Copenhagan is great, if you accidently step in the bicycle lane they yell at you. here, cars park in bicycle lanes.

One constructive thing people can do is to call 311 when you see unsafe conditions, such as the slick metal plates used to cover the streets during construction. If they are not flush with the street or grooved, they are in violation of the law. These are the same kinds of plates that are believed to have contributed to Derek Lake's accident.

Since we all have cell phones, call 311 from wherever you are. It takes less than five minutes to report something like this.

The streets have no [sic] gotten any wider for cars.

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2005/10/24/narrower_sidewalks_tightening_the_citys_corset_over_the_years.php

Who's the moron?

A bicyclist got hit by a city bus this evening on CPW at W 106th (saw the aftermath on my way home). I think s/he was ok and was being tended to by uniformed officials -- but ouch, hit by a bus...

I just hope that the memorial riders put on a good face and represent responsible city cycling. Given these two tragedies, I hope people ride safely, wear helmets, and obey the laws (stopping at lights, signaling, etc.). People who criticize cyclists will see this ride and if they see flagrant violations will use it as fodder for their already anti-cycling attitudes.

Cameras and reporters will be watching, so ride responsibly and demonstrate that cyclists are worthy of city resources and protection under the law. It could be a real tipping point for cycling issues if handled well.

This is a real chance for cyclists to represent!

edf you are a moron.

What is your source for 0.001%??

NYC streets were originally "designed" for horse & buggies. The streets have no gotten any wider for cars. The reason the city streets are ONE WAY is because they are too narrow. The reason the avenues are one way is to eliminate turning in the path of oncoming traffic.

You talk about european cities but point us to a links about Montreal which has a population 1/8 of NYC.

Where is the bike lane here? http://www.limousinemontreal.com/Tourism%20Montreal%20Limo_files/lg_stcatherine.jpg

or here?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/St_catherine_street.jpg

Time's Up is organizing a memorial ride Thursday evening, meeting at the Intrepid (West 46th and the west side greenway) at 6:30PM and riding down to Houston and La Guardia place. more details at http://www.times-up.org/calendar/detail.php?calendarid=940

bright,

bad cyclists are about .001% of the transpo problem in this town right now. the problem is that peds, bikes and buses have all been squeezed to the margins to make room for automobiles, the least efficient, most costly and destructive user of our city's public space.

more cyclists will ride between the lines and follow the letter of the law when the city creates legitimate infrastructure for them. in german cities, for example, you see traffic signals for bikes, physically separated lanes, thoughtful signs and markings -- real infrastructure. having that system in place really made me ride within the rules.

in nyc, the streets are designed mainly for cars. it often doesn't make sense, for example, for a cyclist to ride three blocks out of his way to get to the one-way street designated bike route going in his direction. it'd make a ton more sense to put a two-way buffered bike lane on the residential street. we don't, afterall, make pedestrians walk in one direction on a one-way street. one way streets are for CARS. sometimes bikes want to be more like peds.

the europeans have this figured out. nyc DOT is still basically clueless. see examples of legit bike infrastructure here and stop self-hating:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2006/06/27/this-is-what-bike-safety-looks-like/

Brightliner, I somewhat agree with what you are saying. However, expanding sidewalks, separated bike lanes, and crosswalk bumpouts are physical improvements that would protect bicyclists, pedestrians, and vehicles no matter who's obeying or disobeying the law. In the end, these types of better street designs will save more lives and encourage lawful behavior. We can point fingers at specific users, but people acting lawfully are still getting killed.

Safer streets and more responsibility all around would be a fitting tribute to these two tragedies.

TA forgot stronger law enforcement against bicyclists. No, I'm not talking about more police turnout for Critical Mass. I'm talking about all the idiots who flout every traffic law on the books, thinking the laws don't apply to them since they don't have engines and licenses. Writing as a serious cyclist, it doesn't do anybody any good to let these guys off the hook while charging law-abiding cyclists who just roll up onto a sidewalk to talk to a friend. As any good cycling advocate would say, "If you want to be treated like a legitimate vehicle, then act like a legitimate vehicle." I'm willing to do my part if the cops will do theirs properly and judiciously rather than vindictively.

Sounds like NYC is way behind the times - other cities are way ahead of us in designing streets that are pedestrian and cyclist friendly. And I'll keep saying on this message board, to my local elected officials, to the local community board and whoever else can do something about - NYC needs a network of real bike lanes

Our organization, the Upper Green Side has collected almost a thousand petition signatures in favor of protected, buffered bike lanes like in Copenhagen and many other European cities, but still the City DOT drags its feet using 1950s street design models.