A Sticker Situation – Cars in the Bike Lane Get a Wake-Up Call

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New York City bike activists have found a new way to combat cars clogging up area bike lanes – a strongly worded sticker.

The stickers, which say "I park in bike lanes … I’m an asshole," are meant to be placed on cars and trucks blocking bike lanes. The group – who would prefer to remain anonymous – began printing up the stickers last week, and says they’ve already handed out a couple hundred.

Said one of the founders of the campaign, who preferred to remain anonymous, "This is a principled thing. Cars don’t need to be in the bike lane. It’s also a safety issue," he added. "People have to swing out into the middle of traffic to avoid these cars."

When asked whether or not the campaign would be causing more problems by antagonizing car drivers, he said, "Yes, it’s antagonistic, but it’s not an unreasonable antagonism. All [car drivers] know is their wallet. If they have to spend time out of their day taking the sticker off their car, they’re going to have to rethink getting aggressive with bikers. The point is that this is supposed to be an assertive f*ck you."

This isn’t the first attempt to make cars aware of bike lane politics. A site called My Bike Lane allows users to report and post pictures of autos blocking lanes. And in March, a group affiliated with the environmental activist organization Time's Up! staged a clown-themed bike-lane liberation action.

What do you think? Are the stickers a funny response to cars in bike lanes, or a bad idea?

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