Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sadik-Khan simply a screwup
From CBS 2:
When she lost her husband, Nancy Gruskin gained a mission.
“I’m not here to say, ‘take the bikes of the road,’ not here to say biking isn’t great,” Gruskin said.
Her mission is a foundation dedicated to safe streets in the city. Last year, Gruskin’s husband, Stuart, suffered a fatal head injury when a bicycle rider plowed into him.
Two days after CBS 2 featured Gruskin in the “Bike Bedlam” reports, the city Department of Transportation releases statistics claiming pedestrian injuries in crashes with cyclists plummeted 62 percent since 2001.
Now, though, the DOT is backpedaling, admitting the numbers it released were wrong.
It turns out those numbers have nothing to do with bike vs. pedestrian accidents – they’re from motor vehicle accidents in which bikers and pedestrians were also injured.
When bikes hit pedestrians, no agency collects the incident reports or analyzes them.
Gruskin said she knew that, but the DOT apparently did not.
“It’s an outrage, because it’s all about pedestrian safety, and how can you ensure pedestrian safety if you can’t ensure accurate numbers?” Gruskin said.
On Friday, the DOT told CBS 2 they “regret this error and any confusion it may have caused.”
When Gruskin wrote the mayor last year to ask for help with bicycle safety, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan replied with a form letter – it was addressed to Gruskin’s dead husband, Stuart.
“How much more could you be kicked in the stomach?” Gruskin said. “That’s exactly how I felt when I opened the letter from the Department of Transportation.”
Gruskin wrote again this week, and hopes her letter is treated with more respect this time.
3 comments:
If you injure/kill someone,the "i didn't mean it" defense is bs.It's either because you acted recklessly or with intent.There are very few "accidents"!
i am a senior citizen who was about to step off of the curb,when the uptown traffic on third avenue stopped for the red light. i was going to cross to the east side of the street.
it is a good thing that i looked to my left towards uptown. a biker was speeding down the avenue and would have knocked me down. he never slowed down.
be careful,look both ways. they could care less if they damage a person for life or kill them.
just because this occurred, does it mean that you should ban bicycles. first of all, its not gonna happen. Because someone drowns in a public pool, does that mean that the pool should be closed. while people dont think straight in such a situation, they know deep down that while they tried, its not gonna happen.
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