Gothamist: Opinionist: Safety and the Cyclist

Anarcissie

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 16:52:27 -0500

I walk, ride and drive, as the occasion demands. This includes several hours a week of bicycling on Manhattan streets. Being such a terror-immune hermaphrodite I'm not going to follow the example of most of you and attribute all evil to the Other. I do think that sort of thing has gone far enough when we have one person who advocates that Others be killed. I think there is a class war going on here. The first thing that matters is money, so the at the top of the heap we have commercial traffic: busses, trucks, after them taxis and limousines, and finally personal cars and motorcycles. Then there is population. There are many more walkers than drivers or riders, so they get the next level of respect. Finally there are bicyclists. (There are a few skaters and skateboarders, too.) These are at the bottom of the class structure. They have less visible wealth than motor vehicle operators and less mass than pedestrians. One of the effects of the class structure is that the city and its traffic regulating system consider the top of the heap first and the bottom of the heap last. That is right across the board, as to safety as well as access. If I followed the laws and expected others to as a bicycle rider, I'd be dead ten times over. Another way in which the class system differentiates between people is in law enforcement. Bicycle riders, although a small minority, receive three times as many tickets as commercial vehicles, who violate all sorts of laws all the time. If a bicyclist is involved in an accident with either a motor vehicle or a pedestrian, jurisprudence follows the class system: the bicyclist is blamed. Check the stats. Finally, as is common in class conflict, the middle class deflects its anger from the upper class, which is impervious, to the lower class, which appears more vulnerable. Thus, in spite of the fact that ten or twenty times as many pedestrians are injured by motor vehicles as by bicycles, pedestrians exhibit anger towards bicyclists more than they do towards motor vehicle drivers (see above). I don't see a general solution to this problem. Few obey the law rigorously and I don't expect them to start. As anyone can see from the present traffic laws and their enforcement, their main function is to make money for the city, therefore more stringent laws will increase the city's take but not change anything else very much. I do think those who have posted above might take a deep breath and consider whether the Others are so different from themselves they merit death or whatever. In reference to the last article, I've never hit a pedestrian by some miracle -- people step directly in front of me all the time -- but I've been hit by pedestrians more than once. No harm, but if I'd been knocked in front of a moving motor vehicle I probably wouldn't be here to write this. I've also been hit by vehicles several times, but so far mostly glancing blows, doorings and the like. Knock on wood, or plastic, or whatever....

hijiki

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 15:06:06 -0500

is this the best attempt at writing and logic you can come up with, gothamist? truly pathetic.

robb

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 13:28:09 -0500

typos much? ugh. sorry.

robb

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:56:51 -0500

I wasn't so much saying that peds need to change, but they need to give cyclists a break. Cyclists are not the threat: motor vehicles are. I was trying to say that it is a two way street. Peds hurt cyclists *often.* I have been injured twice in interactions with pedestrians. I was thrown from my bike after hitting a taxi when I had to swerve out of the way of a woman who stepped out onto the street right in front of me. I dislocated my shoulder and she didn't get a scratch. Or say thinks. Pedestrians often walk in bike lanes, cross against the light when a cyclist is approaching and crowd intersections. Often is an understatement, actually. I think that there is a lack of recognition that cyclists do a lot to avoid peds coming to harm when they do foolish things. But I have no complaint about that day to day -- it only raises my ire when I read things like this article.

Gwin

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:37:35 -0500

I agree with a lot of what has been said in this editorial -- BUT as an avid cyclist I must point out the following: The majority of cyclists who don't obey the law are those who ride bikes for a living (messengers, food delivery people). The employers should require their workers to follow the rules of the road, but instead they turn a blind eye because invariably, that food/package/whatever is going to get delivered faster if the cyclist goes up the street the wrong way, rides on the sidewalks, etc. Believe me, these cyclists are just as annoying to the rest of us as they are to pedestrians. That being said, cyclists will be more apt to pay attention to the rules of the road when we get more respect from both pedestrians and drivers. There are always cars double-parked in bike lanes; drivers consistently cut off cyclists as if they weren't even there; and I can't tell you how many times I've nearly been clipped by a driver who is going way too fast. As for pedestrians: I've been called all the names in the book by people jaywalking AGAINST THE LIGHT. I have the right of way -- why not give it to me? I walk around in the city too, but unlike most people, I am aware of when cyclists are doing something wrong and when they actually do have the right to be going on their way. I have bumped a few people with my bike (and have of course stopped to make sure they are okay) -- every single time it's because they have chosen to cross the street against the light without looking for oncoming traffic. Common sense, people! It's really not rocket science. As for the bells- yes, they don't work. I'd love an air horn, but they are in fact illegal. The only thing that seems to work at all? Me yelling: "GET OUT OF MY WAY. I AM NOT STOPPING. I WILL HIT YOU!" Which of course gets me all sorts of abuse. Cyclists can't win in this city!!

Ben Hirsch

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:58:34 -0500

"Pedestrains should start a Critical Walk" Um, I see this every day watching crowds of pedestrians cross the street during a green light (i.e. no walk sign). I've had the right of way on a bike many times and had to stop because the "critical mass" of people was too thick to continue without endangering someone. Many times walkers do not give the same respect to bikers as they would a car, although I have seen the same thing happens with cars....

ep

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:21:53 -0500

Bicycles should have license plates, next time one runs a red light and hits me, I want to be able to press sue. Pedestrains should start a Critical Walk, and block these Critical Mass-holes from driving around like idiots every month.

Some Joe Guy

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:12:05 -0500

Love all the love and hate. Good to read it all. No matter where you stand on the issue, there is one thing everyone has in common: everyone just wants to get to and from where they have to go without being maimed or injured (and ideally, without killing or even wanting to kill anyone else).

Ben Hirsch

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:01:56 -0500

"Pedestrians pose a threat to no one but bicycles can injure or even kill." I do not completely agree. Twice I have been thrown off my bike by pedestrians too careless to look before crossing the road. In both cases the pedestrians were jaywalking and jumped suddenly in the path of my bike before I had time to react. I have also been "doored" twice by "pedestrians" opening up taxi doors without looking behind them. Even then, I do not see careless pedestrians as a menace. I also do not see agressive bikers as a menace. The fact is that pedestrians and bikers rarely if ever kill people or cause people to go to the hospital. On the other hand, cars are routinely killing and debilitating people at a rate far too high to be acceptable.. The fact is is that cars and trucks need to obey the laws because when they do not they kill people. I have come close to being killed by vehicles on too many occasions, both when on foot and when biking. The NYPD is completely deficient with respect to enforcing traffic laws. When bikers do not obey the law they rarely if ever kill or injure people. Most (or all?) bike to pedestrian deaths have occured when the biker was riding on the sidewalk. In this case I think the police should vigorously enforce this law. On the other hand, when a biker is running a red-light, they are typically not endangering others (only themselves). Who here has actually been hit by a biker? Were you standing in the middle of the street, jaywalking, or not paying attention when it happened? Has anyone here been hit by a bike while walking at the crosswalk, during a red light?

Dale Griffin

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:32:21 -0500

"life long city dweller and car owner and occasional delivery truck driver" - from editoriolist's blog You have your head so far up your tailpipe I don't know where to start. I've lived and walked and ridden in this city since 1985 and the majority of car drivers and delivery truck drivers seem to share your opionion that more pedestrians and cyclists need to die. Bicycling, public transport, and walking need to be actively promoted over motor vehicle accomodations. Every time the city adds a new curb cut so that one person can inconvenience six others with their motor vehicle, the quality of living is degraded and more citizens are put at needless risk. Readers should visit the Transportation Alternatives website for better information than this screed provides.

B-dog

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 16:06:16 -0500

Paul Steely White (comment 4): Word Up.

Phil

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:40:20 -0500

"Pedestrians: if you are going to make me follow the rules than you ought to as well. NYC pedestrians jaywalk with the back to traffic, cross against the light, step out in front of cars and bikes and generally act like people who do not want to live all the time. Both times I've been in an accident with a ped it has been when I had the green and a ped crossed against the light without looking." I think that the opinionist piece is out of line, and I'm a huge supporter of Trans.Alt. and cycling issues in general, but, I'm sorry, this kind of attitude is not constructive. Pedestrians pose a threat to no one but bicycles can injure or even kill. There is a hierarchy of danger that requires greater attention to the potential for harm that needs to be considered, starting with trucks, then SUV's, then cars, then bycicles. Pedestrians don't really make the list.

Ryan

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:31:40 -0500

Granted, some cyclists can be a nuisance - nobody should be riding on the sidewalks, that's for damn sure - but give us a break here. Part of the joy of New York city as a pedestrian is that you can pretty much jaywalk whenever and wherever you want, as long as you're not obstructing traffic. Blowing a red light on your bike when there's no traffic in the intersection isn't much different. Regardless, you can't lump all cyclists together as a single group that needs to have law "shoved down its throat." The cycling community in New York, as in cities around the world, is wildly diverse. Cycling is fun, it's good for you, it's a good way to make friends, and it's one of the most exhilarating ways to explore the City. I recommend it to anyone, especially the author of this post, who has clearly never taken the time to see what cycling in New York is really all about.

Ethan

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:22:35 -0500

The problem to me is not cyclists, drivers or pedestrians. The problem is the incredible sense of urgency that New Yorkers conduct their daily lives with. It is pretty clear to me that the people in each group act and think phenomenally selfishly and yet fail to see the obvious hypocrisy in their personal sentiments against people in the other group. There is a sense of entitlement that everyone feels that they should be able to move throughout the city as quickly as possible. This includes pedestrians jaywalking or crossing against the lights, cab drivers honking furiously at slowing cars ahead as well as cyclist riding on sidewalks. No one seems to think that there is any valid reason they should be slowed down. It is quite clear to me that is outrageous how cars are rarely, if ever, cited for parking in bike lanes despite causing a hazardous road environment for cars and bicycles. Of course, it is equally clear to the cab drivers that cyclist riding in the road slow traffic and thus should be honked at furiously for preventing them from maximizing their fares for the day. I absolutely hate it when I am walking or riding my bike and see a cyclist riding on the sidewalk or riding the wrong way down a one way street. Yet, I still occasionally (not too often though) find myself doing the very things that I loathe in others. Of course, I get incredibly angry when I am riding up to a light and passing between parked and stopped cars and a pedestrian jaywalks across the street and then yells at me for being an asshole. Should I have been riding between the cars? Probably not. Would it have caused a safety hazard for the pedestrian if they had crossed legally at the light? No. I guess that makes us both assholes. Would adding airhorns really enhance safety? I think it is much quicker to yell ahead to announce my presence than to reach over, away from my brakes, to squeeze a horn. There is already a horrible cacophany of shrill horns in New York from impatient drivers and I personally think that anything that contributes to that is bad. This is a topic that I could ramble on about as much as the original opinionist, but I think the fact remains that cars, bikes and pedestrians all interfere with each other in unique ways and all cause problems. Bike and people, however, do not present nearly the risk to the other groups as cars do so I think it is perfectly reasonable to have higher standards for drivers. I think cyclists would complain less about being cited for minor infractions if the city made any effort to curb the much more serious infractions commited by cars. I recall seeing a statistic that in an area near the Manhattan side of the 59th st bridge that in one particular month a few years back something like 2000 cyclists were cited for riding the wrong way while in a 10 block radius in the same area about 30-50 cars were issued speeding tickets that month. I don't see how you can possibly argue that that type of policing isn't ridiculous. Oh, and finally, I really don't want to hear about pedestrians being innocent bystanders in this whole mess. Pedestrians (including me, of course) openly flout the rules just as much as cars and bicycles and seem to assume that their personal safety is the responsibility of everybody else. If EVERYONE would just slow down a little bit and take personal responsibility for the safety of themselve AND others, getting around the city would be much better for everyone. Too bad that'll never happen...

Shovel

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:37:29 -0500

Leepresson, if some asshole has parked his car all the way to the curb at an intersection without a light, I'm going to have to wait off the curb so I can see when the traffic is clear (because drivers here openly ignore crosswalks and stop signs in my neighborhood, even steps away from the 94th precinct!). I know you're in the arrogant minority, but it amazes me that a cyclist can't put himself in the shoes of a pedestrian once in a while. Part of the reason I refuse to ride a bike here is because of Tigtog's excellent point that you have all these delivery (and other) drivers - of vehicles AND cycles - who come from other countries where "laws" aren't adhered to, or in which safety is a low priority (politically incorrect I suppose, but very true). I used to be an avid rider in the city before this one, but they were adequately provided with paths, and had very strict traffic rules when it came to cyclists (some of which end up inuding auto-cyclist road rage, but that's a different post altogether). Cut the pedestrians of this city some slack...some of us have reasons why we walk, and to us, ANYONE on wheels is capable of making our lives more difficult (and often does).

Dave H.

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:37:19 -0500

This is not in any way an endorsement of the above opinion piece, but air horns don't need to be powered by "fairy dust"; and they aren't that unreasonable a suggestion as a previous commentor implied by that remark. Air horns are obviously powered by compressed air. Regular use of such a horn would require occasional replacement if it were disposable, but regular maintenace of a vehicle is not uncalled for. Cyclists change their brake pads, clean and oil their chains and sprockets, straighten their spokes, and so forth. Making sure an air horn was regularly charged (like a fire extinguisher) seems like a reasonable precaution. In addition, many cyclists' deaths, where delivery trucks turn right into them could be avoided by a startling blast of an air horn. I think most of these accidents are caused by driver inattention to their surroundings. Air horns get a lot of attention. Some entreprneurial person in the NYC cycling community should design a compact airhorn that integrates well with standard bike designs. I bet that would save some lives.

robb

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:31:19 -0500

And what the hell is this Gothamist? This, the second anti-bike screed in three weeks in your pages is even less refined, researched and well-written than the first. Not gothamist material at all, imo. points: * drivers that speed on city streets should be the number one concern of all pedestrians as they are the number 1 killer of pedestrians. Yet, somehow I've never seen an opinion article about speeding here or anywhere else that I've read this kind of anti-cyclist chop piece. * Pedestrians: if you are going to make me follow the rules than you ought to as well. NYC pedestrians jaywalk with the back to traffic, cross against the light, step out in front of cars and bikes and generally act like people who do not want to live all the time. Both times I've been in an accident with a ped it has been when I had the green and a ped crossed against the light without looking. * Don't even talk to me about my cycling until you figure out how to keep mothers from pushing their strollers out into traffic before they can see if it is clear. If you're not on the street you might never see this, but it happens *all* the time.

Robert Abrams

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:19:01 -0500

Joseph (The Joe) Anastasio, Your opinionist piece makes clear that you are ignorant of many things. However, you should have disclosed that you are also a hateful person who publicly advocates the death of cyclists. Your blog: http://darwincity.mtude.com/Grabber.php?ID=58 You write, and I quote: "Apparently some 21 bike riders died in the last year in New York City, most hit by cars. Not to be too crass, but I don't think that's enough." "So how can I, a decent liberal democrat working class type of guy, say that maybe a few more bike riders NEED to die?" "There are more and more people riding bikes around NYC. Some do it for exercise, others are just lame hipsters who everyone agrees ought to die." "No need to complain to me about my views - they've been forged on the street and won't be changing until either bikers take it upon themselves to get a clue in terms of safety, or that clue is rammed down their collective throat by the state" Unrelated quotes from your website: "...that old jew b@stard knew what he was doing..." (in reference to Mike Bloomberg) "...Now, we have a f@gg0t @ss excuse of a president..." (in reference to Bush)

tiqtoq

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:10:28 -0500

A distinction should be made here between those that ride bicycles as transportation, those that occasionally ride for exercise and those that ride for a living, i.e. messengers/deliverymen. I would argue that the vast majority of folks who ride as commuters are careful and considerate and it is the messengers/deliverymen and clueless weekend warriors who blow through lights, ignore pedestrians and clog up the sidewalks. The former because of identity/attitude or coming from countries where vehicle law is a joke and the latter because of ignorance/inexperience. People who attend Critical Masses are (for the most part, with some notable exceptions) neither messengers/deliverymen nor occasional riders, but people who know how to ride safely and sanely but are often lumped in with those who do not.

leepresson

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 14:07:13 -0500

An air horn? Powered by what, fairy dust? I do have a bell on my bike. And I ride in the street where I am supposed to. So if you are standing off the crub waiting to cross the street, you will hear me ring my bell before I crash into you. But that's why I also wear a helmet.

Paul Steely White

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 13:43:39 -0500

In NYC a bicyclist fatally strikes a pedestrian about every 3 years. in that same amount of time, about 450 bicyclists and pedestrians are struck and killed by motor vehicles. not to mention the thousands of premature deaths due to auto induced air pollutino. Sidewalk cycling and other unlawful cycling is indeed a menance, but let's keep things in perspective. bad cycing behavior, as with rampant jaywalking, is in large part a reaction to streets and traffic signals that are designed and timed for the speed and comfort of motorists. if our streets were built more for peds and cyclists (as in many other cities) behaviors would change. Mr. Johnston, I hope that the families of the 21 cyclists who died last year did not read your post. The fact is, most of these deaths were the fault of the motorist, not the cyclist. Even for those incidents that were the cyclists' "fault", should the punishment for error be death? our streets need to be more forgiving of the routine errors that pedestrians, cyclists and motorists make. a study a few years ago by the state comptroller found that NYC motorists run over 1,000,000 red lights a day.

Boots

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 13:43:10 -0500

This article was very poorly written. (Also simplistic and inflammatory.)

Suzie Q.

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 13:35:46 -0500

As a pedestrian I am more afraid of cyclists than of automobile drivers. I have never, EVER, encountered a cyclist who was obeying any law of the streets, or even of basic human courtesy! I'm really sick of being yelled at to move to the side of the sidewalk (sideWALK) so that a cyclist can whiz past me, barely grazing my ankles. I have a prejudice against cyclists.

Cycledelic

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:58:03 -0500

Just ride long enough to develop the sixth sense for navigating the New York streets and these concerns will no longer matter to you.