Despite bike lanes, not all cyclists obeying rules of the road - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Garrett Steele goes with the flow when he uses any of the city's 64 miles of bike lanes.

"I try to follow the traffic laws because that's the whole reason why there's a bike lane here, so we can be treated like a car," said Steele as he stopped along Broad Ripple Avenue.

Sometimes though, even Steele has admitted to not following all the rules, like using hand signals when turning.

"Sometimes I'm in a hurry, and I don't do it," Steele said.

Turns out Steele's not the only one.

Eyewitness News cameras caught bicyclists breaking various traffic laws.  We saw one cyclist using a bike lane, but he used it going against the flow of traffic.

We saw many more who ignored red lights and stop signs, and none of the cyclists we saw bothered to use hand signals when making a turn.

"We have the same issues with cars. I see cars not stop at stop signs, blow through red lights," said Jamison Hutchins with the city's Department of Public Works.

The city has been trying to educate the public, both motorists and cyclists, on how to share the road now that there are more bicycle lanes.

"If you're going to be on the road on a bicycle, you have the same right to the road," said Hutchins.  "But you also have the same responsibilities to follow all the traffic laws,"

That's why the city has been hosting question and answer sessions.

"I see bicyclists cutting across convenient openings in traffic, not signaling," said Bill Pollack, one of the residents who came to one of the sessions to voice his concerns.

"Riding on sidewalks. They don't stop for stop signs. They don't stop for red lights, unless there's somebody coming across," said Pollock.

The city said IMPD will be stepping up its efforts to write tickets to bicyclists breaking traffic laws, just like they would motorists.

"It could help," said Steele. "We didn't build roads everywhere just so people could drive and do whatever they wanted."  He said the same should go for bicyclists, now that more of them share those roads with drivers.

Plan on bicyclists and drivers sharing more space in the years to come.  By the year 2015, the city said they hope to have 200 miles of bike lanes in the city.