Do the Police Have More Important Things to Do?

Dear Editor,
    Last month's heated debate before the City Council dais on the proposed bicycle-helmet ordinance was amusing. However, when everything is considered, this was basically a nonissue. A City Council vote on the bike-helmet initiative would have just created another ordinance that the Austin Police Department could not or would not be able to enforce.
    In my neighborhood for example, motorists are constantly parking their cars in the bicycle lanes on Duval Street. They seem to do this with impunity even though there are numerous signs that indicate that bike lanes are tow-away zones between 7am and 6pm. If APD would simply write a few parking tickets and authorize trucks to tow away these vehicles; then cars blocking bicycle traffic would probably stop. And bicycle safety would improve.
    If the city of Austin can't enforce its own parking laws in the central part of the city; how can it enforce a helmet law? Police officers and parking officials probably have more important things to do.