As of Monday, though, after more than five months and five million trips, none of the program’s riders have been killed on the bikes. About two dozen injuries, most of them minor, have been reported.
Last year, according to the city’s Transportation Department, 18 cyclists were killed in car crashes from January through October, compared with 10 so far this year, though citywide, cyclist injuries have remained consistent. There was one cyclist death this year in the neighborhoods served by the bike-share program, in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, though the cyclist was not riding a Citi Bike. Over the same period last year, there were two bike deaths in these areas.
And while sidewalk cyclists, red-light-running cyclists and “salmoning” cyclists — those who ride against traffic — remain a daily scourge for many New York pedestrians, no one has been killed by a cyclist in the city since 2009.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Noted
From The New York Times today on the Citi Bikes bike-rental program:
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21 comments:
The NYT's can publish Bloomberg's propaganda, but I know what I see on the street everyday.
You see cyclists killed on the street every day?
So it's proven that a citibike seat is the safest place in New York. Next hurricane, head for the wheels!
I've seen several serious CitiBike accidents requiring ambulances due to serious injuries, yet once again Blloomberg is using Bernie Madoff accounting methods just to make himself look good.
Just wait, this article is like that jinx that happens every time someone says something like this, the next minute things look very different. As the optimist said just as the Titanic was sinking, "At least we were in first class."
Yeah, I'm with anon 7:20 PM
No matter what; everything wrong in this city is because of cyclists. YES, EVERYTHING.
Every single thing…
Every
Single
Thinggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
Hey Anon 7:20: Please cite the figure of how many people cyclists have killed in the last year. Thank you.
9:09PM, wth!? No one ever said cycling is the cause of our city's woes. Way to be hyperbolic.
Regardless of whether the bike share program has or hasn't had any serious injuries or deaths one thing is for certain, there are a sick amount of bikes on the streets these days and speaking as a person that drives a car in the city somewhat regularly it's a major distraction. My policy now is when I'm driving not so much on the avenues but definitely on the streets I'm doing max 25mph. There's just too much shit going on. If you want to cheer, jump, and shout about how great the bike program is and how it has further congested the streets of NYC, you have fun with that….
Man, when I read no one has been killed by a cyclist in the city since 2009 I think just one thing: slackers!
You won't find that kind of shenanigans from motor vehicle traffic, no sir.
There were 274 motor vehicle related fatalities in 2012, distributed as 148 pedestrians, 18 cyclists, 35 motorcyclists, and 73 motor vehicle occupants.
Damn bicycles!
New York is the only city in world where streets in its core are like freeways. Fortunately we have the capacity to change...
Great to hear that a motorist has slowed down when driving in the city - as the NYPD has shown that they are basically uninterested in enforcing driving laws (apart from the occasional seat belt or cell phone infraction at a convenient corner in order to meet their quotas) something else had to change to make this city safer for the MAJORITY of people who don't sit on their fat asses to get around.
Bring on more bikes, making it less pleasant and efficient for single car occupants and therefore safer for cyclists, pedestrians and other drivers.
Win-win.
I was working on my "parody voice", but Billsville one up'd me.
Truthiness prevails!
7:20PM
Anon 10:58: Your car is a distraction. In a city of 8 million people, it takes a really selfish person to resent others for seeking out alternative forms of transportation, when you yourself occupy far more space with your car than you deserve.
Anon 10.58: One more thing. Bikes are a distraction from what? From texting while driving? From speeding up to blow through yellow / red lights? I'm so sorry you're so distracted by having to finally be more careful on the road. It sucks that all these cyclists and pedestrians inconvenience you so.
Do these stats include the selfish homicial bicyclists FLYING on the sidewalks? Does it include the ILLEGAL motorized bicycles? Do these stats take into account the elderly this are scared to walk on the SIDEWALKS?
Please, this is all BS.
Bicycle LAnes need tobe monitoed by NYPD. Bicyclists need to be licensed and enforced.
I doubt our new pseudo-lefty mayor will take note or care.
Nor will the Horrible 'people' at Transportation Alternatives.
...walking a friend home this morning -- a friend who had just had eye surgery -- someone just had to pass us on his bike -- on the sidewalk. How do you respond to something like that? You can't -- they are already down the street.
"when you yourself occupy far more space with your car than you deserve."
Who the HELL do you think you are? If someone wants to own a car it's their RIGHT, you psychotic. Who are YOU to choose for people what mode of transportation they should use?
Anon 12:00 PM,
There is certain kind of insecurity among some bicyclists, like religion, that makes them feel they are better than people who choose not to ride a bike. The bikes didn't grow out of the ground. Industrial processes were used. And that rubber in the tire comes from petroleum, the holier than thou thing gets tiring. What is not being addressed is that Bloomberg created 2 roads, it used to be you watched traffic once when you crossed the street, now you have 2 roads, the same for the cars, they put a road on the right side where there never was one before. I infrequently drive, and almost took a cyclist when turning left, the cyclist screamed at me because he certainly wasn't going to slow down even if it was for his own safety. I've witnessed cyclists purposely take out pedestrians. Ok, that was only once but I know I'll see it again if I watch. red lights are signals to veer around or through pedestrians.
@nygrump - Do you really never see drivers who fly through red lights, fail to stop at stop signs, fail to yield to pedestrians or other vehicles who have right of way, or even purposely speed towards a pedestrian to show them that they had better not try to cross before that car passes?
Or is it that you think those things are all "OK" because they are so commonplace?
I ask because I see these things every day on my walks around the neighborhood and to and from the subway that I use to commute to work. I'm sure that I am not the only person in this city who can see such things occurring without legal penalty to the drivers of those vehicles.
Anon 12:00 pm: You're so amusing. Driving is a privilege, not a right. Show me please in the Constitution, where it says you have the RIGHT to steal space from others because you're too insecure to use public transit.
This city is changing and finally recognizing that we need to have various transportation options, including safe cycling routes. I feel sorry for bitter people like Anon 12:00 and recommend you work on your emotions, because you'll get a heart attack with all the new safe street redesigns that are coming up.
As the commenter at 7:11 pm points out, people have sadly gotten used to motorists breaking the rules and endangering all of us daily. NYPD does not enforce traffic (close to no moving violations, as documented by Streetsblog and Gothamist), but they should. When they ticket both drivers and cyclists who disobey the rules, we can talk about safety. But raising alarm about some cyclists who break the law, when motorists do so, putting us pedestrians at far greater risk, and suffer no consequences, is disingenuous.
Now that's success! No one killed yet! woo hoo!
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