I think I might get through to you if I reign it in, so I'm trying to be polite here. Just understand that I am seething with rage while I type this.
Hey there friend. You need to learn to park or stop driving. Seriously, you're endangering lives for your convenience. You get the whole damned road while everyone else is allocated the slightest fraction to safeguard ourselves from drunks, assholes, and morons pushing two tonnes of steel and glass at 60mph while they stare at their phones and you think it's ok to push kids on bikes into that channel of death because you can't be bothered to look for a legit parking spot? I get that your employer is pressuring you for better times, but you're literally breaking the law and that law exists for a reason.
Every one of the 4 of the drivers I saw that day were parking on the cycle lane when they had multiple more reasonable options available to them:
- The driveways of those receiving the packages
- Around the corner in a safer area where parking spaces are allocated by the city for just this situation
- Blocking the road. I understand that this seems crazy to someone who spends so much time on the road, but blocking a car lane is an inconvenience. Blocking a cycle lane gets people killed.
What you're doing is lazy, selfish, and dangerous. Those cycle lanes are barely safe as they are without constantly being blocked by selfish people who think that they double as a parking space. You already have nearly the entirety of the city for your vehicle. Leave these alone.
but I think I might get through to you if I reign it in
Condescending piece of shit. Fuck you.
The premise alone that you're not the one who needs to be gotten through to but I am. Spoiled fucking brat. And the fucking nerve to think you can not just talk down to me, but act like you even have the fucking knowledge to speak on this situation from the perspective of an outsider. Childlike entitlement and narcissism. And fucking stupid in the worst, laziest way. Incurious and presumptive.
Just understand that I am seething with rage while I type this.
Then walk away. Message me again when you're in a place where you can admit you're wrong. I'm not going to waste my time or energy on you until you're ready to accept the premise that I'm a human being that deserves equal consideration to you.
And since conceding that puts you at odds with your spoiled entitlement to my physical well being, I expect you to shut the fuck up and not reply at all.
This is OK
This is ridiculous
Don't they have traffic wardens in Cambridge? They'd be fined and possibly towed as well here
The police very, very rarely do anything about this kind of thing here. It’s not just Amazon; even everyday random people just stop in the middle of the street to pick people up or drop people off.
The worst offender is Uber Eats, which regularly completely blocks up roads near restaurants.
You'd think, but there are three levels of responsibility: the city council, the county council, and the local police. Calling any one of them to complain and demand enforcement results in them redirecting you to one of the others.
Basically, unless you're blocking car traffic, no one with power cares.
I have to deal with similar issues in my neighbourhood; any service vehicle will have to block the bike lane because that houses driveway is already full of vehicle.
Service vehicle never "have" to block the bike lane. They could simply block the general purpose lane instead.
In other words, they are making a deliberate choice to fuck cyclists' safety in order to prioritize convenience for car drivers.
Curious how it never occurs to them to block the driving lane, or you know, park around the corner.
Not the first time, not the last. Amazon delivery drivers are terrible in every area. Urban or rural they will find a way to block traffic, especially when there is a nearby way to not do so.
I suspect it's a selection effect. Amazon is a pain in the arse to work for. Decent drivers are in demand. This makes it easy for good drivers to jump ship to other companies. This leaves the inexperienced or just stupid drivers left to deal with the BS.
If you've not driven a van before, they are intimidating to maneuver, at first. It's takes time and skill to spin them on a dime, and slot them in, with awareness of how much space you are leaving. Novice drivers simply lack that skill.
Uber Eats does this all day every day.
affluent people deserve their delivery, fuck u
Amazon drivers aren’t Amazon employees, and aren’t paid well enough or treated well enough to care. Don’t be angry at the drivers, be angry at Amazon.
Fuck that. This isn’t some poor customer service shit. This is being an inconsiderate asshole on public property. Yes they are treated poorly but that’s not an excuse for every behavior.
I have enough anger for both.
Seconding this. Some of these comments are an unpleasant reminder of why the stereotype of cyclists as upper class and entitled exists.
Some blame also lies on the local government for not adding bollards or other structures to separate the bike lane from traffic. Seeing all these issues and deciding someone with shit pay and zero job security is worth getting mad at just doesn’t make sense. Go take that energy somewhere it can do something.
By your logic the right answer is to be mad at every prime customer.
I am.
I suppose keying them is a criminal offence?
These vans know every time the driver sneezes so Amazon can dock their pay for unsafe driving. These things have a million cameras inside and out.
So basically, wear a mask.
Well, given that parking in a bike lane carries a hefty fine, and that the cops don't seem to care, it's unlikely that they'd be around to notice or choose to do anything about scratched paint or a broken headlight.
I'm just thinking from perspective of type of offence. In Canada you can park in the middle of the road and that's a non-criminal offence. You're getting a fine if someone is bothered to write you up. Purposefully keying a vehicle on the other hand is vandalism, which is a criminal offence. If you get caught, you'd get a record and potentially worse than a fine. It's a different level of punishment.
"Oh nooo, my bike handle accidentally smashed into the van while I was avoiding the obstacle in the bike lane."
"And I forgot to tape the outer most part or my handle bar, so it is just the bare metal"
Just photograph the van from both angles and send the photos to the local traffic authorities.