April means many things in Boston, and this year it means that street cleaning has begun, and the Hubway bikes are all in place ready for your enjoyment. (Thank you, “bike czar” Nicole Freedman, and best of luck to you in your new job.) I heard a graphic designer describe her experience with the bikes – she rides them to appointments she has with her downtown clients. She leaves the bike in the stand and picks up another one to go to her next appointment. The bikes’ heavy profile and mindful riders probably mean that we won’t see many of them whisking through red lights, weaving through traffic and narrowly missing pedestrians trying to cross the streets.

But bikes mixed with cars or pedestrians always bring conflicts. Just take a peek in Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings.” While Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are in the Public Garden searching for a good spot to raise their ducklings, a boy with a predatory look on his face almost mows them down with his bicycle. They flee to one of the islands along the Esplanade where bikes can’t go.

So we know the bike scourge has been going on since 1941 when McCloskey’s book was published. And bikes are still a problem. When people contact me about a topic to address in this column, bad bike behavior and trash problems top the list.

Even if you’ve been mowed down by a bike—two so far have hit me—you probably still think bike riding, at least in the abstract, is good for the city. But there are some steps city officials and others could take to reduce the conflicts. It’s called obvious rules and constant enforcement.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard’s Public Garden now is supposed to be off limits to bicycles. So let’s start with the Esplanade. Cyclists are supposed to walk their bikes over the footbridges and ride on the paths closest to Storrow Drive when the paths split. When there is only one path, they should be riding slowly so as not to endanger pedestrians, who can’t always hear their approach, even when they call out. The Esplanade 2020 Vision spells out separating the slow-going paths from those used by bikers, skaters and fast runners.

But as of now on the Esplanade there are no signs letting anyone know about appropriate bicycle behavior, so cyclists are riding over the narrow foot bridges, traveling on the paths supposedly reserved for pedestrians, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Pedestrians are complaining. Signs help. Bicyclists can’t say they didn’t know the rules if the rules are posted in plain view.

But Sylvia Salas, the Esplanade Association’s executive director, says, “it is not a question of just sticking up a sign.”  Signs and their wording have to be approved.

Why can’t someone stencil signs on the sidewalk? Salas said no one wanted

to paint on the sidewalks during the winter.

The old signs have been vandalized or stolen, said S.J. Port, a Department of Conservation and Recreation spokesperson. And DCR does not want to litter a park with signs. Mass. Historical has to get involved. Moreover, the number of staff at DCR, which has jurisdiction over the Esplanade, has been reduced by more than 25 percent, she said. So finding a person with the time to get something designed, approved and mounted isn’t as easy as it might have been before DCR got starved for funds. She hoped that this spring signs will be up.

The Esplanade is only one location in which conflicts between bikes and pedestrians take place. The streets of Boston themselves are rife with danger – for bikes from neglectful drivers; for pedestrians, who are in danger of being bumped off by bike riders who ignore cross walks, and for drivers, who live in fear of hitting a bike hidden by other cars as the rider swerves in and around traffic.

The Boston Police’s approach to bad bicyclists has emphasized education over punishment, which they believe is more productive, said spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll in an email. “The Boston Police Department routinely conducts awareness campaigns at targeted intersections where bicyclists are stopped for committing traffic violations and typically provided with a warning and education information. We recently conducted one of these “stings” near the Comm. Ave. bridge (next to BU) and issued more than 200 bike helmets to individuals to promote safety and responsible cycling.”

Driscoll said she does not have up to date information on how many tickets the police have issued to law-breaking cyclists.

Given the apparent lack of knowledge of the rules, combined with the lack of enforcement, conflicts are likely to occur. It makes one thankful we don’t have a “stand your ground” law like Florida’s. Can you imagine the bullets whizzing by if bikers, pedestrians and drivers carried firearms to “defend” themselves?