Parking enforcement fail!

For bicycle commuters, there are few experiences more frustrating than having automobiles block your bike lanes, as if people weren’t actually trying to use them for transportation. It’s downright dangerous—cyclists don’t expect large stationary objects to appear in the middle of their right-of-way, and the more absent-minded of us are prone to run into them.

The temptation is to bang the hood, or if you’re feeling really mean, carry a can of spray paint. Fortunately, there’s a better way to vent: Snap a picture of the offending vehicle, jot down the license plate number, and post it to dc.mybikelane.com, ideally with an expletive-ridden rant. The more people do it, the more the repeat offenders can be identified. Will the power of public condemnation lead to better behavior? Perhaps not. But if you’re vigilant, you might just catch a councilmember—shame on you Jack Evans!—in violation of the law. They shouldn’t get away with that shit.