Biker Killed by a School Bus in LES, Two Other Women Run Down

The driving and drivers in this city are as bad as I can remember. I have always been mixed on quality of life crimes. But I would be 100% behind a 6 month zero tolerance traffic law crackdown, moving violations. Red lights, speeding, DUI, yielding to pedestrians, bikers (peddling ones) and just dangerous or reckless driving in general. City wide. We need the money and people need the refresher Drivers Ed.

I am not a cyclist (peddles) or a biker (motors). But I have a sister and brothers who do it all over. I walk everywhere. I have lived in this city for part of every decade (70s-10s) in my life and all of the last 20 years. Even hit by a cab in Chinatown when I was 9. I also have a car, and I am the asshole who gets honked at while letting people cross the street or letting a car merge in front of me. My friends say I drive like I'm on valium, "way mello." Although I have pulled into a bike lane on a number of occasions to pass a double parked car or truck. Always with care. Why am I like this? Because, in all but a few cases, the idea of physically hurting someone gives me chills. I promise you even in a justifiable situation taking a life is a burden you can’t imagine.

I think they should shift from meter enforcement and alternate side tickets to this even if it costs money, which I don't think it will. Moving violation fines for commercial vehicles should be doubled. Any cut rates offered to UPS or Fed Ex should be voided. ( I am not sure about this but they get breaks on parking tickets, which I think is debatable and should be a the discretion of the ticket writer. Double parking at 6am on East 98th isn't the same as doing it at 9am on 59th and Lex)

Perhaps controversially, I don't think points should be applied to many of these tickets. The points system is a joke. Although I think driving with a suspended license should get you 72 hours in the tombs, regardless. (have them let the guy with a joint in his wallet go to make room). But too often drivers just ignore this and drive anyway. My point is that the all mighty dollar makes people perk up and listen. Hit people in the pocketbook and they will hit the brakes!

http://bit.ly/7vxKll

"I'm always shocked at how many people wearing dark clothes, at night"

it is a completely unexpected fashion choice in nyc.

Has anyone done a study on pedestrian death by auto? I'd like to see where NYC rates. Anyplace higher than NYC would be astonishing.

Last week I was driving on a poorly lit road in the Bronx at night, and passed a man on a bicycle. He was wearing black clothes, with no helmet and no reflective anything. IMO that's begging to be hit. The number of bicyclists I see going the wrong way, against lights, turning without signalling, etc, makes it very hard to be sympathetic. Agreed, the penalty for stupidity shouldn't be death--but no one can break the laws of physics in braking.

KC - an old man, a pedestrian, was struck and killed by a turning truck near Grand Central station the other evening.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/horror_outside_grand_central_sYPnCYKUnayMQbG4VXFAjN

It's not about what the person is wearing, or a particular dark street in the Bronx - it's about the lawlessness on NYC streets. Unless it's a rare situation of extreme circumstances, law enforcement officials do not to be troubled to pursue possible criminal charges against a driver in almost all kinds of death-by-automobile cases.

That's not true. Just because you can cite an example where a pedestrian was without fault, doesn't mean that there aren't pedestrians and cyclists who don't contribute to the risk. I walk, drive and cycle and I'm always shocked at how many people wearing dark clothes, at night, cross in the middle of the street or cycle through a red light without concern about the fact they are hard to see.

Cops don't even stop at stop signs anymore. Cops don't even give tickets for others who run stop signs. 6th Precinct in NYC says they have priorities on Serious Crime and no time to monitor traffic sign violators. What this does is tell drivers across the city it is okay to do what you want to pedestrians and bikers. You will only get a ticket when you hit or kill someone by the NYPD.

Cyclists and pedestrians being treated like roadkill. Pretty soon the cops won't even bother to respond to these incidents.

How do you get run over by a forklift. On top of that how do you not notice immediately if youre driving it!

Forklifts are really dangerous - they're quiet and have poor visibility for the operators, who around here are often doing some pretty unsafe stuff (I saw one lifting people up on the fork tines to fix flags at the US Open.)

For a more (hilarious) informational video, see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-rJndNbCYY

I'm confused by that one, too.

Ditto for me.

"According to cops, summonses are likely, but the driver probably won't get hit with any other criminal charges." Summonses but no criminal charges?

So was it a cyclist or a biker - I mean lets just report the news clearly please.

Thanks. A biker could be a motorcyclist. Cyclist or bicyclist would have been more clear.

It says "cyclist". It couldn't be more clear. It doesn't say biker.

When the post first went up, it didn't make the distinction. And the title still doesn't.

Actually, the first word of the headline on the article is "biker".

Gothamist never gets that right. To them, there's no difference.

I made a tripod mount for my bicycle. gonna use it with my flip cam. thinking about having a cam front and back.

I lied, I don't have a Flip but a cheap copy of a flip, can't afford a flip. that's why I can have a cam up front and rear.

THEFACTS has no facts, vehicles are weapons and their drivers are menace. Too much congestion in this city and the drivers don't have patience and pedestrians and cyclists are their victims.

What do you mean vehicles are weapons? They're not army tanks. You're talking about cars which we use to travel distances and carry more than one person and heavy items. Idiot.

Most cars on the road are carrying no heavy items and only one person.

re: biker

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Was she wearing a helmet? Details please?

Man oh man, I pass through there everyday on my way to work, but, I usually go further east when passing Delancy, so I can go under the Williamsburg bridge, instead of negotiating the clusterf*ck of cars/buses/trucks/bikes getting on and off the bridge.

And yah, accidents do happen, but, if this death was the result of carelessness on the part of the driver, then, I see no reason why that person shouldn't go to jail, even if it was merely an accident.

Like, if you're just riding along, and mind you, there are a lot of bike lanes in that neighborhood, and you're just "hit" out of the blue, [this is my biggest fear, by the way] then the bus driver should face some jail time. Straight up.

But, if I were to guess, I'd guess that the biker tried darting across and beat the light or traffic and paid for it with her life. And I'd guess the driver could've possibly avoided it, but, probably wasn't negligent either.

For as much as I love bike commuting and riding in this city, I can't deny, you just see tons of people on their phone, bberry, paying little attention to the road. And I wonder, for all the effort put into making bike lanes, infrastructure, calming mechanisms, awareness etc . . . is there a "wall" at which point, all these Things don't matter, so long as there are, ya know, [and i'm not alleging this driver to be that case] dumbasses driving around in big death causing machines with little fear of criminal or even civil liability (with the exception of parking tickets of course)? I should also acknowledge the actual conduct of each individual biker has a place to play in this discussion as well. But, they're responsible for their own lives, they're not the ones likely to cause the death of others

Riding any kind of 2 wheeler in Manhattan equates to a death wish. If it comes down to the biker and a powered vehicle, the bike rider gets the silver medal.

Does it not occur to you that some of us have no other option than to use the quickest means of transportation?

"no other option" doesn't negate the risk of serious injury or death a cyclist assumes in riding on our overcrowded streets. Nor is "no other option" true. Walking and public transportation are options, the trade off cyclists opt for is speed over safety. That doesn't excuse the vehicle driver if s/he was being reckless or negligent, but a driver getting a ticket/jail time doesn't bring a dead cyclist back to life.

True, but it does negate the assumption that we have a "death wish." And yes, I suppose I also have the option to be late for my various jobs and not be able to support myself anymore.

Does that maybe help explain a little bit why a lot of us are not willing to settle for the status quo, and would like to see safety improvements made and drivers who are reckless face real penalties?

I'm not assuming recklessness here, since we don't seem to have enough information. But I'll be out there today and I'm sure I'll see more motor vehicles breaking the law than bicyclists. Just like every day.

Riding a motorcycle in the city can be dangerous. RIP.

Woman riding a bicycle.