(Source: Robert Prinz, via SeeClickFix)
Oakland’s parking enforcement officers have been criticized recently for their lack of enforcement of illegal and unsafe parking behavior along Telegraph’s new protected bike lanes. Yesterday, parking enforcement was finally spotted on Telegraph ticketing parking violations. Incredibly, however, parking enforcement was not ticketing obstructions of the bike lane, but was in fact actively contributing to the parking chaos by blocking the bike lane. Robert Prinz of Bike East Bay shared the above photo of the parking enforcement vehicle, which left few options for people biking to safely navigate around it. (The parking enforcement officer was ticketing meter violations, which are also confusing to use under the new design due to the distance between spaces and meters.)
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a city vehicle has been caught parked in Telegraph’s new bike lanes. Brian Tingle posted another photo on Nextdoor of a public works vehicle obstructing the bike lane shortly after the bike lane’s grand opening. This careless behavior is incredibly concerning: how can Oakland hope to achieve safer streets if its own staff actively contributes to unsafe behaviors?
Andy Gillin received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his law degree from the University of Chicago. He is the managing partner of GJEL Accident Attorneys and has written and lectured in the field of plaintiffs’ personal injury law for numerous organizations. Andy is a highly recognized wrongful death lawyer in California.