Bikers 1; Bumps 0

While biking over the Williamsburg Bridge yesterday, Gothamist noticed that a construction crew had closed the entire south side of the path. On of the guys on the crew told us that they were removing and replacing the 26 speedbumps on the Manhattan side of the Bridge-- oh happy day! Bikers have been complaining about these nefarious bumps since they were installed in 2002. Each of the 2" high bumps offers a new opportunity for the downhill biker to be thrown ass-over-teakettle, and bikers going both ways face the possibility of denting their wheels on every trip. Other groups have also complained- most notably, advocates for the disabled, who note that the bumps are also dangerous for people in wheelchairs.

So score one for the bikers! And let's hope this signals an end to the Bloomberg administration's biker-persecution campaign. It makes you wonder: have all those "I bike and I vote" stickers finally done the trick?

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By Jake Dobkin in News on September 19, 2005 10:11 AM

Comments [rss]

Jim

Quoth Transportation Alternatives:

Although cyclists often pass too close for the pedestrian's comfort, the attention given to cyclist-pedestrian conflict is far out of proportion to the statistical risks. To put the risks in perspective: one pedestrian a year is killed in a collision with a cyclist in New York City, while one pedestrian a day is killed here by a motor vehicle. Moreover, accounts of bicycle-pedestrian accidents invariably blame the cyclist, ignoring the reality that both the cyclist and the pedestrian are victims of chaotic motor traffic.

mark

Hey, Bill,

Cyclists want to hit you almost as little as you want to be hit. In consideration of this, they tend to pay considerably more attention to the "traffic/ bipod flow" than your average gormless pedestrian.

Just because you feel a rush of air when a cyclist gives you a wide berth at 20mph, doesn't mean they were being reckless- just that they were being responsible enough to be saving over a gallon of gasoline per hour, so that you could waste another ton of fossil fuels cooling your sorry ass when you finished your 5 min walk from the subway.

bikes_suck

Who would really want to go across the bridge on a wheelchair? What a bunch of whiny babies. Dented wheels, scraped knees, boohoo.

We should all do a shitty weather dance on the last Friday of each month, so those Critical Mass punks learn their lesson. Damn bicycle terrorists.

bill hartnell

now the bikers can run over everyone with their break neck speed, score one for the bike fanatics and one less for the pedestrians...

Danny

Those bumps were never "speed bumps". They are covers for the expansion joints connecting the pre-fab sections of the path. They are hazardous and certainly the cause of many injuries since the path opened. Let's hope that whatever replaces them is safer!