From the NY Post:There's been an alarming 16 percent spike in vehicle and bicycle collisions over the past year that investigators blame in large part on rogue cyclists who have turned city streets into demolition derbies.
There have been 3,830 accidents involving bicycles, including 12 fatal ones, so far this year, compared to 3,294 in 2009, city statistics show. The East Village and Downtown Brooklyn have the most accident-prone intersections.
"This was a catastrophe in the making as soon as they put those bike lanes up around the city," said a cop in the East Village, the epicenter of collisions even with several bike-only lanes.
"They are arrogant. They think they now own the road and think they can do no wrong," the officer said. "Some even yell at police cars saying they have the right of way."
Other danger spots include both sides of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
"It's crazy. The volume of traffic, careless bicyclists and too many turns in too many directions is a recipe for disaster," said a traffic-accident investigator. "Most times they don't obey [laws] and that leads to chaos."
Commercial drivers say they live in fear of hitting bikers.
"Man, it's a pain because they truly think they can just do whatever they want to do," said Manny Sosa, a UPS driver for 15 years.
Some 17,500 people commute daily by bike -- up from 8,500 in 2006, according to the Department of Transportation.
Remember: We're installing bike lanes all over the damn town so a paltry 17,500 people can use them. And this was supposed to make them safer.
27 comments:
If the arc of growth is so steep that commuter biking has doubled since 2006 while the accident rate has risen far below that rate, that's good urban planning. That said, bicyclists must obey the law even as they wait for some laws to catch up to reality. Overall, accidents are down, fatalities are down, and many streets are more livable. One huge problem, of course, is that we must improve mass transit at the same time we're discouraging unsafe and polluting car use. No one can deny the logical disconnects that plague us now. Attacking bicycle infrastructure improvements won't better our urban life though.
Accidents are not down. That's the point of the article.
Accidents are down. Your data is wrong.
@QC: I'm aware of the agenda behind the article, but even with its slant, one can see accidents are down relative to bicycle use. But also, a fuller and more rigorous view of citywide statistics shows absolute numbers of accidents are down. This is partly due to bicycle presence and bicycle infrastructure slowing routine car speeding.
Sadik-Khan is a perfect example of someone who is educated but DUMB!
These bike lanes do NOTHING but make driving in Manhattan even more unbearable - even more slower - causing even more accidents.
There is only a handful of people who bike daily - certainly the amount of bike traffic is even less is the winter months.
Get rid of THEM and most importantly get rid of Sadik. She should be working in Target earning minimum wage - whatever her salary is - she is paid too much.
rogue cyclists???? What the heck???
The issue should have been expressed that cyclists are unpredictable in how they ride, react and have varying degrees of skills riding.
But as the articular addresses, rogue or not bike lanes placed in the city are not the smartest or researched ideas. I like cycling but I learned a long time ago ( I was hit by a car) is hostile to cyclists and not practical.
It's nice if it were planned rather than imposed on city streets as there is no protection for the cyclist as there is none for the motorist as well.
More bikes on the road = more accidents. That's a no-brainer.
Try using on foot (walking, running, etc.)the paved roads in Central Park on a weekend, when autos are barred. Cyclists barrel down the hills at high speed, and do not stop at signal lights. Worse,they are mostly looking down at their pedals, and seem to be oblivious of their surroundings.
A very real threat.
@Erik:
How do we know whether or not to even believe that accidents are down relative to riders since the DOT Commissioner claimed she didn't even know how many cyclists there are in the city?
Try using on foot (walking, running, etc.)the paved roads in Central Park on a weekend, when autos are barred.
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Yeah, the Lance Armstrong Yuppie Race Team has to be put to an end.
The number of bikers have increase, so has the number of "rogue" bicyclists. I can point to at least 3 each day on the st, and I'm not even outside 2 min. before I head down to the subway. Most of the ones I see aren't even using the bike lanes that they painstakingly painted and rerouted traffic for them to use, they're still on the other side of the road where the rest of the cars are. What's the proper way of turning right when the lanes are mostly on the left side? Do they expect them to just stop at the crosswalk, walk the bike over and peddle again? No, they'll just mow down everyone to get where they need to go. If they're going to share the road with pedestrians and cars, they should be made to follow the rules like everyone else.
I shit you not, I saw one riding down the double yellow line on Metropolitan Avenue one evening.
If he had gotten into an accident, I am sure John Del Signore from Gothamist would have blamed the city bus that hit him.
Try using on foot (walking, running, etc.)the paved roads in Central Park on a weekend, when autos are barred.
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You realize that in this situation, Central Park rules mandate that walkers and runners stay on the inner "recreation lane" and cyclists stay on the outer "car lanes," right?
The vast majority of walkers and runners follow this rule, and are out of danger, because it would be physically impossible for cyclists to use such an occupied lane.
The only walkers and runners that are at risk are those that are BREAKING the rules and walking in the outer lanes, which are reserved for bikes on weekends.
There are still problems though, such as cyclists ignoring the traffic lights on these lanes as well as riding on paths that are NOT marked for cycling. You can't apply the behavior of a few scofflaws to the whole though.
I am a regular cyclist and I know for a fact that Park officials do enforce the rules when they see violations.
I wish NYPD would enforce the rules against delivermen riding on the sidewalks and against traffic though. These people are a danger not only to vehicles, pedestrians, and themselves, but ALSO to us cyclists that are obeying the rules. I have frequently almost been hit by idiot deliverymen who refused to move out of my way when I was riding the correct direction and I have also been close to being mowed down by them on the sidewalk.
My point here is that we cyclists hate the scofflaws as much as you do, but it by no means indicates that we are all bad or that infrastructure improvements only benefit a tiny percentage of the population.
Bike lanes combined with effective enforcement would be a win-win for cyclists and motorists. Bike lanes are present and growing, but enforcement is completely absent. Blame the NYPD, not the DOT or Sadik-Khan.
Also, if the amount of accidents has increased by a few hundred, but the amount of cyclists has increased by much more, that's a relative drop in the accident rate, which is more important. Please don't selectively read statistics. Rate is always more important than raw number.
In Central Park, there is no opportunity to cross the streets on the weekend without getting run over or cursed at by bicyclists.
kkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where is the Capitain when you need him?
God,I lmao with the extended Khan entry Anon does.
With every Khan story, I scroll down till I see it.
Thank you, whoever you are.
And the Eurofication of NYC shall continue!
Vlad Bloomberg has deemed it so.
Legally, bicyclists can "take a lane" in most situations on our streetscape. As a courtesy, we don't, and raise the risk of getting doored by drivers who illegally swing open their doors without checking. Are those objecting to protected bike lanes ready to cede driving lanes from this point forward to improve safety?
Look, we have comical contradictions in the demands of the privileged drivers (more likely to be yupppies and "tower people" than bikers). When car speeds are down, pedestrian safety is up, even when you add in bicycle accidents. Yet we have people claiming that car speeds are down and pedestrian safety is down.
I live on Queens Plaza. I can't begin to record the car and truck violations here. We do need better enforcement all around.
As for a large part of the menace from the biking end, businesses must be held accountable for their delivery staff's road behavior.
Cyclists violate the speed limit law in Central Park, and do not stop for red lights. Pedestrians are always in danger of getting run over when they try to cross the street.
"Cyclists violate the speed limit law in Central Park, and do not stop for red lights. Pedestrians are always in danger of getting run over when they try to cross the street."
Add some small changes:
*cars* violate the speed limit law *throughout the city*, and do not *always* stop for red lights. Pedestrians are always in danger of getting run over when they try to cross the street.
The new bike lanes are a pain in the ass for the rest of us, but cars are much more dangerous and kill many more people than bikes ever will.
Let's at least be honest and say we are against bike infrastructure because it causes traffic and inconveniences for the rest of us. This bullshit about bikes being so dangerous is silly when we have no problem being surrounded by cars and trucks that are often driven recklessly by people who have no business behind a wheel and no respect for others around them.
-Not a bike advocate
On weekends, Central Park is auto-free, and is supposed to be enjoyed by walkers, joggers, parents with strollers, skaters, etc. Unfortunately, cyclists barrel down the roads at high speed, do not obey speed limits, often cycling 5-10 across, and do not stop for red lights. They are a menace. Police rarely ticket them.
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
YOUR WELCOME
"On weekends, Central Park is auto-free, and is supposed to be enjoyed by walkers, joggers, parents with strollers, skaters, etc. Unfortunately, cyclists barrel down the roads at high speed, do not obey speed limits, often cycling 5-10 across, and do not stop for red lights. They are a menace."
The same in the parks in Queens. I confronted one last summer - I told him the speed that he was going was extremely dangerous. Toddlers, the elderly and small dogs were especially vulnerable to his reckless and selfish behavior. (The man appeared to be about 60 years old - definitely old enough to know better I think.)
He said that there were no signs saying that he could not ride his bike in the park . . . unfortunately, this is the mentality of the MAJORITY of the people who ride their bikes in our parks.
WHY therefore would Sadik/Bloomberg believe the cyclists would behave any differently in the streets? Do either of them ever GO to the park? - we already know that they are certainly not driving in the city. What makes THEIR attitude any different than the arrogant and self-possessed cyclists?
If the number of bicyclist commuters has risen 105% from 2006 to now (8500 to 17500) and the number of car-bicycle accidents has increased by 15% between 2009 and 2010 (3294 to 3830), then even if we extrapolate that rate over four years it's only a 60% increase in accidents vs. a 105% increase in ridership. Baard is right - accidents are down vis-a-vis ridership.
And the cops and deliver drivers quoted in the article - they were probably parked in bike lanes. I spent a year biking through the EV/LES and commercial/police/private vehicles parked in bicycle lanes was a constant occurrence. Who's breaking the law???
show your extrapolation bike /auto injury calculations to the paralyzed victims in wheelchairs at the n.y.u.medical center rusk institute.
Half of the bikers ride horribly and the cars of all kinds, not just cabs and trucks take corners at 60 miles an hour towards pedestrians in Queens and Brooklyn on a daily basis virtually every block and these are less busy blocks also.
No doubt bike commuters need to start following rules, but judging by the drivers actions who hate them cause the world revolves around their massive personal heavy steel vessel's, they wouldnt share the road no matter what.
The car drivers have road rage against other drivers honking at them every two blocks and now the cyclists too.
In my neighborhood there is two memorials at corners for pedestrians mowed down by cars who ran lights or took a corner recklessly fast without looking or caring about pedestrians walking on a green light in the last year.
You will most likely not survive if the car is going over 25 mph. And of course the cops dont care how bad people drive right in front of them unless its the last week of the month for quotas.
"Anonymous said...show your extrapolation bike /auto injury calculations to the paralyzed victims in wheelchairs at the n.y.u.medical center rusk institute."
The vast majority of whom (among traffic victims) were injured in or by motorized vehicles, not bicycles.
Emotionally laden imagery divorced from solid facts doesn't advance New York City's work to improve mass transit, and make biking and walking our streets safer. No doubt new technologies in cars and used by police will continue to make streets safer and less polluted too. Cars will always play a huge role in the life of our city. (errands and shopping involving heavy loads, giving independence to those who are physically challenged, filling gaps between mass transit service areas) but far too often cars are used by single occupants who don't truly need to be wheeling around in tons of metal. Especially in our dense urban neighborhoods. It's a good use of resources to encourage biking, walking, and mass transit.
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