Thursday, June 30, 2005
High Security
Repost from eefers
Last night I attended the simultaneous memorial for four cyclists that have been killed in New York City in the past six weeks. I went to Liz Padilla's, in Park Slope, for obvious reasons--proximity being one.
The memorial was really nice...
...but did we really need four cops just to mourn?
I'll admit, they were nice enough to direct people around us while we were having our moment of silence, but I think they were really there in case we decided to riot. If only they'd pay this much attention to us while we're commuting maybe they wouldn't have to worry about us rioting.
Thanks to Jym Dyer from Time's Up for organizing and speaking at the memorial.
Last night I attended the simultaneous memorial for four cyclists that have been killed in New York City in the past six weeks. I went to Liz Padilla's, in Park Slope, for obvious reasons--proximity being one.
The memorial was really nice...
...but did we really need four cops just to mourn?
I'll admit, they were nice enough to direct people around us while we were having our moment of silence, but I think they were really there in case we decided to riot. If only they'd pay this much attention to us while we're commuting maybe they wouldn't have to worry about us rioting.
Thanks to Jym Dyer from Time's Up for organizing and speaking at the memorial.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
What You Don't Know Can Hurt You...Or Someone Else
via eefers
Riding a bicycle in New York City is like having a death wish.
Tuesday morning, a livery cab struck a 12-year-old boy on the Upper East Side, leaving him in intensive care. Police are still looking for the driver. Later that morning, 25-year-old Andrew Ross Morgan was hit and killed by a furniture delivery truck on the Lower East Side. Morgan is the fourth cyclist—we know of— in the last two months to die after being hit by an automobile.
On June 9, 28-year-old Elizabeth Padilla was killed after being run over by an ice cream delivery truck in Park Slope. The driver didn’t even know he had run over the woman until a passerby waved him down. On May 10, 21-year-old Brandie Bailey was struck and killed on Avenue A by a garbage truck, whose driver also did not know he had hit her until police tracked him down. On April 26, 59-year-old Jerome Allen was mowed down and killed by an SUV on Staten Island.
This should not be a laundry list. But according to Transportation Alternatives—a nonprofit organization working to encourage biking, walking and public transportation as an alternative to driving—in the last 10 years, a cyclist has been killed about every three weeks on a New York City Street. It’s a misconception that cycling in this city is safe, probably because these deaths are not reported. The New York Times, the only daily paper to run the story of Morgan’s unfortunate death, ran only one paragraph in the Metro Briefing. The New York Daily News and Newsday were the only two dailies to run stories on Padilla’s death, while only Newsday reported on Bailey’s. No major papers reported Allen’s death.
Word of these tragedies does make its way through the cycling community over blogs, email lists and in bike shops, but cyclists aren’t the people who need to be made aware. We know the dangers of riding on New York City Streets, and some call us crazy for still riding. Sure, some of us navigate with reckless abandon, but we are always aware of cars, even if not always aware of pedestrians. But motorists in New York City, as a rule, are simply not aware of cyclists. If every motorist knew how often these automobile vs. bicycle accidents happen, they might take a second look before making a left turn over a bike lane, throwing open the car door or even eating while driving—I was recently almost run over near the site of Padilla’s death by a truck whose driver was eating ice cream (yes, with a spoon; that requires two hands, leaving none for the steering wheel).
I’m sure bicycle deaths aren’t reported because they are so common, not because the city or the media hates cyclists, as some of my fellow riders like to claim. However, without proper coverage, motorists will continue to be oblivious to cyclists and taxi passengers will freely flail doors into bike lanes.
Short of supplying every biker in the city with “Watch out! This car almost killed a cyclist!” stickers to slap on every vehicle that cuts us off or almost doors us, a bicycle awareness campaign should be put into place, even if it’s one news outlet deciding to report on every such accident. Bike lanes are great, and the cycling community is certainly grateful for them, but they don’t do much good if motorists don’t stay out of them or at least check them before opening a car door or pulling in to double park.
Maybe if the papers started to report on every cyclist death in the city, after a while, there wouldn’t be so many to report.
Riding a bicycle in New York City is like having a death wish.
Tuesday morning, a livery cab struck a 12-year-old boy on the Upper East Side, leaving him in intensive care. Police are still looking for the driver. Later that morning, 25-year-old Andrew Ross Morgan was hit and killed by a furniture delivery truck on the Lower East Side. Morgan is the fourth cyclist—we know of— in the last two months to die after being hit by an automobile.
On June 9, 28-year-old Elizabeth Padilla was killed after being run over by an ice cream delivery truck in Park Slope. The driver didn’t even know he had run over the woman until a passerby waved him down. On May 10, 21-year-old Brandie Bailey was struck and killed on Avenue A by a garbage truck, whose driver also did not know he had hit her until police tracked him down. On April 26, 59-year-old Jerome Allen was mowed down and killed by an SUV on Staten Island.
This should not be a laundry list. But according to Transportation Alternatives—a nonprofit organization working to encourage biking, walking and public transportation as an alternative to driving—in the last 10 years, a cyclist has been killed about every three weeks on a New York City Street. It’s a misconception that cycling in this city is safe, probably because these deaths are not reported. The New York Times, the only daily paper to run the story of Morgan’s unfortunate death, ran only one paragraph in the Metro Briefing. The New York Daily News and Newsday were the only two dailies to run stories on Padilla’s death, while only Newsday reported on Bailey’s. No major papers reported Allen’s death.
Word of these tragedies does make its way through the cycling community over blogs, email lists and in bike shops, but cyclists aren’t the people who need to be made aware. We know the dangers of riding on New York City Streets, and some call us crazy for still riding. Sure, some of us navigate with reckless abandon, but we are always aware of cars, even if not always aware of pedestrians. But motorists in New York City, as a rule, are simply not aware of cyclists. If every motorist knew how often these automobile vs. bicycle accidents happen, they might take a second look before making a left turn over a bike lane, throwing open the car door or even eating while driving—I was recently almost run over near the site of Padilla’s death by a truck whose driver was eating ice cream (yes, with a spoon; that requires two hands, leaving none for the steering wheel).
I’m sure bicycle deaths aren’t reported because they are so common, not because the city or the media hates cyclists, as some of my fellow riders like to claim. However, without proper coverage, motorists will continue to be oblivious to cyclists and taxi passengers will freely flail doors into bike lanes.
Short of supplying every biker in the city with “Watch out! This car almost killed a cyclist!” stickers to slap on every vehicle that cuts us off or almost doors us, a bicycle awareness campaign should be put into place, even if it’s one news outlet deciding to report on every such accident. Bike lanes are great, and the cycling community is certainly grateful for them, but they don’t do much good if motorists don’t stay out of them or at least check them before opening a car door or pulling in to double park.
Maybe if the papers started to report on every cyclist death in the city, after a while, there wouldn’t be so many to report.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
- FIRST POST
According to EEFERS, she heard word through Brooklyn Critical Mass list that another cyclist was killed today. According to Jim Dyer, Brooklyn bicyclist Andrew Ross Morgan, 25, was killed by a truck in Manhattan on Houston near Elizabeth today. As we find out more details we will post them.
