NYC serious bicycle crashes...

Ykick

Ykick

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San Diego, California
While city council worries and moans about "dangerous eBikes" we have another in a long line of serious crashes that took the life of a pedal rider late last night.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/bicyclist-accident-sunnyside-queens-hit-run-greenpoint-ave-163006516.html

Particularly close to home since these are the roads I use on my way to/from work around that hour of the day.
QueensHitRun.JPG

Sadly, another fatality in the Bronx only 4 days ago:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/teammates-mourn-loss-promising-star-jamaica-high-school-football-player-david-ellis-killed-hit-and-run-car-accident-article-1.1114645

Crazy car/truck drivers are getting out of hand but the city would rather demonize eBikes as the danger to people...

Feel free to share stories from your locale involving serious large vehicle > bicycle crashes.

EDIT, attempt to clean up "accident" language and if interested in outcome, police made an arrest. Stupid 25 year old drunk driver. Be safe out there folks, please, please, be careful to assume the worst when it comes to other drivers operating much larger mass weight.
 
This is crazy. California has been having ridiculous rash of killed cyclists too. At least it hasn't been any e-cyclists
 
I sound nit-picky here, but we Americans as a culture use the word "accident" - pertaining to a vehicular wreck - incorrectly. Accident is a judgement, a finding following an investigation where participants are cleared of wrongdoing. If there was no investigation, whose to say negligence, either in vehicle operation or deferred maintenance, or even on the part of the victim, was not a principal cause of the collision.

AFAIK in NYC, the police rarely investigate motorist killings of bikers or pedestrians, and generally just declare "no criminality is suspected" as they choose to avoid the paperwork of filing charges.

I often slip up and call these events "accidents" too nice it is so culturally ingrained. I'm trying to make a conscious effort to use the words "wreck", "collision" or "killing" as the context may dictate. I think that as long as we commonly use "accident" as a substitute for these words, people will continue to feel roadway deaths are inevitable and the driver has no responsibility.

Sorry to be so preachy, but this is more than just nuance.
~Matt
 
With the amount of cameras in NYC I find it hard to believe that the hit and run driver has not been found yet? Some people have no shame. Alas welcome to NYC where everybody needs to be in a rush. :roll:
 
MattyCiii said:
Sorry to be so preachy, but this is more than just nuance.
~Matt
Click to expand...

I appreciate the kind education and perhaps I can modify the wording/title when I get a little closer-in to civilization? Right now not a good time or reliable enough connection.
 
Ykick said:
MattyCiii said:
Sorry to be so preachy, but this is more than just nuance.
~Matt
Click to expand...

I appreciate the kind education and perhaps I can modify the wording/title when I get a little closer-in to civilization? Right now not a good time or reliable enough connection.
Click to expand...
I get down to NYC about three times a year for work, leisure or usually both. I usually take the folding bike on Amtrak and get around by bike. For that reason & lots of others, I watch the cycling & pedestrian situation in NYC, probably closer than I watch the same in Boston.

Every day I read two web sites. Endless-sphere/forums of course, and streetsblog.org. There's a pro bike/anti car bias, but once you get past that you can really tune in to the facts of life on the street.

What happens in NYC is the same as anywhere else, only at a higher pace and volume. NYC: Person driving recklessly jumps curb, kills a man walking on the sidewalk, gets off scot free. Same thing happened in sleepy ol' Cumberland RI. In sleepy town USA it's a fluke. In NYC it happens many times a year.

So Thank You Ykick for sharing this here, it's an important topic. Bike riders like us need to know the state of policing, of roadway design and construction, and of cultural attitudes. People need to know facts such as the ability to deploy speed cameras and traffic light cameras in NYC is controlled by Albany, and as a matter of politics, it never gets approved. So motorists continue to kill with impunity.

Again sorry to be so preachy. I hope the criminals who kill to "catch that yellow" are found and brought to justice.
 
We need to get people in office that ride bikes!!

That's the only way to get some representation. Otherwise, bikers and, even more so, e-bikers will be seen as a nuisance rather than a blessing (which we all are).

Another idea I have: Somehow offer an incentive to drivers that take a bicycle safety course where they are required to commute some distance by bike. Maybe a reduction in insurance rates. I don't exactly have the answer, just an idea.
 
There was a fatal suv on bike hit and run crash here not quite a year ago. The suv driver was recently arrested after also pulling a hit and run to the front door of a gas n go joint. The store had security cameras. Cops got him for the store crash then looked into the fatal hit and run. Same truck same guy. He will get about 4 years.
 
cal3thousand said:
We need to get people in office that ride bikes!!

That's the only way to get some representation. Otherwise, bikers and, even more so, e-bikers will be seen as a nuisance rather than a blessing (which we all are).

Another idea I have: Somehow offer an incentive to drivers that take a bicycle safety course where they are required to commute some distance by bike. Maybe a reduction in insurance rates. I don't exactly have the answer, just an idea.
Click to expand...
I've been thinking of guerrilla campaign slogans that can be shared with cycle advocates, printed on xerox machines, and placed under car wipers at large mall parking lots. The underlying theme: "Why the Die-hard Driver supports cycling"
  • Die-hard driver knows cycle lanes never take away a car travel lane. Who takes the cycle lane? People who used to drive in front of Die-hard driver!
  • Die-hard driver knows that cyclists lock their bikes to racks. This opens up car parking spaces at places Die-hard driver likes to go
  • Die-hard driver knows that cars create potholes, not bikes. When other drivers bike, roads have fewer potholes, lowering taxes for Die-hard driver.
  • Simple supply and demand. When other drivers turn to biking, demand for gas goes down, and so does the price of gas. Die-hard driver smiles on his drive to the bank!
    The whole thing is simplistic and even a bit hypocritical. But so are most die-hard drivers, so it's a nice fit.
  • Die-hard driver would rather be T-boned by a biker running a red light than another driver in an F-150
So dear Die-hard Driver, the next time your cycling zealot friend tries to convince you to bike to work, school, etc... Play along. Tell him/her you support cycling, because at heart you do. You support cycling because it gets some cars off the road, out of your way. And with roads nearly at capacity, taking only a few cars off the road makes a big difference. Tell your cycling zealot you support their cause. Just keep our little secret... that you support the cause for purely selfish reasons!
 
NYC just calls them roadkill cleanups and moves on, no investigation required.

When it's a hit in run in a camera dense area and there are no suspects it was likely a cop(or law enforcement worker of some kind) behind the wheel.
 
I'm glad for these threads as they make me much more careful and defensive when bike riding.....by the way that bike looks like the cyclist was literally "run-over".
 
Bump, link has been updated with an arrest. Sad, sad, sad...
 
The fingers said:
Someone got caught?
Click to expand...

Well, kinda - he pretty much did all the work for 'em:

"Police officers arrested 25-year-old Alex Batista of Long Island City in Maspeth at about 11 p.m. Wednesday after discovering him lying on the street, intoxicated, next to a black Infinity he'd crashed into a building."
 
In Australia the Government have realised the worth of bikes and the tiny carbon footprint they leave so are starting to build more and more bike lanes. Not sure of the details of most of these bike/car crashes but wearing a Hi Visibility vest and a helmet would definitely save lives as would better driver education. Riding motorcycles and bikes is best done assuming that you have a target on your back and that all cars are out to get you. Riding defensively is what can save your life.
Why do women adjust their hair at traffic lights? Because they have no balls to scratch.
Much love, ride safe and Iron side up..

Floyd
 
We have the same type drivers in Atlanta always in a hurry no matter what time of day and dont mind running bikes and motorcycles to the edge of disaster, Recently a tour bus ran down a pastor who was riding his bicycle along the edge of the road, I think they put charges on the bus driver :shock: The city of Atlanta is starting to put in some bike lanes and they have app for your smart phone to track your commute and they may add bike lanes. I have about 1/4 mile of bike lane on my 10 mile commute it is a bridge over a swampy area but most of my ride is on a narrow 2 lane road with no shoulder and a lot of pot holes, this is why I chose to go with a 45 mph bike ( with 2 1/2 wide tires for pot holes) so I dont get passed so much on my ride. My wife worries every commute, I have to call her as soon as I get to work to ease her worry, but it is the best way to commute early in the morning with very few cars out you can ride and enjoy a little bit of the ebike grin. :D
 
I am a daily ebike commuter in NYC for over 4 years. Let me give you all an idea of what its like to cycle in NYC.

The NYC Ebike community:

The largest community of ebikers in NYC are chinese delivery people. They at a guess make up well over 90% of the NYC ebike population. Nobody including the law bother these guys as delivery in NYC is a massive part of just about every industry. These ebikers usualy use the bike lanes and as the average chinese ebike only goes 15 mph its no issue. In NYC cycling is a BIG deal. The average cyclist is going to do 15-20mph so the cycle traffic in the bike lanes is pretty fluid untill you add in pedestrian walkers.

Walkers:

Walkers in NYC especially Manhattanites are the most oblivious people on the face of the earth. They are all on a phone in some way all of the time. NONE of them care about walk signals or traffic. They are the absolute worst pedestrians in the country. They herd together and mindlessly follow eachother. That means if the guy in front crosses a busy street then its likely 10 people behind him on an iphone are going to at the very least take a few steps into the street. When the sidewalks get crowded these walkers move to the bike lanes. They dont understand that these lanes are no different from the lanes of traffic set aside for cars. Cycles are vehicles under law and NYC provided cycles with lanes just like cars for safety reasons. Riding a cycle of any kind on a sidewalk is against the law in the state of NY for obvious reasons. Now walkers dont see the danger in using these lanes so they ALWAYS without looking will jump in the lane or cut accross it when ever they feel like it. I have yet to commute even one day without a walker almost causing me to crash when using bike lanes. Almost every bad bike crash in NYC is in some way caused by a walker disrupting the flow of traffic.

How to Ebike safely in NYC:

After much trial and error I have it nailed down. Drive with traffic, drive with traffic, drive with traffic, drive with traffic, drive with traffic! Because walkers have ZERO respect for the law and automobiles often use the bike lanes as parking lots for taxi drop offs I have taken to driving in the city traffic. Because I am going with the flow everyone on the road can see me. I use lights front and rear all of the time and you cant miss me. I have never had a problem sense. I almost always faster then traffic as it is. Even in traffic driving like anyone on a motorcycle would my biggest threat is still a walker. I still have to worry about somone without a care trying to walk accross the most dangerous roads in the country when they are clearly not supposed to.

The solution:

Enforce the law. When people cross the street against the signals they should be fined. When they enter the bike lanes as a walking pedestrian they should be fined. Its not the cyclist or the motorist that is causing the danger its the pedestrians who refuse to obey the law and use the hundreds of millions of $$ of systems already in place to prevent an accident. I know its never going to happen because NYC caters almost entirely to a rich liberal crowd that believes the law only applies when its not in there way.. One can hope?
 
I agree jerseyebiker pedestrians here are the worst and as dependency on phone increases so has the "herd" mentality. Unfortunately for us, STATE LAW = "pedestrians in crosswalk have the right of way". Doesn't matter what color crosswalk light - if we hit 'em we're responsible! Bike lanes, not really sure about but we both know how likely that will be enforced.

Car horn will help but they're big and heavy - basically, I just slow down enough to react and try to keep moving. Yes, traffic lanes for me most of the time.
 
It's funny how you use the term "walker" to describe the pedestrians. I think it would be funny to see them portrayed like the walking dead since they're mindless and they herd together lol. I know what you mean about people walking in the bike lane. On my usual ride path it's mostly bike lane with a few no bike lane spots. In the area I live some sections only have a sidewalk part of the time and then dirt next to the shoulder. The idiots that live around here are more worried about their shoes getting a little dusty then someone my size on a fast ebike running into them. I can understand if it's a mom pushing a stroller but not your average, unconscious to the world around them dumb-ass. I live near Cal State San Bernardino and I'll cut through the school sometimes to add some hotty college girl to my scenic view. The problem at the university is they'll step right off the curb into the parking lot without even looking. On the rare occasion when one of them is paying attention, I'll stop and thank them for paying attention and allow them to cross in front of me. It's the same with the shopping center parking lots.
 
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