sigh. we miss you aileen.

The problem in general is motorists are becoming more and more distracted. I drive for a company and I pick up clients and we always get into coversations about the way people act while driving, biking or even walking. We always agree that a car/vehicle is a weapon. Its heavy and at any speed can kill depending on the impact. I was in Brooklyn just yesterday and as soon as the light turned green an older cyclist (no helmet, no headphones, no padding, no gear at all) came riding across me as if the light was still green and was riding against traffic. I have also seen parents cross the street with their children in the middle of the street against the light. What ever happen to "CROSS IN THE GREEN AND NOT INBETWEEN"? Now it seems txting and walking is just as bad as txting and driving. The younger generation is observing what the parents r teaching them. People need to go back to the basics of waiting for the light to turn green b4 u cross, look both ways, and then proceed. its simple and over time can become a habit. Stop being in such a rush and it can save lives. Yours or someone elses!

That's a good link. Raises a lot of questions.

=v= Just in case anyone is interested in substance:
http://www.streetsblog.org/201...

i think that is an awful thing to concentrate on.

I'm sure the driver does not feel good about hitting and killing the biker but what is a driver to do when a biker flies out of nowhere in the middle of an intersection and slams on the brakes and it's not fast enough. Bicyclist need to obey the law just as much as a drivers. It's like paper (pedestrians), rock (car), scissors (bicyclist), who do you think is going to win? The streets in NYC are dangerous for everyone. The streets are archaic and need to be updated and not with just some paint lines on the street, instead of blaming drivers or cyclist the city needs to step up to the plate and actually do something to correct the ancient roads that resemble more a third world country than a world class city.

The lawyers and investigators should plan tolook at the driver's cell phone records.
I believe they need search warrant for that. Then we are able to tell if the driver was texting or cell phone usage was an issue.

Someone died, and that's tragic. The driver will probably have this (wrongly or rightly) on their conscience for a long time, and I can't help but think there are multiple victims here. Not using headphones might have improved her chances of avoiding an incident, but I can't imagine a polystyrene hat would have saved her.

What's needed is probably a change in the way that all road users approach what is clearly a shared space. Cars, cycles, pedestrians, trucks. Streets are there for all of us.

Thats the problem, the concept of "shared space".  It shouldn't be.  The  roads were not created around the concept of shared space, they were created to get motorized vehicles form place to place, period.  This is supported by the fact that in order to accomodate bicyclists, we had to create bike lanes, which I support. Keep them away from vehicles, and have them follow traffic control.  "Shared space" is a fallacy.  Bikes and peds don't belong on any roadway with motorized vehicles.

Bike lane are not safe! Here on Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn is dangerous as hell! People are backing up from their driveways and residents double park!

Damn right bike lanes aren't safe. Just 2 days ago I got into an accident, on the bike lane. Some random kid thought it was a great idea to jump out, and I had to swerve to dodge him and got myself hurt. Pedestrians are often the biggest problem for cars AND bikes.

I'm a regular driver, and I blame the driver more.

Notwithstanding all of the comments about whether or not the bicyclist was in the wrong, all too often, drivers drive too fast for the circumstances.  You can be within the speed limit - as seldom as that occurs in NYC - and still be driving too fast for the circumstances.

It's troubling that many drivers I've spoken to have the attitude that an accident is an insurance issue, not a life and limb issue.

I make it a policy to drive such that even if a pedestrian or bicyclist makes a mistake, it won't cost them their life.

Admitted, I am speculating about the driver's actions here.  I think the onus on the driver should be greater because the car can do greater harm.

A teen did something reckless? Not MY child!

Feel very sorry for the victim's family. Nothing can bring her back.

Several things to consider:
1. any video cams around the corner might capture what happened?
2. the bmw might have records of speed in its on-board computer.
3. is the intersection blocked in a way that the driver couldn't until see the girl's movement until last moment, any brake marks?
4. listening to ipod doesn't mean she couldn't see the traffic light and not aware of the on-coming traffic, it is only dangerous when the car approaching you from behind and you make an abrupt left turn.
5. the traffic light changes all the time, when the witness found out about the accident, the light might have changed from green to red. So the time of accident has to be determined to map to the traffic light changing history. maybe her watch can serve as an evidence here.
6. this is a local road with 30Mh limit, shouldn't the driver approach the intersection with caution and slow down?

 Agree with all.
Re #4: all of our senses are important in knowing our surroundings and stimuli.  Restricting or impairing one's hearing while in traffic or walking is a bad policy.

This is terrible news.  My heart and prayers goes to the family of Aileen.  If we were to blame someone, it should be Bloomberg.  He should be riding a bike to work and see how "safe" it is.

Whether the driver was going over the speed limit or not, how fast does the car actually have to be in order to hit and kill a cyclist? I feel very sorry for the girl's family.

30 is usually not fatal, 40 is usually fatal, or so they tell me.  Of course once you're bouncing off cars things get sort of chancy.  The story is kind of odd, however: reasonably intelligent 16-year-old rides directly into path of oncoming vehicle?  I suppose the headphones might have done it.  Don't, don't, don't wear headphones over or in your ears while riding a bicycle in any kind of traffic.  Ever.  Loud sounds not only prevent you from hearing oncoming vehicles, they may also interfere with your vision and your ability to react quickly, believe it or not.

Anyway, the 30/40 thing is why the speed limit is theoretically set at 30 in the city, but it doesn't explain why the police never enforce it except at quota time.

The stats say that 5% are killed at 20 MPH, 50% are killed at 30 and 85% are killed by motor vehicles hitting unprotected bodies (cyclists and pedestrians) at 40 MPH. Given the 10 MPH leeway that police give, that means on a 30 MPH speed limit street you're about 85% likely to get hit by a vehicle doing 40-45 MPH, 40 MPH limit means cars will be doing 50-55 MPH, with the idiots going faster the ones that are more likely to be in a wreck.

Going 5-10 mph slower than you normally would can save a life.  Why wouldn't you?  Drivers, as with other people, can be poor: time managers, judge of physics and speed, risk assessors, etc.