Some people have little consideration for anyone but themselves.
A Redditor shared a stark instance of this with the internet via a photo of an egregious parking job.
In the picture, purportedly captured in Hamburg, Germany, a car is blocking not just one but both directions of a public bike lane. A narrow space of maybe a foot on each side of the vehicle is available for bikers to traverse.
Most likely, the options are to stop and get off the bike or risk injury and damage to the bike and car by trying to squeeze through.
Unfortunately, this is far from the only instance of motorists' parking in bike lanes, driving recklessly through them, or complaining about their mere existence. Meanwhile, those drivers ignore all the benefits of biking from both their perspective and those of riders.
More bikes in cities can facilitate cleaner air, reduce traffic congestion, and lower street noise while saving riders money.
The collective effort to reduce our reliance on gas-powered vehicles will help lower the usage of dirty energy that contributes to the warming of the planet. Switching to a bike for short trips can reduce carbon pollution by up to 2,000 pounds a year, per StrongGo.
Bike lanes in particular can help reduce accidents among bikers, pedestrians, and motorists. That is, of course, if cars aren't obstructing them illegally.
That's one reason why it's so frustrating to see parking in bike lanes, as it discourages and alienates riders just trying to go from point A to point B. It's heartening, however, to see cities such as Pittsburgh take aggressive action in holding those who park illegally to account.
Commenters on Reddit were hopeful that the rogue parker would face consequences.
"If you park like this, you accept you won't find your vehicle in the same condition as you left it," a user noted.
"That's just asking for someone to not see it in time and plow into it on a bicycle," another pointed out.
"Towing the car and telling them to come get their car back hits them where it hurts," someone else suggested.
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