Gothamist: City Agencies Commit to Killing Fewer Bikers

z

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:58:25 -0500

This past May I was riding on the bike path along the Henry Hudson Parkway, when I skidded in mud, fell off the bike and my helmeted head slammed into the stone wall that parallels the path. End result? A broken arm bone--but NO DAMAGE to my head or spinal column. Without the helmet there is no doubt that I would have had serious, perhaps critical brain and/or spinal cord damage. IMHO I think that anyone who rides on city streets without a helmet (and gloves too) is CRAZY!!!

reason

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 01:35:23 -0500

chicks don't get hit because when they ride bikes it's almost always totally hot. even the butch fixed gear girls. no self-respecting, queens/new jersey-based, white box truck driver man would hit a girl on a bike.

kim

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 21:21:56 -0500

They have that same memorial on 5th Avenue in Park Slope - right outside of Miriam. I guess that's what Time's Up! does?

bdog

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:56:37 -0500

You people have no clue. If we had no bike lanes in NYC, then zero of the 200 deaths in the last 10 years would have happened in bike lanes. The more bike lanes, the more deaths in bike lanes, see?

solidago

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:49:09 -0500

My guess is that helmets help, but not as much as that 97% figure suggests. There is probably also a "self-selection" issue that can't be discerned from that statistic - it would be reasonable to assume that those who don't wear helmets are also much more likely to take other risks that might get them killed.

bthirsch

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 17:03:44 -0500

I encourage people to go to the TA website, which has a link to the formal report. The most interesting thing there is the "contributing factors" section (i.e. whose fault was it). They found a major disconnect between the death and injury data in favor of vehicles. What this means is that when a bicyclist is killed, the driver is often lying about the cause of the accident, and thus it is reported differently compared to when the cyclists is still alive to report the infraction. Also, the main thing is that when there is a cycling injury due to an interaction with a car, the car is responsible almost three times more frequently than the cyclist (13% vs. 35%). This is HUGE news! This is evidence from the city that cars are responsible for most car-bike crashes.

ck_bk

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:51:36 -0500

everyone should be more than a little wary of the "statistics" being reported here as well. For example, if a rider is hit by a car in the bike lane and lands in the lane of traffic, where do think the police officer who arrives on the scene ten minutes later records that accident as having occured? If a person is hit by a car and is taken to the hospital and dies of "complications" in the hospital, is that death being counted as a traffic fatality? and seriously, the number of non-fatal accidents that occur between cars and cyclists, cars and pedestrians, and cyclists and pedestrians is so under-reported, that I wonder how valid this analysis of traffic safety can possibly be. Oh and BTW, how bad must other cities be if a city as hostile as NYC can be rated on of the best bike cities in America?!? my two cents. Now I'm going to go drive my hummer over some people in mid-town...

y

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:23:58 -0500

yeah. but what about pedestrians? how come you don't tell them to wear helmets? they are ten times more likely to get hit by a car!

ss

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:36:50 -0500

and the doctor who was killed on the west side bike path allegedy died when he was hit by a truck because his head hit the the truck's hood hard. a helmet MIGHT have helped, at least more than no helmet.

g

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:35:19 -0500

Most bike accidents don't always involve being hit directly by a car. There are near misses, swerves to avoid open car doors, etc. Falling from your bicycle after swerving and landing on your head can kill you. It's still an accident involving a car, even if you aren't hit by one.

j

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:26:39 -0500

yeah. did they also know that 100% of every pedestrian who was killed by a car did not wear a helmet? Helmets don't do jack if you are hit by a car whether it's a person riding a bike or walking on the street. Helmets are only good if a guy falls of his bike. And since clearly, all the deaths were by car hits. the point is moot.

Eryximachus

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:24:30 -0500

The one fatality in a bike lane bit is misleading. I know of TWO involving bikelanes, one on Broadway and another on 5th Ave. Both people died while passing vehicles double parked in a bike lane, a VERY common occurence. The statistic doesn't simply indicate that we need more bike lanes, but that existing bike lanes must be vigorously patrolled with stiff enforcement for violators.

evan

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:00:32 -0500

i am all for studing this, but these results defy common sense. There must have been more non-helmet wearing fatalities. Helmets don't help if you get run over. and I am all for helmets. i am also all for bike lanes, but i can't believe there haven't been more fatal accidents in them. cars cut you off even worse in those bike lanes - often when you least expect it.

Steely

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 14:09:55 -0500

Helmets are great, but they don't prevent crashes. safe streets with protect space for cyclist do. The study also found that over 10 years and 200 bike fatalities, only one occured in a bike lane.

bikesafe

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:49:38 -0500

To me, the most interesting findings related to helmet use, an often-debated subject on Gothamist. The study noted: - Almost three-quarters of fatal crashes (74%) involved a head injury. - Nearly all bicyclists who died (97%) were not wearing a helmet. - Helmet use among those bicyclists with serious injuries was low (13%), but it was even lower among bicyclists killed (3%). Just common sense. Not too many people die after falling on, and breaking their arm. But falling on your head and cracking your skull is another story. Be careful out there and wear a helmet!

Tim N.

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:34:03 -0500

I was scrolling and I saw that headline, and I knew it immediately. That's Jake Dobkin's work. And I was right. Seriously, though, as a cyclist I have to say, if you don't want to die on a bike, wear a helmet and stay off the iPod. You can't control what jackass drivers and clueless pedestrians do, but you can control what you do.

timbnyc

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:16:57 -0500

Accidents happen at intersections, like, where traffic comes together? Damn. Gotta write that down.

Glenn

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:47:26 -0500

Bad news for dudes? What if men account for 95% of all bicyclists? Then it's good news for dudes.