NYPD Launches Crackdown Amid Spike in Cyclists Deaths

[OldCrank]

I've read that pedestrians and cyclists are much more likely to die from a SUV/pickup impact than a sedan.
Makes sense.

Imagine a Corvette smacking you; your shins and knees may pay dearly but the torso may slide up the hood, break the windshield then over the top. A cement truck will hit your entire self with a cube of non-forgiving metal. Then roll over the top of what remains.

Guess we need more Lambos, Vettes, Ferraris... RX-7s and 8s... Miatas...

[jtbadge]

Originally Posted by OldCrank

I've read that pedestrians and cyclists are much more likely to die from a SUV/pickup impact than a sedan.
Makes sense.

Imagine a Corvette smacking you; your shins and knees may pay dearly but the torso may slide up the hood, break the windshield then over the top. A cement truck will hit your entire self with a cube of non-forgiving metal. Then roll over the top of what remains.

Guess we need more Lambos, Vettes, Ferraris... RX-7s and 8s... Miatas...

On top of that, driving a big vehicle with soft suspension isolates you from the road. Many people are paying less attention because they aren't connected to the road they are driving on and the car doesn't need very much input. Most newer cars have less visibility than ever before, so people can't see who or what is around them. And cars have better noise dampening than every before, so people can't hear who or what is around them.

More 90s Civics and Corollas, I think would help. Less infotainment. Less living room interiors.

[benb]

The thing about gentrification might be some kind of backhanded criticism of cycling as some kind of gentrification activity even though it costs tons less than cars. Anti-bike people love to play the card that everyone riding a bike is an idle rich person and hardworking people stick to cars.

As for the bike lanes.. the studies keep showing they are way more dangerous at intersections.. but they make new cyclists feel safer, so they increase travel on bikes... so it'd make sense you're going to see an uptick in collisions at intersections in particular.

We keep seeing absolutely spectactularly odd bike lanes getting created here. Stuff like making a 2-way bike lane in the middle of a one-way street that has car parking on the other side of the bike lane. Or bike lanes that make people ride down highway ramps and then cross the ramp at a 90 degree angle so they don't have to signal and take the lane. These are brand new road changes.. not ancient bike lanes from when no one had a clue.

[benb]

Only thing with getting hit by a Vette vs an SUV or truck that I can see is the short pointy sports car is going to hit you in the knees mostly and knock you up onto the hood/roof of the car.

The SUV is more going to just launch you.

I was hit by a pickup truck about 8 years ago. It was not going very fast and hit me from the side. I was not really injured at all... it hit me evenly across most of my body (knees/hips/legs/arms/torso). I got launched a decent distance.

I have always wondered if it'd have been worse to get hit by a low car and have had all the force delivered to my knee area.. my guess is I'd have been hurt worse.

This is why European road standards forced the front end of cars to be more blocky/less pointy some years ago IIRC... we don't even notice it now but it was really noticeable when it first happened.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by benb

The thing about gentrification might be some kind of backhanded criticism of cycling as some kind of gentrification activity even though it costs tons less than cars. Anti-bike people love to play the card that everyone riding a bike is an idle rich person and hardworking people stick to cars.

As for the bike lanes.. the studies keep showing they are way more dangerous at intersections.. but they make new cyclists feel safer, so they increase travel on bikes... so it'd make sense you're going to see an uptick in collisions at intersections in particular.

We keep seeing absolutely spectactularly odd bike lanes getting created here. Stuff like making a 2-way bike lane in the middle of a one-way street that has car parking on the other side of the bike lane. Or bike lanes that make people ride down highway ramps and then cross the ramp at a 90 degree angle so they don't have to signal and take the lane. These are brand new road changes.. not ancient bike lanes from when no one had a clue.

Cuz vast majority of 'transportation engineers' don't ride a bike..

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by benb

Only thing with getting hit by a Vette vs an SUV or truck that I can see is the short pointy sports car is going to hit you in the knees mostly and knock you up onto the hood/roof of the car.

The SUV is more going to just launch you.

I was hit by a pickup truck about 8 years ago. It was not going very fast and hit me from the side. I was not really injured at all... it hit me evenly across most of my body (knees/hips/legs/arms/torso). I got launched a decent distance.

I have always wondered if it'd have been worse to get hit by a low car and have had all the force delivered to my knee area.. my guess is I'd have been hurt worse.

This is why European road standards forced the front end of cars to be more blocky/less pointy some years ago IIRC... we don't even notice it now but it was really noticeable when it first happened.

Depends..I got hit from behind by a Dodge Dakota..like one below and I got launched up and over, hit my face on her windshield..She hit me square in the arse(had the grill mark on my butt)..and ended up on her hood, that woke her up(yup, asleep at 10:30 on a Sat morning)...

Friend took a look at her truck(I never saw it)..said it looked like it hit a tree..totaled it..

[zap]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Cuz vast majority of 'transportation engineers' don't ride a bike..

Last year I invited two dot traffic engineers to ride with me so they could experience first hand certain design failures.

Guess how that went.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by zap

Last year I invited two dot traffic engineers to ride with me so they could experience first hand certain design failures.

Guess how that went.

I can imagine, was this the guy?

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

I can imagine, was this the guy?

Prolly.

New York City has a lengthy review process for bike lanes. They go through the community boards and there are multiple public hearings. Now, it *is* possible that no one in any of those situations rides a bike. BUT, cyclists are always welcome to attend. Transportation Alternatives keeps tabs on which community boards have meetings when for bike lanes.

In addition, city planners visit other cities and countries to figure out what works. They are starting to put a Danish styled "green wave" in Brooklyn. https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/10...e-safety-plan/

The process is byzantine, but not opaque.

The out of city drivers in NY are a problem as are delivery trucks. The laws change as soon as you drive into the city (No right on red, 25mph max on non-highways), so getting from A to B requires paying attention, which a lot of people don't do.

[fiamme red]

A man on a Citi Bike was hit by an NYU bus this past weekend on the new 14th St busway. He was in bad shape.

Is it even legal to ride on 14th St? The DOT plan doesn't say anything about bikes, which is odd.

[tctyres]

According to the NYC bikemap, https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/b...bikemaps.shtml
14th has a conventional bike lane for part of it and is otherwise sharrow-ed in the westbound direction.

With buses, cyclists always have to be very careful as they have large blind spots and are slow to stop.

[yinzerniner]

Since it's pro wrestler Matt Travis:

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/11/...led-this-year/

This isn't some "hipster" messenger, or some clueless Citi Biker, or any other range of denizens the NYPD seems to regard as lesser beings because they ride on two wheels. This is a guy who was making a name for himself in as hazardous a sport that exists on earth, who without a doubt had many fans amongst the boys in blue, and who was struck by a hit and run dump truck that made an illegal turn.

[tctyres]

What happened to the 27th? The 26th was 10 days ago on the 2nd.
This is nuts.

[johnmdesigner]

My favorite entertainment while on the morning dumper. The New York Post.

https://nypost.com/2019/11/11/nypd-b...-court-papers/

And this:

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/11/...-into-cyclist/

[tctyres]

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/11/...n-over-cyclist

Another one