I am a daily commuter biker and use the recently installed protected bike lanes that the article cites: 52nd and 55th Streets. The eastbound 52nd street protected bike lane, while well-intended, did not account for the many food trucks adjacent to the bike lane between 6th and 7th Avenues. Akin to the hazard of pedestrians appearing out of nowhere from behind parked cars only to emerge into the bike lane, people place/pay for their lunch orders while standing in the bike lane. This is a recipe for disaster. The city should consider moving the food trucks to the north side of 52nd St or to a neighboring street that lacks a bike lane.
13
The picture says it all. The bicyclist is in the bike lane where he is supposed to be. The doormen are literally standing in the bike lane, smiling, oblivious to the danger they have created for the bicyclist. Then they have the nerve to complain.
If a person recklessly stood in the middle of the road, smiling and oblivious to the car traffic around them, I think the clear reaction would be, "Get out of the road, man! You're putting yourself, and the cars in danger!"
Things have changed, there are more bikes on the road and bike lanes have been installed -- yet these doormen and drivers continue to act as if they haven't. The bikers are here. Respect their lanes and respect the bikers as you would any other traffic.
We have to share the road. You can not do whatever you like and blame the bikers for everything. Wishing bikers away doesn't change the fact they they have rights too.
26
I was hit by a bike when crossing, with the light, at 57th and Mad. I grabbed his handlebars and yelled in his face, "Watch where you're going!!!" He looked surprised and rode off. That was ten years ago. The problem has only gotten worse. Bike lanes, as they exist, don't work. We need laws and enforcement.
13
This is a dog-eat-dog city, and pedestrians are at the bottom of the food chain. Trucks and buses bully cars, cars bully bicyclists and bicyclists bully pedestrians.
Personally, as I spend most of my life as a pedestrian, my sympathies lie with me.
I am tired of hearing bicyclists whine about how they are endangered by motor vehicles - while every day I see bike riders drive through red lights, weave at high speeds through groups of pedestrians crossing with the light in crosswalks, and generally ignore the safety of those further down the food chain.
Several months ago, I witnessed a woman on a bike scream, “Watch out for the bike lane!” at a driver who was taking a left
turn on 51st in front of her as she was proceeding straight ahead on First Avenue. At the next block, she proceeded straight through a red light as people in the crosswalk walked across her illegal path. I screamed, “Watch out for pedestrians!” at her. She turned and smiled, no doubt realizing her hypocrisy.
I have seen ebikes running at high speeds down sidewalks, and bicyclists simply ignoring all traffic rules (which I know apply to them as well as the trucks, buses
and cars they so vociferously complain about).
The internet has taught us that anonymity brings out the worst impulses in a large minority of the population. I say license bicyclists, register bicycles and start to ticket these Cossacks on two wheels.
31
Boston is a total mess with Bikers. They have no regard whatsoever for the law of the roads. They go thru red lights, brush past or nick Pedestrians who are crossing on a crosswalk or green walk light and ride on busy sidewalks. Police ignore these infractions as does our Mayor.
12
Scene: Amsterdam and 65th.
Time: Recent Wednesday, 7:35 p.m. It is dark.
Dramatis personae: Me (on foot), delivery guy on e-bike, commuter on pedal-power bike.
I am on the NW corner of the intersection, about to cross the street, from the west side of Amsterdam to the east. There is a bike lane on the west side of the avenue. I have the light, step off the curb, and stop dead, to let the northbound commuter run the light and pass in front of me. I look south to make sure the coast is clear. I step off the curb again.
WHOOSH! "I got you!" a delivery guy on an e-bike, going a good 25 mph downtown (the wrong way, against traffic) screams as he swerves around me. He misses me by inches.
I hereby make this vow: IF I am hit by a bike ridden the wrong way, AND if I survive, I will get up with my last bit of strength, and wring the neck of that bicyclist. That is my promise to you.
27
bicyclists can start obeying the rules of traffic in general then we can talk about their lanes
24
i'm not against bike lanes in nyc but how they'er being implemented is a joke! this attempt to make nyc a berlin or amsterdam is insane! we've had bike lanes in sunnyside queens for over a year now and not many use them mainly delivery people and rambo millennials! also it impedes firetrucks which have difficulty making turns on & off skillman ave! and in spite of having bike lanes you still see bikes going the wrong way, running the red light and often flying down the street in insane fashion! yes bike lanes are good but where they make sense and most of all bicyclists should be held accountable to the same rules of the road that motorists are! nyc it ain't amsterdam and never will be! sorry bloomberg & deblasio!!
5
Hahaha. I look at the photo illustration. A person riding a bike in a 3-foot bike lane next to approximately 40-feet of street allocated for motor vehicles. Then I read the text "But one consequence of the proliferation of bike lanes is an increasingly crowded streetscape." Hahaha. I think you missed the bull in the china shop.
19
I love the use of passive voice here:
"There have been 194 deaths on the streets so far this year caused by drivers ..."
I would edit this to say "Drivers killed 194 people on city streets this year ..."
18
The climate here in NYC really is not suitable for biking year round. My observation is that the bike lanes are mostly empty and a bit trash strewn. When they are up hemmed up against the curb I think they are treacherous for both cyclists and pedestrians. I think it’s a good way for politicians to pander and it’s a cheap “fix”.
9
I walk by the St. Regis and the Peninsula Hotels some times on the way to work. I'm amazed at the stupidity of this city to put a bike lane in front of any hotel where visitors are dropped off or step into cars. A little common sense by the DOT would be nice here since many bikers don't seem to have any to begin with. And yes, common sense would mean wearing a helmet if you're riding a bike!
10
SUVs need to be outlawed. They are grotesquely wasteful, toxic to the planet, dangerous to pedestrians, and obscene consumers of space. There would be a lot less tension between cyclists and pedestrians if people faced these facts and grew up.
15
Please note the sewer grate in 2nd photo. It takes up 3/4 of the bike lane and the direction of the grating makes it unsafe for bike tires.
15
As a frequent cyclist, it irks me to no end when I see a cyclist being a jerk. When a cyclist does something stupid, it's a reflection on me. So, when I see the area in front of the hotel where people are likely to getting in and out of cabs, I would hope that a cyclist would ride slowly thru that area. Any cyclist zipping thru there deserves to be taken out. Just because there's a bike lane there does not mean you can have total disregard for others.
Now, when it comes to drivers opening their doors without looking - definite fine.
13
Remove parking on the street. It is a street, not a parking lot. Private vehicles should either pay for off street parking or stay out of manhattan. That a lane of space is given up to parked cars is stupid.
A note to all you doormen, your building does not own the area in front of it, stop acting like it does.
19
I regularly cycle along 44 St past the Algonquin Hotel. The real hazard there are the Uber/Lyft cars parked in the bike lane waiting for their fares. Cyclists are forced into the traffic despite having the bike lane. Why should our lives be put at risk every day by these cars blocking the path?
18
Road cyclist here....
If NYC has a law that cars must yield to pedestrians then cyclists, who are usually considered vehicles, must yield to pedestrians as well. Even if the crosswalk is from a cab to the entrance of a hotel. Slow the heck down, the injury you prevent could be your own.
Likewise, pedestrians who step out into a lane of traffic should exercise due care - whether it's a car lane or cycling lane. Look both ways - the injury you prevent could be your own.
There would seem to be fault on all sides here and both sides need to put down their phones, pay attention and obey traffic laws.
13
Another 3 year-old in a stroller was killed yesterday by the driver of a huge Ford F-250 pickup. Pedestrians killed by drivers of cars is strangely accepted by most as the cost of doing business. But you are far more likely to be killed or seriously injured by a driver in a car or truck than by a bicycle. That is an undeniable truth.
Pedestrians and cyclists are competing with each other for the precious leftovers, due to the fact that most public space has been ceded to cars and the storage of cars (AKA parking).
Just look at the street pictured and you will notice first the gigantic SUV. Look closer and you see parked cars taking up huge amount of the remainder.
Are there bad-acting cyclists? Yes, and many tickets actually are issued by NYPD. 16,000 tickets were given to cyclists.
15
This story is focused on a pro bike perspective. Where is the concern about the elderly, the children, the pedestrians who now face th hazard of bicylists who difiantly flout regulation? Cyclists also meaning delivery people blthely ride the wromg way because it is more convenient, closer, riding through red lights, turning wherever they please creating tremendous hazards for pedestrians. All this while the police look on without making a single gesture to stop these flagrant violations. Cyclists are not angels without restraints. They do not rule the road and that should be brought home with force. i.e. registrations, tickets, lawsuits, etc. Let it be as iunconvenient as it has been for my sister-in-law with a deep slash in her leg or my friend with a triple fracture of her right (dominant) arm.
20
I don't like cyclists and i hate the new bike lanes. I don't like cars either and would be delighted if 80% of manhattan roadway were dedicated to pedestrian traffic and we invested in public transportation infrastructure.
But if we are going to leave New York so that public transportation is still seen as just a second best alternative, we need to decide if we want to do the car thing or the bike thing because there just isn't enough space to let both means of transportation flourish. If we are going to do the bike thing we need to eliminate streetside parking at the very minimum, put bike lanes everywhere and make the cyclists actually obey the rules. That means the foreign non-English-speaking deliverymen too.
If we are going to do the car thing then the bike lanes are ridiculous and dangerous.
6
The vision zero campaign in NYC has done a disservice to bicyclists and pedestrians by blaming everything on the cars. And then letting pedestrians rail on the bikers. Cars are a problem and can be deadly, and there are bad egg bicyclists too, BUT pedestrians in NYC are downright reckless, consistently.
I used to be a bike messenger in Manhattan, I bike all 5 boros for fun, and I Citi bike short trips all the time -- people walk into the bike lane, use the bike lane like a sidewalk, cross bike lanes and lanes of traffic without looking even for a second. Many are on their phones but many are simply walking without thinking. It should be: step off the curb and you need to on high alert in NYC, that's just the way it is and that makes it safer for everyone.
13
In articles like this we often see statistics comparing the relatively low number of pedestrian fatalities caused by bicyclists to the higher number caused by cars and trucks. But what we never hear about are the statistics of the numbers of pedestrians who are INJURED by bicyclists.
I think this would make a most interesting and relevant NY Times article. Are these statistics on record? How many were hit and runs? Who pays for the medical bills? Should bicycle riders in NYC be required to carry liability insurance?
15
@Old Yeller Agreed. I was knocked into the street by a biker who rammed into me from behind--on the sidewalk!
He was about half my age, (I'm a middle-aged woman)on a racer bike who, when I yelled that he should never have been riding the sidewalk said "I was hurt, too." It took weeks for me to heal and I was lucky I didn't land on my head.
12
"There have been 194 deaths on the streets so far this year caused by drivers" the article reports. How is the determination made that the deaths have been caused by drivers?
I regularly see pedestrians and bike riders, dressed all in black, with no lights of reflectors on the bikes, in the street. Many city streets are lit well enough to see these people but some are not. Whose fault is it when a ninja is struck? Whose fault is it when someone steps in front of a motor vehicle?
And why don't the police issue summonses when unlicensed motor cycles (that is what the electric bikes are) are operated with neither registration or motorcycle license?
Why don't bike riders wear helmets?
6
The problem lies on the cyclists..,who ignore traffic lights, delivery men reading their next destination on iphones,.I look both ways when crossing the street,with the light in my favor, and still have had to dash when a cyclist appears against the light,or going the wrong way.
NY must institute laws requiring a license, and a bold identifying restaurant name as well as telephone # for private and commercial cyclists.so we can report them to the Police. We might consider Cycle Police, who patrol. and hand out tickets.
I'm about ready to carry a long stick, so I can jam the wheels of the next cyclist that almost kills me.
13
The place to play dodge-ball with bikes is Amsterdam! People on bikes there ride full speed in all directions and there are hundreds of thousands of them! You can't move in any direction without looking all around you because of the bikes.
2
As a Dutchman, Amsterdammer and very experienced city cyclist i quickly found out the problem in NYC lies not with cyclists but with cars and pedestrians who simply don't watch out. I also found out the cycle lane is about the unsafest place to be for a cyclist in NY. It seems car mirrors are a primarily a fashion accesory for NY drivers, they just don't use them. As for looking over your shoulder when taking a turn, something that's second nature to Dutch drivers, i never saw anyone do that. They do stop for crossing pedestrians, they just totally ignore the cyclist. NYC, or at least Manhattan, could be a very nice place to cycle. Dedicate one of your 11 avenues to the bicycle, one avenue where people can move about in a healthy way without being poisened by traffic fumes, it would make NYC an even greater place to live and work.
14
@Thijs4419 Amsterdam is half as dense as New York City (13000 per square mile vs 27000). It gets much less precipitation (33 inches vs 49). Unlike Amsterdam, the temperature in New York regularly falls below freezing in the winter time while in the summer, the high is 84 degrees against 71 in Amsterdam, which is basically room temperature. Amsterdam also has canals which, thanks to bridges, are not obstructed by pedestrians, cyclists or drivers. If you get rid of traffic on one of the 11 avenues, you aren't just getting rid of cars, you're getting rid of buses, trucks, and ambulances. And as for fumes, because we Americans prefer gasoline to diesel, we don't have much of those.
Long story short: New York City will never have a Dutch style cycling culture, ever.
9
A bike lane does not depend on laughable levels of subsidy, spew pollution from under-used vehicles or become a hostage of a massive construction effort for years before use or a transit union after use. They are simply the best commuting infrastructure value there is for taxpayers. This does not mean they are perfect or instantly adjusted to by the public, but we do not have the option to implement perfect.
12
My proposal, which follows the arguments for making something like marijuana legal, is simple and accepting of reality to enact a law that states:
"Persons operating a 2 or 3 wheeled vehicle motivated by the operator's and/or passenger's body, with or without power assist, are exempt from all statutes, regulation, and laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and shall not be liable for any injury or damage resulting from said operation. When not in use said vehicles can be left or parked anywhere. "
Nothing would change, bicycles would still be ridden on the sidewalks, in the streets, in bike lanes, on walking paths, in parks, across private property, through crosswalks, up one way streets, on the wrong side of the road, through red lights, and operators will be bring their bike on the train or into buildings even when not allowed. They could be locked to anything. They can be left to block doors and entryways. Operators wouldn't have to stop for the stop signs on bike paths where they intersect streets. They can be blithely operated right across the road ignoring the "dismount and walk your bicycle" signs. And, naturally, they can be operated with complete disregard for any speed limits.
It would be the same, just that those of us who feel indignant would be relieved of that burden since they are now doing so legally. And when bicyclists race along the cross walk screaming at people to get out of their way we will understand the error in our ways.
6
That bike lane in front of a busy hotel, is a lane I would never use, as a cyclist I would rather take the car lane.
2
Only 45% of New York households own a car. A lot of those don't get used everyday. The vast majority of New Yorkers walk, bike and take the subway to get to work and shops.
It's past time to take back the public streets for all people, not just the privileged few that drive. Ban the big SUVs from the city. No reason to have them in an Urban environment.
10
@Stephen The number of New Yorkers who bike to work is a lot lower than the already small number of drive.
6
@Stephen Also, streets have never been for people, they were first for horse drawn carriages, then for streetcars, now for cars plus buses, trucks, and ambulances.
8
@Will — check historical records — of course streets were originally for pedestrians along with horse drawn carriages and the like. Welcome back to Earth.
1
To quote Chris Browne from the Department of Transportation, "55th and 52nd street were chosen because it was able to squeeze in a bike lane without taking away a travel lane or parking lane" is a lie. 52nd Street lost a parking lane on the eastern ends past 3rd avenue and in the 5 months since, my doorman witnessed a cab door hit and completely cleaned off by a truck.
Clearly, the NYC DoT wasn't very diligent in their research, nor statements.
7
In Copenhagen we shake our heads and laugh overbearingly, when tourists walk out in the bike lane. But even though it all seems caotic during rush hour, the traffic flow and overall safety is mostly unproblematic.
This is a just another way to commute and when it's not new and exotic anymore, people will be more careful and signs will no longer be necessary. It's a question of habit and propagation.
In my city, we have been bicycling for decades, CEO's, students and retired citizens. Some people just can't be dragged out of the car, but everyone acknowledges that the bicycles benefits urban transportion, air quality, public health and so on.
So get on the bike and take care of each other out there on the streets and bikelanes.
16
@Mads
Actually in New York City, people rely heavily on mass transit - subways and buses - and walking.
In Manhattan, relatively few people drive cars.
However, there is much traffic congestion due to Uber, construction vehicles, delivery trucks, service (plumbing, elevator) vehicles and tour buses.
2
@Mads Copenhagen doesn't have weather like the US East Coast.
This all comes down to human nature, as most things do. Let's be perfectly honest: most bicyclists in the city (and in most suburbs as well) are too aggressive and many believe they have the right-of-way. Most people who frequent high-end hotels are entitled, demanding and selfish: they believe that they have the right-of-way. It should therefore come as no surprise that with neither side willing to relinquish their space without a challenge, someone's gonna get hurt. My heart bleeds for yet another first-world problem in the billionaire's paradise that is New York City.
11
So the city is promoting bicycles because they'll supposedly reduce congestion, even if the infrastructure that is required to accommodate them winds up inconveniencing the 98% of New Yorkers who don't bike.
Let's follow up on this logic. Helicopters don't take up any space on the roads, and getting more people to use them would reduce traffic. Who cares that they are a little noisy?
6
The bike people think they don't have to stop for pedestrians - it's a simple as that.
25
@Joe This i also my experience in Seattle. The bicycle lobby puts up signs about motorists being careful of bicyclists. But cyclists need to think about pedestrians.
13
What is it about bicyclists?
Biking is healthy, energizing and eco-friendly, but U.S. bicyclists include in their ranks some of the most entitled people on the face of the earth.
I have observed that U.S. bicyclists frequently fail to follow the rules of the road, weave unsafely through moving traffic and fail to make way or slow for runners and pedestrians on shared pathways. To top it all off, inconsiderate bikers proceed to berate others for their own safety violations or rudeness.
I’m therefore not surprised that bicyclists are finding it hard to peacefully coexist with doormen, valet parkers, pedestrians and vehicles in New York City.
To inconsiderate bikers: that you are eco-conscious and physically fit does not atone for your smugness, intolerance and lack of concern for others.
23
@ANetliner Actually, it's not just in the US. In Britain, complaints about cyclists are just as common.
6
@Will— thanks! I have appreciated the bikers and bicycle lanes in Amsterdam and didn’t want to overgeneralize.
Manhattan curb footage is likely the most contested and fluid real estate in the nation. Municipal regulations that are enforced, education, and common courtesy combined with continued growth of urban cycling are necessary to keep all users of the curb safe and going about their business.
Aggressive cyclists who don't account for close quarters - as described on 55th street - need to chill. Pedestrians - the most vulnerable - need to be seen and to look up off their screens to protect themselves. Motorists need also to pay full attention to their job one: driving safely. No user of the urban public way gets to have it all their way.
New York works for pedestrians because of history and density. The transit ecosystem has been upended a bit by the wider-spread use of bikes. Thoughtful municipal leadership will continue to seek smart solutions based on metrics. The Dutch example is worth more than a glance.
3
What's with all the deference to bicyclists?
Walkers should always have the right of way.
We don't have the weather, or the lifestyle, that Europeans have--and we can thank our consumer culture and the automobile industry for that.
Limited transportation dollars should be going to transportation that all can use.
16
I'm a bicyclist. I ride everywhere within a 2 mile radius of home (then use public). Also, I always obey the traffic rules. One of those is that bikes must yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks. There is a well marked crosswalk in front of the Peninsula Hotel, with "yield" icons (as well as the sign posted buy the hotel).
I wonder what fraction of bike-pedestrian collisions are caused by delivery people, forced by their employers to ride as fast as possible to earn a living wage.
On the other hand ...
Looking at the lead photo for this article, I see a pedestrian standing in the bike lane. Who'd be at fault if he were to be hit?
9
@Darth Vader If you are a cyclist in NYC and you obey all the traffic rules, you are by *far* in the minority. As a pedestrian I feel more endangered by bikes than by cars because it's so rare for cyclists to stop at red lights.
22
@Darth Vader I tell you what, Darth, cyclists have an obligation to be mindful of where they are going. If the pedestrian was crossing a bike lane with the light I’d bet the cyclist would speed up and zip by just missing the pedestrian or maybe no just to show him who is boss.
If you follow the rules, you are an exception.
13
@Darth Vader
The pedestrian standing in the bike lane shouldn't be hit. Like an auto, a bike should come to a stop to avoid hitting the pedestrian. That was simple.
12
As a pedestrian and outdoor runner, not a day goes by that I don't witness some infraction of cycling rules -- primarily: cyclists on the sidewalks, cyclists out of the bike lanes, cyclists riding against traffic, and cyclists disobeying red lights. I would sympathize more with cyclists if I didn't trust them less than motorists as far as my safety. In the meantime, I have no idea why the police or DOT can't step up enforcement of cycling rules. People may not be so willing to cycle past a red light if they know there's a good chance of being stopped and ticketed the same way a car would.
23
@BN, as a runner and pedestrian you have far more to fear from car drivers than bicyclists. The statistics are plain to see.
6
@BN As a cyclist and a pedestrian, I see even more infractions by pedestrians than by cyclists. People seem to think that pedestrians should be given carte blanche to do whatever they want, but cyclists are very vulnerable to accidents caused by pedestrian arrogance or carelessness. That’s why I feel about pedestrians the way you feel about cyclists. Look at all of the people, including doormen, standing in the bike lanes in the pictures accompanying this article! It’s rude, dangerous, and illegal I hope. I also believe that cyclists should always yield to pedestrians and cars when they don’t have the right of way, but should also be able to expect the same in return.
1
New York really needs a system of grade separated pedestrian walkways, like Minneapolis' Skyway or Toronto's PATH. You'd all but eliminate pedestrian collisions, give a much wider space for walking, and shelter pedestrians from the elements.
Not necessarily, what about people who are struck by bicycles and suffer severe injuries- maybe not immediate death- where are those stats? I know a person struck by a bike in Park Slope and suffered irreparable brain impairment. The bicyclist just continued on her way after it happened. The bicyclist was liable and is a vehicle and insurance should be required.
3
Maybe with global warming Minneapolis and Toronto won’t need the Skyways any longer
My wife and I had a wonderful lunch a few weeks back at La Bone Soupe just west of the Peninsula. As we left I noticed a biker going at full speed in the biker lane. It was as if he felt this was his airport runway and if he was cleared he needn’t worry about anyone getting in his runway.
I am a strong believer in the bike lanes, but I also believe that, like every motor lane there should be a speed limit and the drivers in both should give rights of way. PB
10
We need to support more cycling, so we can have fewer cars. Bikes need protected lanes. But these lanes have made streets more confusing for pedestrians because there is now another traffic lane on the curb side of the parking lane. I'm not sure the solution but we need to protect both pedestrians and cyclists.
3
@Keith New York doesn't need protected lanes. It doesn't need to spend billions of dollars to encourage an impractical and dangerous method of transportation while inconveniencing those who go by bus or car.
6
@Will Your view that cycling is impractical and dangerous is simply wrong. I’ve been riding to work for over 20 years by bike. Cars and busses have benefited from taxpayer-funded subsidies for years, we can and should afford to pay for infrastructure for non-polluting transportation modes.
So sorry that your selfishness is inconvenienced.
11
@Christopher - " Cars and busses have benefited from taxpayer-funded subsidies for years,"
Let's see cars, trucks, and buses pay fuel taxes at both state and federal level. And then there are tolls. They also pay registration fees. And depending on where you live likely some sort of annual tax or fee.
Who is paying for the bike lanes? Who is being subsidized by all the motor vehicle and fuel taxes? Who (selfishly?) wants part of the infrastructure that was built and paid for in part with said fees and taxes on motor vehicles?
2
This is a fascinating topic actually. There seems to be an article every week on the turf wars among pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. On this particular issue though, my first thoughts are that if these hotels can charge $5,000 a night, they can afford to redesign their entries/lobbies to accommodate pick-ups and drop-offs on their own property - not the sidewalk, bike lane or street. Bring back the porte-cochere!
12
I was hit by someone on a Citibike a number of years ago. I was getting out of a cab at the 9th Avenue entrance to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I backed into the bike lane - my fault, no question about it - and the bike slammed into me. It's well-lighted there; I was clearly visible. But bikes don't make noise, and regardless of whose fault it is a pedestrian will not come off well in such an encounter. People should be more careful, but bikers must be aware of what's happening in front of them.
9
There are special education schools on Amsterdam Avenue near 66th and 69th Streets.
There is also a new bicycle lane that runs in front of the schools.
Each morning, school buses drive up with the special ed students.
And bicyclists - "regular" cyclists and Citibike users - just whiz by, completely unconcerned about hitting the kids or school staff.
9
So the tourist, who opened the car door into a bike lane without looking to see if the coast is clear, isn't at fault? Rule of the road is that who ever is on the road (or lane) has right of way above those entering or pulling out into it. Just as I wouldn't back a car out of a driveway into a street until the coast was clear don't open doors into the street or bikelane until the coast is clear.
6
why is the actual data, which show that drivers are the ones causing harm to pedestrians and cyclists, buried 23 paragraphs in, while the anecdote of a cyclist *not* colliding with a peninsula hotel guest but scaring the doorman leads the story?
just as important, why is there no examination of the huge public subsidy provided to drivers in the form of on-street parking? you write about "an increasingly crowded streetscape..." and more tellingly, "The city expanded the ways the streets are used without being able to expand the streets. Their width is unchanged, but on many blocks, traffic lanes were narrowed to create space for a bike lane."
the clear solution is making people pay to park in garages. note that i say this as someone who walks, drives, and cycles.
10
Car drivers that park in public streets are using a public resource for little or nothing. Gas taxes pay for highways; not city streets. Charge parked cars what the land they are occupying is worth; use the resulting money to expand protected sidewalks and bikeways.
10
Bikes should be regulated and insured. Helmets and a license should be the law. That way everyone is protected
9
And what of the rights of the disabled? My husband uses a walker and has difficulty getting into and out of cars. How can he be safe as he tries to stay mobile in a city that now seems determined to treat him as collateral damage in fight?
12
@Barbara Genco Yes, my concern is also for pedestrians and especially those who use mobility devices or who move slowly. Bicyclists in Seattle ride at too high a rate of speed for pedestrian safety, go through stop signs and ignore laws requiring them to signal when passing pedestrians on shared trails. As a pedestrian, I think some cyclists think that pedestrians have no rights at all. Bicycles are silent and appear suddenly.
Here we go again.. Bikes are the issue.. no, its Pedestrians, no.. its the cars... We live in Manhattan and that is the challenge (not the issue). there isn't enough space. Locals (including myself) feel that Pedestrians have the right of way in most cases. However, we should also understand that once you step into the street and you choose not to look for oncoming traffic, then you are responsible for you part.
I also ride a bike in the city regularly. I try to avoid congested routes, but its unavoidable. Bikes should be in two categories though: 1) Delivery & 2) everyone else (with few exceptions). Group 1 needs more oversight by the city to keep them more in line. Group 2 needs more education and time to adapt. They will get better.
Even when you cycle responsibly, you are still placed in tight situations because of the lack of room in NYC. That is why these bike lanes are important though. I don't care if you spend $4000 per night at the St. Regis, you or a doorman can wait 3 seconds for someone on a bike to pass in a bike lane.
8
All this vitriol for cyclists, meanwhile the photo shows a huge SUV hogging the road. The majority of deaths are caused by cars. These monstrosities should never be allowed to enter the city. I doubt very much that more than two people were sitting in back, feeling like big shots.
As far as the sign erected by the hotel, I would think that is illegal, unlike what the building thinks, they do not own anything past their property line.
11
I write as a NYC pedestrian. Bicycles instead of cars are better for the environment and I salute the courage of those who ride them in NYC traffic. At the same time, if they are going to ride in NYC traffic, they need to observe traffic laws. They should be licensed and insured like any other vehicle driver in Manhattan, and they should be ticketed for infractions like going through a red light and going the wrong way on a one-way street.
18
I'm a regular rider of bicycles and e-bikes, as well as a motorist in NYC.
The statistics cited in this article are important to keep in mind. 2 pedestrian deaths caused by cyclist since 2017 vs 194 deaths this year alone by drivers. For all the close calls people have experienced, for all the perceived danger, the fact of the matter is that you're more likely to be killed by a car than a bike.
Fair traffic laws should be enforced on cyclists just like anyone else. But, encouraging cycling over driving must remain a priority for our city - for our safety, for the environment.
My sympathies lie with the cyclists, whose lives are every day endangered by obstructions in the bike lane. If Richie Rich should have to look both ways before crossing the bike lane on his way from his Uber Black into the St. Regis... maybe so be it?
13
@Andrew my sympathy is for the pedestrian s who now have to worry about 2 kinds of vehicles killing or hurting them.
1
Riding a bike, including any of those motorized bikes (which should be entirely illegal) should require a license, like that for a car. And insurance. AND if you ride a bike commercially, that you wear identifying clothes.
12
When will people stop pointing to Amsterdam as a bicycling utopia? Have you ever been there. Yes cyclists there follow the law. The law of the jungle. They have the right of way not pedestrians. There are very few stop lights so good luck trying to crops a street. The major streets are a nightmare. The narrow sidewalks are barely distinguishable from the bike lane. Then the next lane is a trolley car. Oops you’re not safe yet. There’s the trolley lane going the opposite direction. Then when you think you are on the sidewalk you realize you are in the bike lane for the other direction. By the time you make it to the other sidewalk you definitely need one of the marijuana’s cafes. I finally learned to attach myself to groups of locals crossing the street to make it across alive. Even locals hate the cyclists.
This is in the old part of the city where most tourist site are located. Maybe it’s different elsewhere.
13
@Lilly LaRue
I agree that people who point to Amsterdam as a bicycle paradise are delusional. It's far worse than NYC because there are so many bikes and each rider has his own private law of the jungle. I saw slower, elderly cyclists being elbowed and cut off by other cyclists. And with their kids riding on the handlebars and pets in baskets, it was far from a utopia. The beauty of Amsterdam was marred by the stress of getting from one place to another on foot.
@Lilly LaRue Bike traffic has a 32% mode share in Amsterdam. The average household owns 1.91 bikes in Amsterdam.
Ever thought of looking at the facts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_Amsterdam
2
I am a regular CitiBike rider (over 1,800 trips)
More bike lanes have been a real plus that have enhanced safety for all. Bike ridership helps ease mid-town congestion.
The biggest issue today is the illegal throttle e-bikes used by delivery people. They are fast, heave & silent and they often ride the wrong way.
I have complained to NYPD officers on many, many occasions. They need to stop these people and seize the bikes. We will all be safer.
Enforce the existing laws!
13
@peter It doesn't ease congestion, unless you think that corporate executives, wearing Armani suits, will want to start biking to work.
Pedestrian here. Most of my ‘almost got clipped’ experiences involve bicycles.
Most common scenario involves a car or truck at a stop sign/traffic light on a one way street waving me to cross in front of them (thanks). As I just about clear their vehicle and am a few steps from curb, a bicycle careens around stopped motor vehicle. Bicyclist disregards stop sign/traffic light. I always look, but depending on the height of the motor vehicle and speed of bicycle, it can be difficult to see.
I feel safer with skateboards. Skaters go out of their way not to hit you. It’s part of their skill set.
20
My wife, while biking, got nearly run over by a driver doing a similar handwaving thing for a car to pull into a parking lot. Sure, it's nice of the driver to allow someone to go across their lane, but a car waving you through only can control its own lane. They don't have the power to control adjacent lanes of traffic and the onus on those crossing the adjacent lanes is on the crosser.
4
JR,
Yes, I see what you’re saying.
But to defend myself, the type of intersection to which I’m referring is in a high traffic area. It’s a one way street, one lane of traffic, no bike lane, parking on both sides of street. Because of near constant motor vehicle traffic, it would be virtually impossible to cross without the consideration of a motorist. This can’t excuse a high-speed bicyclist from ignoring lane restrictions and posted traffic signs.
Bikes weave in and out of traffic because they can because of their narrowness. One sees the occasional motorcyclist do the same thing on the highway. While unsafe there as well, there are no pedestrians on I-95.
2
I walk a lot. I pay attention to where I'm going. I'm never on my phone while walking, etc. However, cyclists are a constant menace.
The other day, I was crossing a side street with the light. A cyclist came rearing around the corner in the oncoming lane and nearly ran into me.
If I'm crossing with the light -- see pedestrian walking on the traffic signal? It doesn't matter. Cyclists just roar right into your path.
You can't hear them. They come out of nowhere, riding where they're not supposed to be riding. They demonstrate zero respect for the fact that they are mostly SILENT, entering into spaces where pedestrians should be EXPECTED.
This is because they don't want to brake. And they don't obey traffic laws.
My suggestion is to enforce cyclists getting LICENSE PLATES. I want to be able to report their traffic violations. These people are dangerous and irresponsible.
30
@Ship Ahoy I'd like to see licensed and insured six year olds. When do you start the insurance and license scheme? Good luck finding insurers and paying for the administrative apparatus required to issue and regulate the scheme.
But overall, when do you start requiring the licensing and insurance?
Also, why not license and insure pedestrians for when they cause problems?
Also, licensing and insuring automobiles really seems to stop illegal behavior, doesn't it?
4
@Eric
Well, Eric, at least the licensing of motor vehicles gets us closer to SOME accountability. With cyclists there's ZERO accountability.
Sure, pedestrians cause problems. I saw a young woman step out into the street while reading her phone. A driver with the right of way (he had the light) clipped her face with his side view mirror. The pedestrian was clearly at fault.
But you know that any pedestrian acting as I described -- crossing with the light -- deserves to do so without being accosted by a speeding bicycle. Bicycles do not belong in crosswalks when vehicles don't.
If a pedestrian could report these collisions, perhaps this would deter cyclists from nearly hitting them in the first place. You can get a citation for texting and driving, if I'm not mistaken.
Yes, what a bureaucratic nightmare. But so's walking and following the rules (which I do) without the threat of cycle assault -- all too frequent -- a daily occurrence. There's no excuse for that. Sorry.
If a vehicle hits another vehicle, the hitter is at fault. What's the law when it comes to cyclists mowing down pedestrians?
8
@Eric Licensing and insuring cars does curb illegal behavior, like blowing through red lights. Not to say that doesn't happen--but cyclists do it exponentially more than drivers in NYC.
3
As a pedestrian, I rarely have a close call with a car on NYC streets... but hardly a week goes by now when I don't come close to getting taken out by a cyclist disregarding the laws. Barreling along in the wrong direction, riding the sidewalks, speeding through red lights, crisscrossing traffic lanes on streets where a bike lane is available, the absence of audible alerts to warn pedestrians... and then the newest scourge of electric powered delivery bikes in the bike lanes exceeding the city speed limit of 25mph. While I enthusiastically support the concept of bike lanes, the complete lack of law enforcement for cyclists has succeeded in making bicycles the most feared and dangerous vehicle for NYC's pedestrians.
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@Charles Nordlander
"bicycles the most feared and dangerous vehicle for NYC's pedestrians."
you, the 13 people who upvoted you, and anyone else who hold this opinion are all egregiously incorrect. the data are clear and were reported in the story you are commenting on, so there's no excuse for your ignorant position here:
"There have been 194 deaths on the streets so far this year caused by drivers — 15 more than in 2018 — and 27 of those who died were cyclists, according to statistics from the city. Last year, 10 cyclists were killed. Two pedestrians have been killed by bicycles this year, the first deaths since 2017."
are you the kind of person who continues to insist on a falsehood in the face of clear evidence to the contrary?
2
@Charles Nordlander
An unlicensed pickup truck driver ran over and killed a little boy, and injured his mother, as she pushed the tot in a stroller on a Harlem street on Monday morning, cops said — the third 3-year-old child and the sixth under the age of 11 who have been fatally struck by drivers so far this year.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/12/09/driver-killed-a-3-year-old-boy-being-pushed-in-a-stroller-in-a-crosswalk/
When you step out of the front door of your building you step into a turbulent uncontrolled mess and you have to be alert the moment you take your first step. Bikes and e-vehicles of all stripes are everywhere going in all directions. There is very little enforcement of any rules or regulations. I walk, I bike. The city has pretty much left it up to individuals to fend for themselves. Reduce car traffic? Sure. But anyone who walks knows that right now bike lanes and sidewalks are as dangerous as cars in the street. That's the view from the East Village.
7
@dg
"anyone who walks knows that right now bike lanes and sidewalks are as dangerous as cars in the street"?
i don't understand. did you read the article? it says clearly that cars have killed 100 times as many people as cyclists, and that's in a outlier year for cyclists-caused deaths - last year there were none. how can you defend your assertion in the face of such evidence to the contrary?
2
Uber and Lyft, smart phones, Amazon deliveries, and e-bikes are the actual menace of the roads. You cannot lump all cyclists together as reckless because of the irresponsible habits of some riders. The people who flaunt the laws should be held accountable no matter what vehicle they pilot. I have 10 years cycling here in NYC, and am a native son. I follow the traffic laws because they are there to protect me. I confront other cyclists who do not and beg them to ride safer. People are criminally distracted in this day and age and pedestrians and motorists do as many dangerous things as any cyclists might do. I often go out of my way to avoid riding in traffic and will take longer routes in an effort to use bike lanes. E-bike riders and riders of e-skateboards, scooters, and one wheelers, are the most reckless riders, weaving and traveling at unnatural speeds for a bike. They should be capped at 15mph. Motorists have taken to blowing through red lights at an alarming rate in just the last few years and we need red light cameras at every traffic light. Pedestrians need to stay off their phones when stepping off the curb. They are endangering themselves and others by entering traffic essentially blind. Mostly, we ALL need to follow the rules and respect and accommodate each other equally for a safer and more civil environment.
11
Are the upset people the bicyclists who are speeding or the ones who are going through a red light or the ones going through the pedestrian crossing to turn or the ones going the wrong way? Pedestrians have the right away. People are allowed to get into cars and to cross the street. We should be able to do that without our constitutional right to life being threatened every time.
10
The framing of this article is completely upside down. The issue is not bike lanes or doormen's attempts to keep people safe. The issue is that all these people are stepping into bike lanes to get into cars. Make driving harder and more expensive and these people will choose to walk, take public transit or perhaps even hop on a bicycle themselves!
15
@Daniel I'm sure that pedestrians have the right of way and not a bicycle rider. Pedestrians need to be aware of traffic but they have the right to cross both bike and traffic lanes to get where they are going. What does taking public transportation have to do with that? They can get hit by a bike rider while trying to get to a bus stop.
10
I assume no one you know is disabled then? The options open to able bodied people are not open to them.
1
The surge in bike lanes and the complete lack of enforcement from NYPD has made NYC a wild west of danger and uncertainty. Bikes on the sidewalks, wrong way in the bike lanes, knocking people over while they have the light in the cross walk and just getting up and peddling away. What works in Beijing and Amsterdam works because riders there follow the rules of the road. There are no rules with NYC bicyclist and the gross lack of enforcement by the police has give pedestrians a sense of feat and lawlessness in the city that as a life long New Yorker, I for one haven't felt in the 1970s
12
Oy, here we go again - many comments are targeted to cyclists. The real problem is cars. You can't simply add bike lanes without doing something about cars and trucks. That means not only ticketing, but towing until the drivers get the point you shouldn't double park or, worse yet, park in bike lanes. Yes, cyclists need to be better aware of pedestrians. At the same time pedestrians need to be better aware of cyclists. A recent encounter I had with a pedestrian on the UES is a great example - she berated me and another cyclist as she walked, ambled really, along the well marked, green bike lane as if it were a pedestrian zone. One summer bike trip from the UWS to Coney Island, I counted 17, yes 17, cars parked or stopped on a 2 mile stretch of well marked bike lanes (of which 6 were government vehicles like cop cars and mail delivery trucks). I often think it's safer to vie with cars and taxis on streets without bike lanes or avoid the bike lanes entirely given the frequency with which they're violated by cars of all types, including cop cars!
Stop blaming cyclists, start doing more to make the streets safe for everyone.
17
I am a supporter of cycling. However I am dismayed that the majority of cyclists seem to have a problem with almost everything (cars, car doors, pedestrians, dogs in Central Park) while not feeling the need to obey the rules of the road or common courtesy themselves.
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@Bob yup. there was a time when there were a small number of cyclists out there, so you could sort of 'get away' with maybe going down a street the wrong way for one block if it was a long way around to do it properly - but those days are gone. just as driving a car 10 mph faster will not get you to your destination much faster, biking like you're competing in the tour de france won't get you there faster either. slow down ...please
8
Bicyclists are free to flaunt the law. Pedestrians can be stopped and motorists can be identified by their license plates. But bicyclists passing lights, riding on sidewalks, rushing around curbs and riding against traffic go without penalty. I've witnessed bicyclists breaking the law in front of police officers go unimpeded. At the very least, license plates or some other visible identifier should be on every bike. That would cut down on this unsafe behavior.
22
Cyclist who follow the rules and are courteous will be responsible and have licence plates. The ones that go the wrong way will not. Driver education is what's needed, at a younger age for all vehicles.
3
@Louis THIS COULD NOT BE MORE FALSE. NYPD tickets cyclists literally ALL THE TIME. I got a $100 ticket for biking on the sidewalk maybe like 100 feet from a citibike dock, instead of walking my bike to the dock. There wasn't a single pedestrian or car in motion in sight on that street.
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@Louis
"Pedestrians can be stopped"
this is a completely ludicrous assertion. i have lived here for 19 years and have never seen a single pedestrian stopped for violating a traffic law. i break them myself all the time, crossing midblock or against the light without the slightest fear of any kind of traffic enforcement, and often i am in the midst of a literal crowd of people doing the same thing.
motorists similarly break the law all the time. when i drive in this city people *constantly* speed past me going well above the speed limit. they don't signal their lane changes or turns. they honk their horns in non-emergency situations. they block the box, causing huge traffic backups. they cross the double-yellow to pass vehicles which are not going fast enough to suit their fancy.
the idea that cyclists are more liable to be traffic scofflaws than pedestrians or driver are is laughable, and if cyclists require licensing than so do pedestrians.
the real principle we need to operate on is addressing the circumstances most likely to cause harm. it is clear both from data and from physics that motor vehicles are the most likely to harm people, so they should be subject to the most scrutiny from law enforcement.
2
I bike everywhere in NYC. i wish i could ticket every cyclist going the wrong way. in the streets and in the bike lanes. electric bikes shouldn’t even be IN the bike lanes. If NYPD would focus on these two things there would be HUGE improvements for everyone concerned.
20
You need to go to Amsterdam. The bike lanes have their own traffic lights. Also, bikes flow at the same speed. If you are going to be serious about biking, then there must be rules.
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@Susan Kuhlman Excellent comment. Just painting bike lanes does nothing.
2
Many cyclists don’t seem to want to hit their brakes for ANY reason.
The lanes are not there for a cardio workout. They are not an express lane for uninterrupted speedy travel through Manhattan.
It’s a transportation alternative. Slow down.
31
Q- How risky would it be to ride a bike in super congested traffic , with super aggressive drivers failing to yield to other vehicles and cooperate with courtesy , filled with buses and commercial trucks of all kind , and double parked vehicles in a tight space with no parking in one of the busiest Cities in the World full of restaurants , hotels , skyscrapers full of offices and a perhaps a few million people bustling about during prime time work hours ?
A- Doing so will risk physical harm , permanent disability and even death and by encouraging more bike riding Bloomberg has slowed vehicle traffic and increased visits to the emergency room for bike accidents . How could anyone have sympathy for adults willing to play " russian roulette " with their bodies ?
Well, I for one I have been cycling in NYC going on for 45 years. I will tell anyone this, youth, inexperience, and speed will get you hurt. I personally wouldn't ride near a hotel drop off. Cycling in New York is about self preservation. Cycling will get safer as education and infrastructure evolve. The Ginnie is out of the bottle.
Yes, bicyclists suffer from reckless car drivers.
But three times in the last two years I've almost been run down, by bicyclists in their lane, when trying to cross 8th Avenue at 53 street.
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@Maurice Wolfthal
so, you've "almost" been run down 3 times in 2 years by cyclists, supposedly.
meanwhile, the actual traffic data show that motor vehicles are 100 times more deadly than cyclists in nyc this year.
hmm, what to trust, what to trust? random maurice from texas complaining about "almost" getting hit by bikes or the 194 dead people killed by cars? so tough to decide...
3
New York is an island facing the effects of climate change even as we read. Bicycles and pedestrians who use public transit are the safe keepers of the future of simply the existence of Manhattan.
If our current habits can have any impact on the rise of the oceans.
Our survival as as species depends on lovering the use of cars
13
The biggest menace to pedestrian safety in NYC, and this includes Central Park, are rogue bicyclists who do not respect any rules whatsoever. At a recent community affairs meeting at my local precinct this fact, was acknowledged as OUT OF CONTROL and getting worse, by all present: law enforcement and concerned citizens. Here in NYC, pedestrians must organize and launch a Pedestrian Safety Initiative which will deal with the problem with far more urgency and efficacy than the DOT's Vision Zero. I have made it my business to video and photograph bicyclists committing every possible imaginable and unimaginable infraction to demonstrate the hazard they pose to life and limb of NYC pedestrians. It must stop! One is not safe from bicycles on a sidewalk and let alone crossing the street or walking on a pedestrian path in Central Park.
11
@La Rana IF "rogue bisyslists" are the "biggest menace" then why do motor vehicles kill so many more pedestrians?
Perhaps you should also include Other vehicles and expand your business to video and photograph cars and trucks?
16
@Jim Ryan Who is keeping count of how many pedestrians have been injured by reckless bicyclists? Pedestrians are far more exposed to injury from them than vehicular traffic. It is not like we are only counting tragic fatalities. Pedestrians overwhelmingly feel more vulnerable to injury from bikes than cars. And when these accidents occur they go unrecorded.
6
If so many people were being hurt by cyclists, you'd see evidence, not anecdotes, because it would have to be occuring at a similar magnitude to drivers hurting and killing peds and cyclists. Where's the evidence - you made a claim, please support it. Until then, it's clear that the largest danger to pedestrians and cyclists are automobiles by an extremely large margin.
6
And what about helmets? There is an increasing head injury issue reported at New York City hospitals
4
The clear solution here is to banish motorized vehicular traffic from certain North-South and East-West runnung steets and turn those over entirely to cyclists and pedestrians. Every third numbered street and every other avenue should be just about right. If your too badly out of shape to walk two blocks, well I suggests you find a pair of cheap sneakers and start working on it.
8
@richard Not everyone who can’t walk two blocks is “out of shape” and able to “work on it.” There are mobility problems that arise from illness and injury that cannot be solved by exercising. Someday you may experience that first-hand, if you are unlucky.
11
@richard that is actually a very interesting proposition...
Of course, pedestrians need to be aware when crossing bike lanes. Bike lanes are important and everyone needs to respected.
But a big problem contributing to the dangers in and around bike lanes is that a large number of cyclists ignore traffic laws by going the wrong way, busting through red lights or refusing to slow down when pedestrians are in their path. They seem not to know or care that they are subject to mostly the same laws as cars.
Putting their feet on the ground seems to be so unpalatable that many cyclists will continue through red lights, pace back and forth in intersections or simply won't stop when pedestrians are walking inn their path.
Pedestrians often walk where they shouldn't, and they can be totally oblivious. This is an unfortunate reality of the city. Cars have to accept that pedestrians have the right of way, even when they are doing something wrong and stupid. Cyclists need to take the same view. When pedestrians are in their way, the acceptable response is to slow down and stop.
It's ok to put your feet on the ground and stop.
19
It really is the Tail wagging the Dog. NYC has set up a cult of bike riders who flaunt the laws and do so with moral entitlement.
Bicycle operators should be licensed and expected to follow the rule of the road.
16
This weekend an unlicensed pick up driver killed a child crossing the street with his mother. Unlicensed drivers are a huge problem and kill and hurt people then unlicensed cyclist.
2
Why are they called "Bike lanes"?
Because they are for bikes!!
You don't walk into the street and complain that the traffic doesn't just stop for you - why should you expect bikes to do the same?
Look left and right before crossing a road.
Look left and right before crossing a bike lane.
Cars kill thousands. Pollution kills thousands.
Bikes are clean, efficient and healthy.
15
Cyclists aren’t just at odds with doormen, the car people and the pedestrians hate them too. The ride the wrong way down one way streets, run red lights, ride in the side walk when it’s convenient for them, and rarely pay attention. I’ve been almost hit by a cyclist many times more than a car. Don’t get me started on electric scooters and other devices.
18
Almost doesn't count, cars almost kill me dozens of times a day.
1
If New York City and New York State provided affordable, high-quality mass transit, bikes would still be mainly used for leisure instead of alternative transportation. I have seen numerous close calls between pedestrians and bike riders. Pedestrians assume that if they have a green light they are fine, and they cross the bike lanes without even looking. When I cross streets with bike lanes, even on a green light, I stop, look both ways, then look both ways again before crossing. My wife, who has visual impairments, never remembers to look carefully, despite repeated admonitions from me. As more people ride bikes as an alternative to crowded, unreliable and expensive mass transit, collisions between bike riders and pedestrians will inevitably increase, as will injuries and deaths. So much for Vision Zero!
8
I lived across the street from The Peninsula. The bike lanes have caused a narrow street to become narrower. Add to the mix ever expanding package delivery services and you are left with a mess. If the narrow streets of Manhattan could speak, they would say you are expecting way too much of me.
12
The bike lanes are a great addition to our city, but cyclists must also follow the rules of the road which mean not flying through red lights, riding with the flow of traffic (in the streets & bike lanes) and staying off the side walks. Evokes should be considered motor vehicles and regulated as such. Drivers must be more aware, particularly when turning, and learn to share the road. Pedestrians simply must realize this is one big video game and your head must be on a swivel as everyone is out to run you over!
10
Cyclists are the ones that need to pay better attention. They are moving vehicles and must follow the rules of the road, but often don’t. Ever hear an automobile driver say that it is the responsibility of pedestrians to avoid getting hit by cars?
14
@Bailey T. Dog All the time. Whenever a driver injures or kills a pedestrian, which is quite often, that's what you hear.
If you think we live in a culture of holding drivers responsible for their actions, you're sadly mistaken -- and you probably ought to pay closer attention as you walk.
The only things we regularly hold drivers responsible for is drink driving. The vast majority of car-on-pedestrian crashes are treated as "accidents" where the driver is in no way held responsible -- not even investigated, much less prosecuted or convicted.
From a 2015 study:
"In the past year, at least 10,000 drivers were prosecuted for drunk driving,
even though alcohol was a factor in 897 crashes where people were killed
or injured. Fewer than 40 drivers were prosecuted for failing to yield the
right of way to a pedestrian or bicyclist, which caused 5,966 crashes where
people were killed or injured.
Motorists caused 25,483 fatal or injurious crashes in 2014 as a direct
result of lawless driving. 70% of pedestrian fatalities are caused by
dangerous driver behavior, but the four Vision Zero laws passed by the
New York City Council and State Legislature to aid District Attorneys
have only been used 46 times in two years."
6
@Bailey T. Dog
One problem is people who walk across the bike lane in the middle of the block while texting (I am not exaggerating) . This has happened to me more than once. Fortunately for the oblivious texters, I am a very slow rider, and so am able to stop on a dime.
However, if they encounter one of the faster riders, they risk getting hit as there won't be enough time even for an alert rider to spot them and stop (and then there are the messengers texting on bikes in the middle of the block assuming, incorrectly, that they don't have to be vigilant except when approaching a crosswalk).
Texters shouldn't step across a bike lane in the middle of the street without looking just as they shouldn't cross in the middle of the street against the light without looking (but I know, they do that too).
5
Quote form the Times: "She said places that have worked it out — she cited Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Mexico City — have managed to better regulate cars."
Not completely accurate. It is the other way around. These cities have trained bikers with rules about safe bike riding. Yes, bikes are here to stay but bikers need to respect traffic laws by not going in the opposite direction, running red lights, not yielding to pedestrians, speeding, cutting in front of drivers who are making a legal turn onto a side street, riding in the middle of the street.....the list goes on. The city needs to enforce rules of the road the same way the state requires auto drivers to get a license.
Tee Scatuorchio
17
Bicycles are here to stay. Every biker needs a bike license that carries liability insurance. They need to carry this license and be given tickets just like drivers of cars. They should pay damages to anyone they injure and have their license removed with too many violations. Why can’t you put up pedestrian crosswalk lights where there are hotels or other businesses? Bikers should stop for pedestrians instead of the other way around. Great business opportunity for the insurance companies.
17
@Jan Whitener You'll be happy to know that New York bicyclists get tickets all the time.
I very much disagree about licensing, though. Cars weigh 150 times what a bike does. We need fewer cars, and more bikes. Licensing would just push more people into cars.
5
@Jan Whitener Such nonsense.
My 5 year old like to ride her bike. Shall we insure her? Does she need a license?
I rode in the city for years. On my vicious, 25 pound lump of aluminum. I could hit 25 mph!
All around me 3 tons of SUV steel, texting, speeding, drinking, polluting, murdering 1,000s of innocent pedestrians every year.
If I bumped in to one what happened? A small dent? A slight scrape? The cyclist in hospital.
We have an epidemic of pollution, obesity, desperate snarled traffic through sheer weight of numbers, and the cyclists are the problem - sure.
Some bad apples - I don't run through red lights - give 'em tickets. They'll stop.
8
Everyday user of NYC bike lanes here. Police are completely negligent in enforcing the one way rule, which is ubiquitously violated and nearly as dangerous as doing so in a car. As someone who refuses to be forced out of the bike lane, and into traffic by violators, I am many times a day forced into a hazardous and confrontational game of chicken. Police, please start ticketing people who run against the clearly posted arrows. I beg you. So dangerous. Don't care if the thing coming at me at 15-20 mph has e-assist or not. It is a hazard and breaking the law in an overwhelmingly threatening manner. Violators, up to now, feel invisible to the law. Also, you have many pedestrians not only failing to recognize that the bike lanes are functional lanes of traffic, but also wandering aimlessly into live auto traffic with their noses in their cell phones. I see it every day. Amazing there aren't more accidents than there are. I consider myself an ambassador for bike and e-bike users, always giving way to pedestrians and obeying traffic laws, but some pedestrians, bike riders who ignore laws, and drivers who carelessly open doors (dutch open, anyone?) into the lanes without looking are always lurking hazards. The lanes are a clean, efficient, affordable way to get around town, but they need not be as dangerous as they are. People need to be aware of their surroundings and simply obey traffic laws. Perhaps too big an ask without real tooth enforcement.
34
The many who are calling for a ban on cars in the city and the elimination of on street parking better get ready to pony up if that happens. How do you expect the city hall to replace all the revenue that cars coming in to the city generate. Between the tolls, parking meters, parking tickets, and soon to be a enacted congestion pricing we are talking about millions of dollars much of it slated for mass transit.
Why do you think all fines paid are made out to the NYC Department of Finance.
4
@mlb4ever
This is a weird take, because if they actually ban cars, all the rich people would have to live closer, revenues would go way up and so would real estate values, which are taxed directly.
So, not the best argument.
No one is banning cars anyway. Taking a few roads down isn't the same as banning cars, it's promoting locals over outlanders, which American cities don't do enough of. People who live in NYC get to vote after all.
6
In all honesty, I could never understand why bike lanes need to be placed almost everywhere just to cater to a small group that hardly uses them on a regular basis. For the most part, they tend to be seen as nothing but a waste of space. Personally, I don't see why they even need a special infrastructure just to get around when just following the traffic laws will do just that especially when cyclists in the past few decades got around fine without them. Before any bike zealots start crying foul, some of the signs such as the one placed in front of the Peninsula Hotel is there because those that pass by don't tend to show any respect for those trying to get out of a vehicle and into the hotel. I think that there shouldn't be any bike lanes in front of any loading zones to start with as commercial and retail areas aren't a place for them anyway. Unfortunately, the bike zealots on places such as Transportation Alternatives and Streetsblog will act like victims to the rules on this and claim that they are being picked on. The way I see their views, I tend to find Transportation Alternatives as being their own version of the Nation Rifle Association with their intimidation tactics while Streetsblog is their own version of the Electronic Intifada by acting very fanatical and demanding censorship on anyone who disagrees with them. BTW, a flash mob doesn't count as a regular usage, which I find to be nothing more than a photo-op that they tend to to do at certain times.
17
@Tal Barzilai I used to bike to and from work in Baltimore City. Baltimore has only recently invested in protected bike lanes, and when I first started biking to work, there were no bike lanes for me to take once I was downtown. There were several instances of people almost hitting me, honking at me, and telling me to bike on the sidewalk (which is illegal here). I made several people mad when I, a biker, was waiting in the left turn only lane (which is legal, or at least it was before more bike lanes went in) and was holding up traffic behind me because I had to wait for a considerable gap in traffic before I could turn left.
What I'm trying to get as it's dangerous to have buses, cars, and cyclists sharing the same roads downtown. Many cities adopt bus only lanes, why not have lanes solely for bikes? Commuting on a bike has been around longer than cars, and is a cheaper, cleaner way to navigate cities. I think people who live/work in cities need to shake the mindset that the car is the default way to travel, and every other mode of transportation comes second and has to work around car infrastructure.
5
@Tal Barzilai
People who bicycle reduce congestion, which is huge for drivers, reduce parking costs, reduce pollution, and cost less in health care (because they are fitter). These are all serious goals of any city.
They get their own lanes, like cars do, because it's safer and people are more likely to bicycle with their own lanes. Cars get special infrastructure, and they're notoriously bad for neighborhoods and locals. The fewer cars, the more locals will benefit, because people will have to live in the city instead of Jersey or wherever. Bike lanes also open up space to be used by pedestrians and in emergencies.
Speaking as a car guy, yes, the USA is overbuilt for cars and now we need some balance, at least in cities where it makes sense to walk/bike/scooter. It's a good thing, even for drivers, who will get less traffic.
8
NYC is a bike free for all. The politicians are catering to a vocal few not the many that have to duck and run out of the way of these aggressive foul mouthed entitled cyclists. Let’s also not forget the illegal speeding electric delivery bikes going every which way. Finally the citi bike tourist segment that think our streets are their tour guide, oblivious to Red lights, stop signs or directions of traffic. There are better and more innovative ways to get people around than this ridiculously dangerous stopgap seasonal usage of whole giant parts of streets. We need a organization to counter the bike mafia.
2
My office is on West 55th Street and the protected bike lane is challenging for pedestrians. The bike lane is used primarily by delivery services whose cyclists ride quickly (many on illegal electric bikes) and aggressively, but the design requires pedestrians to cross the bike lane to get in or out of a taxi or other car service (and we don't have a doorman to run interference).
Not a great design. Good for cyclists and neutral for automobile drivers, but bad for pedestrians.
22
@Joel why do you HAVE to hail a cab right outside your door mid-block? Can't you go to an intersection and exit/enter a cab there. This way you don't cross a bike lane. Better yet - take a bus or the subway, then you won't have to illegally cross any bike lanes.
Would you walk across a lane of cars and buses to board a cab in a middle lane? If not why do you feel you have the right to endanger bicyclists and yourself by crossing bike lanes?
3
NYC is no place for bikes. Get rid of the bike lanes and put bikes back in the park where they belong.
24
@Susan
The exact opposite should be the goal. Get rid of the cars.
25
Cold agree more. Manhattan is no place for cyclists. Pedestrians have hard enough time avoiding each other and cars. Bikes should be limited to parks and green spaces.
19
@Susan people have been commuting on bikes longer than cars have even been around. It's a cheaper, cleaner way to travel. If anything, cities should encourage more of it! While I agree that there should be better laws and enforcement in place, this is no mindset to have. Cars are not, and should never be the default vehicle to use on city roads.
8
Elsewhere on the "New York" section, you can read how a 3-year old in a stroller was killed as his mother pushed him across the street in East Harlem. And like nearly every other pedestrian fatality, the culprit was a driver. Not a cyclist.
So, sure, rogue cyclists who flout traffic laws, drive the wrong way, drive on sidewalks, etc. should not be tolerated. Most of us who bike find such behaviors infuriating. But don't lose sight of the fact that cars and their drivers are the real killers.
30
Or pedestrians can just look both ways, as we learned in kindergarten. Would a doorman physically try to halt a car mid-block to protect a customer? Are enough clueless high-end hotel clients threatened to warrant this article? The attention would be much better given to the children and elderly hit by turning and speeding vehicles, piloted by distracted and impatient drivers.
21
@Jason Snyder agreed. Society needs to shake the idea that cars are more legitimate vehicles than bikes.
4
6th Avenue has been a mess with gridlock during Radio City events and when there are conventions at the local Hilton Hotel. It's been worse ever since the Buildings Dept allowed the Hilton Hotel to remove their driveway. Now 6th Avenue is a big taxi stand where cars are backed up on the avenue, Hilton door staff are now flag cabs in the middle of the street. How was this allowed? Does the Hilton Hotel care about the safety of their employees? Or, did they pay off the Buildings Dept to allow for the removal of their driveway? How does a porte cochere as they call it get removed with no traffic study. Can the reporter find out?
14
@Midtown Commuter : I worked as a doorman back in the sixties when I was in college. It was the general practice for doormen to step out into traffic to flag a cab for a client. I wouldn't suggest it now.
@LIGuy - there was a nice safe driveway where visitors of the hotel could unload & load. It was also handicap accessible for those using wheel chairs. Now, if you are using a walker or wheel chair you get dropped off curb side and then have a couple hundred feet to go to get to the front entrance of the hotel. Not cool for people with disabilities, and Mayors Office of Disabilities ignores letters addressing how this was done and why.
1
It is now clear the bike riders should be required required to have a license, insurance and complete safety training.
It is dangerous for pedestrians on the streets if Manhattan and Brooklyn and bikes are culpable as well as cars. At least auto drivers can be identified and are held responsible for their behavior. Bike riders generally just ride away after they collide with a pedestrian, with no penalties unless someone is killed.
25
@Touger
Agree — a license plate, insurance, and a bicycle driving license for anyone on a motorized bike/scooter.
1
I grew up in Brooklyn before all these bicycle lanes and laws. Now I live in the suburbs but attend to important business on the Upper East Side....yes, a grandson.
So I have a vested interest in making sure that all goes well with bicycles. And that everyone is safe.
Last Sunday, while sitting in my car waiting for the red light to turn green on York Ave., I lost track of how many bicycles went barreling through the same red light. Granted, as a kid so many years ago, I did the same.
But now bicyclists want the same rights as drivers. So they had better start acting like they deserve the same rights or go back to being second class citizens on the NYC roads.
Finally on this subject, there is a bike lane going down Second Ave, on the east side of the road. Some bicycles must be doing 40mph in that lane. I have come much too close to being knocked down and seriously injured by a speeding bicycle who believes he has the right of way. Last I read the law, the pedestrian always has the right of way. Again, if bicyclists want to be treated well, they had better start acting as if they are deserving of respect.
51
@Bob You say: "But now bicyclists want the same rights as drivers. So they had better start acting like they deserve the same rights or go back to being second class citizens on the NYC roads."
This is something that rankles me--none of us have a right to operate a vehicle on the roads--as I understand it, the privilege to operate a vehicle is granted by obtaining a license. Why do motorists have to do that and show proof of insurance, and cyclists not?
They go on about they have the "right" to--but actually, none of us do.
Perhaps if they did that, we'd have more respect for them.
It's not just the hotel guests who are at risk with these new bike lanes, it's every pedestrian who must navigate the area. Yes, I like bicycles. But intermingling them with motor vehicles and pedestrians this way isn't working. For pedestrians it's terrifying! Also, I wish reporters would dig up the numbers of pedestrians injured (but not killed) by bicycles. I know quite a few who've ended up in the hospital. Let's remember that mortality rates are not the only issue when evaluating the safety of bicycles, motorbikes and scooters.
23
Bike lanes are the single biggest loss on investment one could imagine. The expanded ridership just creates hazards for pedestrians, costs millions to construction, has almost no commuter value compared to public transportation, and produces zero commerce.
The roads are filled with bikers that jump red lights, drive the wrong direction without lights, cross against traffic, etc. Enough of the madness.
28
I wish the NYT would do a rigorous comparative modality assessment, e.g., subway, train, plane, bike, motorized bike, bus, ferry & pedestrian. Such an assessment would be based on aggregate #s & per passenger mile traveled. It would include, e.g., revenues raised, capital costs, distributional benefits (cost/benefits by class), carbon footprint, injuries & deaths, congestion effects, etc
On the one hand, my guess is cars raise a lot more revenue than bikes. On the
other hand, I also guess (as a prior commentator already noted) we would get the most “bang for our buck” both in terms of passenger miles traveled and distributional benefits if we fixed the subways. Sadly, however, transportation decision making seems to based on whether there is a ribbon to be cut, demonizing different modalities & who has the loudest voice in the Democratic primary (remember the great carriage debate). In this regard, it’s fascinating that the NYT runs this story without linking it to the terrific reporting they did on the subway crisis.
4
until bicyclists start observing traffic laws there will be ongoing fatalities. time to register and police bicyclists? if this is to be the future of urban transportation it's well past time for them to be regulated by the law, just like people driving cars. and same goes for scooters. and same goes for skateboards.
18
It's always been dangerous to ride a bike in New York city but many people riding bikes today are arrogant and inexperienced when it comes to riding a bike in the city. Many bike riders who ride Citi bikes haven't ridden a bike in years and many times are seen riding against traffic or just whizzing through lights and just missing pedestrians. If the Mayor wants to make the streets safe for New Yorkers then it has to be safe for everyone not just bike riders. Make it mandatory for bike riders as well as car drivers particularly Urber or Lyft drivers to get educated about city driving and ettiequte. In reality the city was not built for bikes and no matter how many bike lanes they build it will not make the city safer until everyone behind any type of vehicle is well educated about their own safety and the safety of others, something that the Mayor has not addressed, DMV could send notices to every licensed driver and pedestrians as well as a major training courses for bikers to learn how to drive safety. Many bike messenger companies showed the dangers of a riding a bike in the city before hiring them, this should be mandatory for every New Yorker.
18
@Orlando Acosta
You write that the city wasn't built for bikes but in a way it was. The streets were laid out long before cars and many were paved when bikes outnumbered cars on the streets. The cars are the newcomers.
14
@Orlando Acosta Yes, and bike riders should be licensed, just like car drivers are.
8
As an experienced urban cyclist (Chicago Loop, 20 years) I am very frustrated with other cyclists failing to yield to pedestrians, especially near hotels where you have tourists who are unaccustomed to bike lanes.
The bike lanes next to the curb are wonderful innovations, especially for nervous urban cyclists. Those of us who want to go fast should avoid them and stay in unprotected bike lanes or car lanes, where speeds match more closely. I ride pretty fast, and never trust myself in those lanes at times of day when pedestrians are out.
16
We devote so much street space to drivers and private automobile storage, but the issue is a sliver of a bike lane? Get out of here with that nonsense. It's utterly disconnected from reality.
And for all the commenters raging about bikers breaking laws - take a look at your fellow drivers. Every single day I see them egregiously breaking laws that actually put people in danger (cars kill and maim hundreds to thousands per year - what bikes do is a rounding error) - speeding on local streets, illegal turns, failure to yield, failures to signal, illegal parking blocking sight lines or bike lanes.
25
So. if your kids (if you have them) argue that everyone else is doing X, do you just shrug and say okay, you can do X too? What if drivers said, well I see bicyclists riding the wrong way, so I'm going to do it too? Take responsibility for your own actions, bicyclists. Drop the whataboutism.
2
It's really not a whataboutism here. People have all these ridiculous anecdotes about bikes and think that they're the real danger. The biggest danger, by orders of magnitude, are private vehicles and the data backs this up. Drivers are also routinely breaking the law. With limited enforcement capabilities, since we can't enforce every single law on everyone all the time, we should be focusing our efforts on the greatest dangers to vulnerable road users, and that effort should be targeted towards the automobile.
3
@Anne Hajduk
go back and look up this thread. i have lost count of the factually incorrect but very insistent commentators who assert that cyclists are more of a threat to pedestrians than motor vehicles.
cyclists should definitely follow most laws of the road. but the truth is that our law enforcement capacity needs to be focused on drivers because motor vehicles present the most danger to others.
2
It's incredible how many people jumped into this thread with diatribes about how cyclists need to be licensed, registered and insured like cars... without even referring to anything in the article or pointing out how such measures would have improved the situations that were discussed in the article. The only thing people are thinking is that it should be as hard as possible to bicycle in the city, and that would do a world of good.
These people aren't commenting anywhere when it comes to the pickup truck driver that ran over a stroller today and killed its three-year-old occupant. But that driver was licensed, registered and insured! The system truly works!
25
Note the picture, a curbside bikelane protected by parked cars. This is so because when NYC left car parking curbside and put the bikelane outside, drivers turned parking lane and bikelane into two parking lanes. Cyclists contended with oblivious drivers and oblivious pedestrians in bike lanes. Now, we contend with oblivious pedestrians and only occasionally drivers who manage to squeeze into the bike lane. And park in it, and drive in it. Let's look at the whole picture and the history that many people don't know anything about, outside of complaint pieces like the one we're commenting on.
6
This article reads like an automobile apologist checklist. In the photo, there are several multi-ton vehicles parked on the public right of way at bargain prices (or free if Sunday). The simplest way to make more room for all other modes is to remove street parking. But this would mean giving the lives and movement of people-not-in-cars precedence over the _convenience_ of motorists, something no US city has been willing to do. Additionally, the article implies that cyclists present a threat to public safety. Putting aside the spectacular health benefits of biking, please review the actual statistics on which mode of transportation is killing New Yorkers (hint, it kills out of both ends). If the New York Times is serious about Vision Zero, climate change, fiscal viability and efficiency of our transportation systems, you should embrace cycling, walking and transit, not engage in concern trolling.
30
Parking costs $12 for two hours, and for commercial vehicles in midtown its $21 for 3 hours. Not exactly cheap.
And btw, the city makes more money in parking tickets then in meter fees.
3
This is inevitable when you try to pack 10 lbs. of, uhhh, ummm, “stuff”, into a 5 lb. bag.
As Usual the comments and the article seem to blame cyclist behavior as the #1 issue. Actually, the #1 issue is that bike lanes in most US cities are an afterthought.They are painted in (rather than being separated) appear and disappear depending on traffic needs and parking needs. The reason why bike lanes work in most of those EU cities is that they are designed not as an afterthought to vehicle transportation, but as a priority of place, whereby cars are last on the list. Pedestrians and cyclist safety comes first. Children are actually educated in school on proper cycling etiquette and city centers are designed to get people out of their vehicles onto the sidewalks, public transit and bikes. As long as we here in the US half-ass infrastructure changes like this, no one is safe, not cyclists, not pedestrians and not cars or doormen.
21
I have been known to commute to work on a bicycle. When i lived in Washington, D.C. (a very bike friendly city) I could go 11 miles to my office, and only have to share a road with a car for about 3. Heaven.
I STILL remember the a**hole in the junked up van screaming out the window at me "get a car!!" when he didn't like sharing the road with me (Rock Creek Parkway). I yelled back "My car's worth twice your van, loser!"
Yes, it was satisfying.
All the people that are writing here blaming the cyclists just are showing their prejudice. Stop and think - the cyclists are not the problem. Bad drivers are the problem. If drivers were perfect like you insinuate, there never would have been an accident on NYC streets at all these past 100 years.....
Susan, Expat.
PS - D.C. is bike friendly for many reasons - one being FREE showers in almost every office I ever worked in - so you could shower when you got to work. That's cycle friendly.
9
New Yorkers are inherently jaywalkers. Bikes and cars will never stop them from doing so. Accidents will continue to occur no matter how many signs or warnings are posted. It's just the nature of life in New York, no matter how much de Blasio tries to regulate the populous to accept his "bike first" obsession.
10
@paul I understand that's the culture, but then, like with cars, jaywalkers injured by bikes must accept it was their fault and not take it out on all bikers.
1
The bicyclist in the photo is going the WRONG WAY in the bike lane. He is a huge hazard! Cyclists (and joggers) routinely violate the law in this manner and should be ticketed, but alas, I have never seen it happen.
11
@John Mardinly
Don't believe that's so. The triangular markings denote to cyclists there is a crosswalk there. Chevrons (not solid triangles) denote direction of travel. Note that the motor vehicle on the right, adjacent to the bike lane, is going in the same direction. A driver was arrested today for killing a 3 year old in a crosswalk in Manhattan, seriously, what's the "huge hazard" in NYC?
10
I almost got mowed down by cyclist going the wrong way on a one way street. He missed by about three inches. I said something and flipped me the bird. There’s your biker attitude for you. Nasty, insular and self righteous.
Next time one of you pull that, I’m pursuing you and taking you down. Then we’ll see who gets to flip who the bird.
17
Everyone needs to pay attention -- electric bikes swerving on the sidewalk and going against traffic, pedestrians who cross between cars, drivers who pass stop signs and drive while drunk, car thieves who speed and crash and then run.
Until you change human nature -- and we might be getting a little worse, on the whole -- fatalities will rise.
3
"…one night in a suite costs as much as $4,695, and the Peninsula, where deluxe suites go for as much as $5,495 a night."
Shocking and obscene - the Amoral Rich. It's just beyond comprehension at so many levels.
5
I just want Trader Joe's to stop shutting down the entire bike lane for early morning deliveries.
8
@Lisa So how would you like them to stock up? Without truck deliveries, Manhattan could not exist!
1
How about at night?
There'd be plenty of room in front of the Peninsula and St. Regis for proper pedestrian and bike infrastructure if they got rid of the street parking on those blocks. A 3' wide bike lane like that is asking for trouble. That the NYT didn't even think to mention that 30% of the street is dedicated to parking is a sign of ingrained preeminence of cars. I guess its hard to interview an empty car.
15
When is doubt, side against tourists and the bullies who pander to them.
1
Your article hits the crux of the issue with one sentence: "The city expanded the ways the streets are used without being able to expand the streets."
5
@Anthony Avella
So true. The irony is that is exactly what happened in the early decades of the 20th century--when the automobile arrived, and city officials had to expand street usage to accommodate the new transportation form. It took many years, but urban cores were remade (building setbacks, reduced sidewalk widths, rebuilt intersections to accommodate turning radii, freeways, viaducts, etc.). What also happened was the reduction of other street usages through restrictive legislation. Virtually every other street usage was banned outright or highly regulated (e.g., confining pedestrians to crosswalks). By 1929, most city streets had become car conduits.
In other words, we've been here before. Will we make a different choice this time as to who gets to use the public streets?
P.S. No one has ever resolved the conflict between standing (parked or temporarily stopped to load/unload) and moving vehicles. The same proposals of today were implemented in the 1920s--to no one's satisfaction. That's because we who drive are divided against ourselves: we want both smooth sailing when we're moving, and convenient, free parking when we're stopped. The laws of physics are downright interventionist sometimes!
The only ones who don’t admit that the cyclists are the real problem are cyclists, weak-willed politicians (i.e. Johnson and DiLousio) who would rather put down more bike lanes than create real new mass transportation, The NY Times editorial staff and people who do not live here. We’re going to get them jammed down our throat anyway. But everyone knows who the real problem in.
15
What/which rules? Zero enforcement is the de Blasio/NYPD rule. Vision Zero is a joke. 1. License and insure commercial e-bikes. Clearly identify the employer of the riders on their safety vests. 2. Get all bikers and skateboarders except little kids off the sidewalks. 3. Put jaywalkers in reeducation camps a la China.
5
Sheer insanity, in the busiest part of midtown you walk or ride in a car or bus period. This bike craze is insane. Most bikers are extremely rude and dont obey the traffic rules, why should i as a pedestrian be forced to look out for both them and cars. Delivery people will manage - either that or make the bicyclists register and get insurance just like cars. This is liberal engineering lunacy.
17
I am so sick of the kamikaze bikers here in DC and the suburbs. Glaring contempt for pedestrians while they, the cyclists, demand to be catered to. Bike should yield to pedestrians, not the other was around. Slow down in pedestrian areas.
Bikers should be the ones realizing they, not the pedestrian, should be paying attention around them, and act accordingly.
18
To me, the main problem with bicycle users is that they don't make any noise. They complain that pedestrians don't pay attention but they speed through crosswalks silently, very often against the light. Bikers carrying whistles or horns or some kind of noise-making device would greatly increase safety for pedestrians as well as for themselves...
14
A pedestrian recently walked right out toward my car, not even reaching it, while I was making a legal turn. A cop car was behind me. Guess who got a ticket for failure to yield? At another intersection, I saw two other drivers ticketed by another cop for the same thing. They're just lying in wait. This appears to be a new measure to raise revenue and discourage driving, while pedestrians continue to be allowed to walk anywhere, everywhere, all the time, legally or not.
3
@Perfect Gentleman
If you are making a turn (legal or illegal) the pedestrian always has the right of way over a turning vehicle.
30
That's even true if the pedestrian is crossing illegally, they still have the right of way.
10
@Al
I know very well who's got the right of way. But pedestrians just don't care and if they walk out in front of your car, even if you have enough time to stop, and a cop deems it to be failure to yield, you’re the one ticketed. The pedestrian may have the right of way, but right of way, common sense and courtesy are different things. When was the last time you saw a pedestrian ticketed for jaywalking? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. They are the worst and the real reason traffic in this city is so bad.
2
Vox had an article on 12/26/18 titled "No helmets, no problem: how the Dutch created a casual biking culture: a chat with the authors of a new book on cycling in the Netherlands” which said every road with a speed limit over 19 miles per hour has full separation between bicycle and car lanes. The separation may consist of concrete barriers, a grass median, planter boxes, or bollards. Bicyclists feel so safe that few of them feel the need to wear helmets.
9
@ann Amsterdam and NYC are not comparable in any way.
I regularly use Citi Bike And bike all over ManhattanThe expanded bike lanes are great and unquestionably contribute to bike safety. Thank you Mr. de Blasio. Regarding safety, I have been baffled by the city’s failure to enforce the existing prohibition on electric bikes. These are uniformly used by delivery people or bike messengers who travel at high speeds, often the wrong way. They are a menace.
Let’s enhance safety for everyone - bikers, pedestrians and motorists - by removing these dangerous, unlicensed,powered vehicles from streets, bike lanes (and, often enough) sidewalks
15
I don't understand why, in a city of 8m people, we are so accommodating to cars - we should just get rid of all cheap on-street parking (leaving only pick up and drop off lanes for taxis, delivery drivers, etc..) and this problem will solve itself.
14
@Ben
Why make an exception for taxis. Taxis also hit pedestrians or cyclists and they contribute much more to congestion. The few times I drive into midtown, I pull off the highway (FDR or West Side Highway) into the nearest garage and immediately go back to the highway when leaving - spending only 20-30 minutes in midtown. Each cab spends 8-10 hrs a day in midtown.
2
@Al "Why make an exception for taxis?" Because not everyone is able to walk.
6
@Ben The vehicles doing the carnage are overwhelmingly for hire vehicles and trucks.
3
It would be good if hotel guests could learn not to entirely block sidewalks to pedestrian cross traffic on said sidewalks. In Manhattan, it's most often a problem on for pedestrians (which means walking, not standing, people) on east/west streets.
In other words, sideWALKs are not places to simply park one's person, and bags, anywhere while waiting for taxi/bus to the airport.
More hotel doormen need to be part of the solution, instead of allowing hotel guests to treat the sidewalks of NYC as if they were hotel parking lots in a suburb.
Yeah, bicyclists, and e-bike drivers, do all sorts of illegal things on NYC streets, sidewalks, and in "bike" lanes. Good of the NY Times to finally notice.
3
I was a NYC bike messenger back in the 1980s before any bike lanes and remember it being like the Wild West. I now use Citibike regularly and can say with certainty that the streets are much safer today than in the 1980s due to bike lanes, bike traffic lights and driver education. But why is it that as soon as they put in bike lanes they are encroached upon by e-bikes, scooters and soon by delivery companies (Fedex, DHL, Amazon etc.) using bicycle carts? My biggest frustrations: cyclists riding in the wrong direction, pedestrians standing in the bike lane waiting for the light to change with their faces glued to their phones wearing earbuds, and people wheeling shopping carts piled 3 stories high with bottles and cans.
9
@Steve725
The delivery companies have as much of a right to use the lanes as anyone else. they are using them in part because the bike lanes have in some places eliminated other lanes of traffic (though they usually illegally double parked and blocked those lanes). BUt one of the alternatives is they park in the bicycle lanes so they will probably be in the way one way or another no matter what.
2
@David
"The delivery companies have as much of a right to use the lanes as anyone else. "
But not speeding e-bikes
Bikes do not obey the laws and there is little enforcement. Navagating the streets for pedestrians has become an obstacle course. Bikes jump lights, stop signs, ride the wrong way, ride on sidewalks, and many do not have lights. At night, it becomes worse as they are unseen. The city needs to either enforce the laws of the road or shut the program down before more blood is in the streets.
29
@amy pedestrians are just as guilty: crossing the street when they have a don't walk sign, walking in bike lanes (or in the street if there are no bike lanes), etc. Maybe we should enforce j-walking statutes...
6
@Ben Yup, pedestrians are SO much worse when it comes to jaywalking and related violations, and they don't even pay attention half the time. That's why we'll never get to Vision Zero. I think bike messengers/delivery people could behave differently, but even when most recreational/commuter cyclists technically violate a traffic law, it's done with "care". Like slowly rolling through a red light -- usually to get a head start and/or get out of the way of vehicular traffic, but being sure not to get in the way of crossing pedestrians (even though they're standing in the bike lanes half the time).
3
Now that it gets dark early, how about cyclists who have yet to discover that most wonderful invention: HEADLIGHTS! It does no good to look both ways when you can’t see it coming anyway because it is too dark. Maybe I should get one of those 1000 watt military flashlights so they can see ME!
13
As a lifelong New York Pedestrian, I've been pleased to see the City become more accommodating to bikes, but I wish cyclists would return the favor by obeying the most basic rules of the road.
Any pedestrian in NYC can tell you that it is suicidal to assume all traffic on a one way street will be in the correct direction; bikes regularly zip across the street going the wrong way, and pedestrians have to be prepared for that, as well as the bicyclists who make a sport of zipping through an intersection after the light has changed, knowing they will not risk the same penalties an automobile will incur for running a red light with impunity.
Too many bike operators (I reject the passive phrase "bike riders") behave as if they are in the Wild West, and the laws regarding operating a vehicle that can kill, and yes, a bike can kill, are merely suggestions.
20
I think that many bicyclists and those who use non-motorized wheeled transportation of various sorts picked up their bad habits as kids both in Manhattan and other areas of the country and other countries of the world. Face it: New York City is a magnet for everyone from everywhere. Yeah, they stay in hotels when visiting. What a concept!
It is hard to break bad walking, bicycling and driving habits after decades. Manhattan is certainly a unique environment and I applaud the efforts being made there to improve the situation for all. Bike lanes are definitely part of the mix, solving multiple problems such as the use of gasoline (a finite resource), health and environmental issues, and safety. Cars still kill a bunch. We call it a "social cost". Bicycles don't come close. Even pedestrians can often be responsible for avoidable accidents and injury to others trying to avoid their heedless actions.
This article has increased my awareness of the problems of navigating the streets of The City. I remember being surprised by the presence of bike lanes after not having driven in Manhattan for many years.
New York City is a fast-paced, exciting place to be. I always feel the energy radiating from the people there. They are basically good, helpful and considerate. They only answer is for everyone to slow down a bit, imagine yourself as a motorist, bicyclist and pedestrian - all at once - and expect the unexpected!
1
. . . past two pricey hotels, the St. Regis New York, where one night in a suite costs as much as $4,695, and the Peninsula, where deluxe suites go for as much as $5,495 a night.
Sorry, spending this much on a hotel room doesn't buy you the bike lane.
Everyone needs to look out, motorists, cyclists, doormen, pedestrians, e-scooter riders, truck delivery people, yes, even the 1%
14
@Kalkat
This is America - people who spend $5000/night for an hotel room are certainly more important than people who probably couldn't even afford to own a limo - just ask Donald.
The giveaway is buried deep in the story, a bike lane was put in on the street where people thought it wouldn’t take away a parking lane. Get rid of all this low cost parking on the street that forces everybody else into too-limited spaces. There is far too much accommodation of drivers and parking, usually in private cars, on congested midtown streets. Then you’ll have more space to work with.
13
Bicyclists should obey laws, too. Pedestrians have right of way, over your need for speed. Travel the same direction as vehicle traffic. Pedal defensively. In California we have to stay 3 feet away from them, but bicyclists constantly violate this rule.
22
The most dangerous element of all bike lanes are motorized vehicles, bikes. scooters, skateboards, and others. The city has to make a decision. Are bike lanes for pedaled bikes or motorized vehicles. Shouldn't motorized vehicles be licensed and in the roadway. Five years ago I rarely came across a motorized vehicle. Now one-third of the traffic in bike lanes is motorized. Most proceed at 20 mph or better. In a couple more years I'm sure it will be more than fifty percent.
14
@Anne Albright Ding Ding Ding! Those delivery men going both directions at 30 mph on a 100lb bike need to be in the road with the cars.
5
It seems like the bike lane shown also places cyclists in the direct line of opening car doors. I think I would choose to ride in a regular traffic lane to avoid doors and pedestrians. I commute and do errands by bike and choose my routes for safety. Thus I often avoid a local bike/walk path due to lunging dogs and oblivious walkers.
7
The reason cyclists do not respect hotel crosswalks is because there is no other place in the city where the crosswalk only crosses the bike lane and not the entire road, reducing visibility. It's confusing, and the signs to "slow down" only further muddles the messaging (it should say YIELD, and a flashing light wouldn't hurt). The way it's set up now, it looks more like someone temporarily illegally parking and encroaching the bike lane rather than a crosswalk.
Another issue: if someone flings their door open to get out of a limo at one of these tiny crosswalks, there is very little time left for the cyclist to react.
These mini-crosswalks should be removed, and the pedestrian should look over their shoulders before leaving their cars, just as though they were parking besides any other bike lane in the city. Why should hoteliers and their clients get special treatment?
8
Underregulated vehicles have taken away the ability to relax. Sure cars are deadly and drivers run red lights, but generally not 5 seconds or more after the light has gone red. So, if you are super safety conscious, like me, you wait the few seconds until all cars have come to a stop and you cross. Pretty safe. But now, with cyclists, ebikes, escooters, hover boards etc. all zipping around without regard for any rules of the road, you simply can't relax. Look left, look right, quickly repeat over and over, even on the sidewalk.
12
"The tension between bicyclists and doormen was probably inevitable."
NYTimes it was not. Multiple design solutions exist:
-Even a slight height difference between the sidewalk and the bike lane (called grade-separated in transportation lingo) would make it very clear where bikes and pedestrians are expected to be and cross. This is common in Copenhagen.
-Moving the bike lane to the side of the street with the lowest number of loading zones & valets, since this is a one way street.
-A wider buffer would also give people more room to step out of the car with luggage before crossing the bike lane. To do that parking on one side of the street would likely need to be removed. The real conflict of this story is not between two vulnerable classes of road users in 8ft of space, but the adjacent 3 lanes for automobiles that sit quietly in the background.
9
I used to loathe cyclists until I recently started riding a CitiBike because it was by far the most efficient way for me to commute to work. What I've come realize is that everyone (motorists, cyclists, pedestrians) thinks they have the right of way and acts accordingly. Instead, we should all try to follow the rules and yield to the most vulnerable, whether or not they are in the right or wrong. And the police should help enforce the rules of the road equally among all so that we learn to better respect each other's spaces.
12
@Emily Emily nails it.
This is also why the most effective thing for bicycle safety is to get more people onto bikes. Once you see things from all perspectives, you're much more likely to be attentive to the safety of all users.
3
NYC is a tourist mecca. A significant percent of pedestrians are not from NYC and as such are not used to bike lanes or are not aware they even exist. Regarding hotel entrances; I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of hotel guests come from places where bike lanes don't exist.
I also criticize the inconsistent implementation of bike lanes and lack of messaging. In Chicago the bike lanes are sometimes by the curb and sometimes in the street. They are poorly marked except at intersections - otherwise it's just a random white stripe in some places and a double white stripe in others. I wish they would use a different color.
One last thing, I think they need to start issuing license plates for bikes. This will reduce the simmering criticism that bikers don't pay the same fees to use the streets that vehicle owners pay. I don't know if this is a political issue in NYC, just giving the Chicago perspective.
9
@Sean
Study after study has shown that licensing bicycles would cost more than the program would take in, especially if I pay according to weight as is done for vehicle registration fees (since a 3 ton SUV will certainly do 3 tons more damage than my 30 pound bicycle), not to mention taking up about 30 times more space on the road.
Additionally, car owners do not at all cover the cost of building and maintaining roads. Drivers love to think they do, but you DON'T! Your registration fees and gas taxes are a drop in the bucket compared to what these things actually cost. Plus, consider pollution, climate change, car storage (aka parking), congestion, and all of the other things that come with dirty, disgusting, huge vehicles that usually carry one person at a time and then sit idle for 95% of their lives.
3
@Sean should the 10 year olds on bicycles have license plates too?
@Sean LO. Most of us own cars. We already pay. Why not just call it what it is...anti-bike bias. We know. You're not the first nor will you be the last who wants us to pay twice.
4
I agree with the previous comment about taking quite a while before people get used to bicycle lanes. I was in Copenhagen several years ago on a tour and the bus driver would get out and make sure that as we got off the bus, we watched out for bicycles. I was only there a short time and never really got used to the bike lanes. Plus the bike riders rode very fast and us older folks could not move that fast. Both pedestrians and bike riders need to watch out for each other.
3
As a pedestrian, I am much more terrified of the bikes than the cars. When I am crossing at a traffic light, the cars all stop when I have the light but the bikes do not stop and go racing through. They also go the wrong way on the streets and ride on the sidewalks. There is no way to stay out of their way.
81
@Ckern
Then you're a fool. In 2017 the number of pedestrians killed by cars in NYC hit its lowest value in over 100 years: 101 deaths.
In this decade, fewer than ten pedestrians have been killed in bike crashes.
9
@Joe C
People don't have to die for the possibility of being hit by a fast moving cyclist to inspire fear. There is nothing foolish about not wanting to be terrified when crossing the street because you might be knocked down; possibily killed, break a leg, a hip. or your skull or even get injured in a minor way by someone who is silently and carelessly biking through red lights or traveling in the wrong direction.
The infrequency of deaths by bikes does not make it ever OK or not serious enough to fear. One needless death is too many.
Almost everyone in this city, including car drivers and bikers, are pedestrians sometimes. The elderly, handicapped, or anyone otherwise unable to move quickly should feel safe when they cross with the light and in a crosswalk from all vechicles that should obey traffic rules and stop, including bikes. Parents should not fear for their children who are obeying the rules.
It is wonderful that biking is becoming a popular means of transportation for the segment of the able and willing population. However, walking is a very healthy and environmentally friendly means of transportation that should be encouraged and enabled. Pedestrians deserve to be highly valued, allowed to enjoy walking without fear and not have their safety sacrificed to accommodate those self centered bikers who do not accept that traffic rules apply to them and think people they frighten are "foolish."
13
@ML exactly this. Yes one bad driver can cause more physical damage more easily than a cyclist. But I see many more cyclists spurn traffic laws in dangerous ways than drivers. I'm convinced I'm more likely to be injured by an accident with a cyclist than a car because I see many more close calls with cyclists. It's not unreasonable to be afraid.
7
The National Motorists Association asks that everyone using the streets of NYC to use the same road rules and be careful out there! No one ever wants to hurt or kill anyone and everyone needs to remember that they are also responsible for their own safety as well as that of other road users! Thanks NYT for writing an interesting take on the bike lane controversy!
1
@Shelia How many people did automobiles kill or seriously injure in New York this week? How about over the last ten years? Now compare this to the numbers for bicycles. Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for children 1-19. To pretend like a 35 lb bike going 15 MPH presents the same threat as a 5,000 lb car going 40 MPH is the NMA specialty. It’s a lie.
1
@Shelia Dunn
Okay, so you're good with me blocking all lanes of traffic at my leisure?
This is a favorite tactic of drivers, who treat the one and only bike lane as their personal parking or standing area, knowing they will never get ticketed.
Y'know, just so we're all "using the same rules of the road".
Funny how no one _wants_ to hurt or kill anyone, but drivers still do it at hundreds is times the rates of other road users.
1
Just look both ways before stepping off of the curb and only cross at designated crossings. We learned this basic skill in pre-school (or earlier) so why is this such a difficult concept for adult pedestrians?
9
@KT Totally, and pedestrians crossing the street shouldn't be standing and loitering in the bike lane.
Basically the police need to start writing tickets for more cyclists (I am a cyclist and racked up quite a bill in red light tickets and now I'm very conscious of it) and also pedestrians in the bike lanes.
Hit people in the wallet and the behavior will change.
1
@KT Why should we have to look both ways on a one way street?
6
@Paul’52 Because some bike messenger might be going the wrong way at high speed.
It's always remarkable to me how these conflicts arise and become entrenched because nobody wants to pay attention to traffic regulations. Look both ways. Don't go the wrong direction down a one-way street. Stop at stop signs. Don't pull your car into a bike lane. Etc. An awful lot of the arguing would be moot if people would just be diligent about following the law. I guess that's a tall order especially in a big city, but it's frustrating to me to see these conversations happen again and again and again.
8
@QTCatch10 As a frequent all-of-this (cyclist, pedestrian, driver, transit user), I get really tired of reports that fail to mention that a pedestrian darting mid-block across a bike lane is failing to yield to oncoming cyclists. I think cyclists really should be cautious when passing hotel loading zones regardless... and that's a reasonable expectation!... but no pedestrian has a right to be incensed about a collision they caused.
In all fairness to the public, the DOT has tried to have it both-ways with hotels and bicycle infrastructure, and it's a failure. The hotels let any/all vehicles block the lanes entirely. Either hotels should be designed with pull-in areas that aren't designed to obstruct sidewalks or traffic lanes... or the hotels should understand that sidewalks and bike lanes must be kept clear by their customers, just like every other business or property owner in the city.
12
I notice you didn’t mention any rules guys on bikes are expected to follow.
Why is that?
4
I think they have this backwards -- it's the pedestrians stepping into the bike lane that need to be aware that there's crossing traffic. It's inappropriate for these hotel porters to be stopping cyclists for their guests; they wouldn't go this far for cars.
27
Denver has implemented the same kind of unsafe bike lane inventions intended to be safer for cyclists. Seems the traffic engineers are missing a human behaviorlist on their teams. It would take generations to make this kind of bike lane a subconscious mental note prompting every pedestrian and parker, tourist and citizen alike, to exercise caution. The space between a vehicle and the curb is subconsciously a "safe" place for pedestrians - the moving vehicles are (well, should be) on the other side. Now we place cyclists and scooters in the same space as pedestrians with upwards of 20 mph of relative speed. I merge into the traffic lane on those blocks, at the risk of being honked off the road for not "sticking" to my bike lane. Thank you New York and Denver for accomodating cyclists but this cyclist much prefers to be on the driver side of a parked vehicle in a sharrow where I have room to be safe and the consequences of being unsafe less involve unsuspecting pedestrians.
2
Once again a perspective pitting socioeconomic groups against each other. More cyclist groups forming with their own elitist views that they are “green” and better for all. How about an article about pedestrians who get the green light to cross a street? Cars stop and bikes do not. Well actually more and more delivery bikes stop but private cyclists do not or they pause once they pass the crosswalk just to check traffic to protect themselves. They do NOT follow the rules of the road.
52
@Harvey B Well your choice is to (1) just deal with the cyclists who may occasionally roll through red lights (usually taking care to avoid crossing pedestrians, who don't typically reciprocate in the opposite situation) because they're not very well-timed for the rate of speed at which human powered bicycles travel, or (2) expect protests to change the timing on the lights so that a Citibiker doesn't have to stop every 3 blocks.
1
@Harvey B This comment has not aged well - see the article about the 3 year old who was run over by a F-250 (after the 2 pedestrians were killed in a crash yesterday on 23rd and Park Ave {with 5 other injuries}).
I've biked on this new bike lane - the DOT should have removed parking on one side of the street and created a much wider buffer between the bike lane and the parking lane. There is just not enough room here.
2
@Harvey B "They are all criminals" - while this is a statement that is terribly deprived of either situational nuance or factual basis, I wonder how you came to the conclusion that only rich "elite" people ride bicycles, and I wonder why you think pitting all cyclists against all pedestrians (when most adults can ride a bicycle and all cyclists are occasionally pedestrians) is any more appropriate than the thing you're calling out
1
Anyone who is mobility impaired and who needs for hire transportation is at risk. I saw an 85 year old woman's cane struck by a cyclist as she attempted to get a for hire car. It's nice that Corey Johnson and DeBlasio provide subsidized lanes and bikes for rich kids in Manhattan. I would vote for anyone who would get rid of bike lanes. Worst thing in the city in years. Since we have the homelessness and drugs of the 80s at least get rid of bike lanes as well.
36
@John Nivem Agreed. Cyclists should share the travel lanes with motor vehicles and observe all motor-vehicle laws. I am an avid cyclist but when I'm walking, I have much greater concern about being hit by a bicycle than a motor vehicle.
34
@KC and John, sadly you are both wrong. So short sighted. Just because something is uncomfortable or unpopular does not mean we shoud get rid of it. Conversely just because something that has been around for a long time does not mean we need to keep it.Look at slavery in the South....Time to move forward folks
Once again, blame the bikes. Why is the New York Times so pro-car in New York? Yes, there can and should be better design for lanes and so on, and delivery companies in particular need to be held more responsible. But at the end of the day more bikes and bike lanes is a good thing.
17
Lannock, I believe more bike Lanes are an asset for NYC. I use only public transportation and do not own a car here. That being said; there is a fraction of the bicyclist population here that exhibit little if any regard for people crossing bike lanes. I often witness cyclists failing to yield or stop for lights while cursing any who won't yield to them. I believe all of us, including cyclists, delivery people, and motorists share a responsibility to respect the others.
20
@John apparently pedestrians need to yield the right of way in most situations, which I learned by reading these comments
E-bikes are illegal in Manhattan? Ha! How would all the couch potatoes get their Seamless delivered without them? Laws only work when they're enforced. The only mode of transport that follows any rules at all are cars and trucks because they're registered and would suffer consequences in the form of tickets and moving violations and points on their drivers licenses if they ran amok like pedestrians and bike riders.
5
@Lil Wumpa Note that the bill waiting for Cuomo's signature would establish electric bicycle classes statewide, with no carve outs for any borough or county (but a very weird "no e-bikes in Hudson River Park" provision that the park demanded, even though pedal assist bikes are legal there & everywhere today). Mr. Barron confused "kick scooter share" programs with electric bicycles; kick scooters with electric throttles would also be legalized by the bill, but the one carve out would be that New York county could not have a scooter share program without explicit lawmaker permission. Other counties would be able to establish it with no legal maneuvering. All counties would have legal e-scooter classes for private users.
(Another confusion about this: state law as-it-is establishes classes of vehicles, bicycles, mopeds, etc. The newer e-bikes do not fit into the existing classifications. The bill intends to add them so that users do not get "unclassified vehicle" tickets from the cops. They're not explicitly banned. The bill would likely encourage users to gravitate toward e-bike and scooter types that have capped speeds, no licensing requirements & are easier to use.)
A a pedestrian, what I look out for when crossing at the light is the bike lane. Odds of bikers stopping despite the light being red in their direction, slim to none.
45
I'm a rider in NYC. I have had no accidents in 20 years. My fellow cyclists embarrass me. So, a bit of advice...you are invisible, no one sees you. If someone is playing with their cell phone in their car or on the street they will not see you.
The cars and people don't care if you live or die.
So slow down. you only have one life in this obstacle game. It doesn't matter if you are right, you will be maimed at best.
13
@Ray Even people who are paying close attention cannot see cyclists, and particularly not cyclists going the wrong way on a one-way, whether they are in bike lanes or not.
Particularly this is the case when the bike lane is in shade or the evening is beginning, and the bike has no lights, the biker wears dark clothes. That thin vertical profile is invisible in the dim light. Or when riding in out of the direction of sun glare at those times of the day.
Add to that the pedestrian who also is short-sighted -- it's utter disaster.
Moreover this sudden proliferation of bikes that are essentially small trucks, with closed wagons or coaches pulled behind -- this is utter disaster. One can't see around them either.
I prefer cars and trucks because I can see them, they obey traffic laws to a degree that far outnumber the cyclists that do.
But with the sidewalks going to the restaurants, the amazilla order distributors, etc. -- there is nowhere in this city for a pedestrian carrying her groceries and dry cleaning to walk. Or just to walk, period.
This used to be the most wonderful walking city but now it's a risk to life and limb to walk here.
29
@Compte Foixx .. True! And there's practically nowhere for a pedestrian to move quickly along the sidewalks either... Tourists walking slowly, and multiple baby carriages spread out all along the sidewalks.. Sheds, especially along Broadway on the UWS that never get taken down. Cyclists knocking us over are just a part of the chaos we New Yorkers have to put up with traversing our formally wonderful and easy to manipulate city.
3
When in Vienna I feel safe walking around. No wonder after reading the city bicycle regulations below.
https://www.wien.gv.at/english/transportation-urbanplanning/cycling/traffic-rules.html
But the key word above is "urban planning", which is lacking in NYC: there is only building planning!
5
@seth Thanks for posting that. That Zebra crossings rule would be ideal in the situation presented in the story.
Obviously as with all transit methods some will follow the rules and others will not but its a good start.
1
You cannot “retrofit” bike lanes into a huge city like NYC that was never designed for them and have traffic (cars, pedestrians, bikes and scooters) run smoothly and safely.
Cars, pedestrians and bikes in such close proximity are dangerous even when people obey the rules.
The problem are the intersections. Bikes crossing street corners that cars MUST use. Cars crossing bike lanes when turning onto a cross street. Both crossing pedestrian walkways. And hundreds of thousands of pedestrians obstructing the view of car drivers and bikers at intersections.
The only way to fix this would be to elevate the bike lanes and make pedestrian crossing bridges at the busiest intersections to SEPARATE all these different modes of “transportation.”
Elevating the bike lanes is, alas, economically and architecturally impossible (as a practical matter!) But what does all this matter. Just trot out more and more Citibike stations for more and more novice bikers who in many cases have no idea what the rules of the road are!!!
Madness begetting more madness!!
13
@SAH So why not just ban cars from big chunks of Manhattan, with exceptions for medical necessities and work vehicles? Individual cars just take up too much space for them to be a practical method of transportation around a crowded island city core. Leave them a few routes, and reclaim the rest for pedestrians and bikers.
10
@SAH You realize, don't you, that most of NYC was designed, laid out, and built before automobiles, don't you? Bicycles and pedestrians were there first, but we've just become accustomed to the (mis) behaviour of automobiles, and thus they're natural and right.
On an unrelated note: it's interesting that the writer focused on vehicle damage, and to a lesser extent pedestrian injuries. For each of those dents, I bet there was a bruise and scrape on the cyclist. It seems to escape people that if a pedestrian and cyclist collide, the cyclist gets just as badly hurt as the person on foot, if not mores so if it's a slight contact and the cyclist goes down.
8
@PaulH
I agree the City was laid out originally BEFORE automobiles. But then it transformed itself for auto traffic. And the way it’s laid out bike traffic can never be safe.
Get rid of cars. A nice thought but very few people will continue to ride bikes for transportation in the dead of winter, or on days that it’s pouring rain, especially if it’s windy. Or if they have a lot of luggage/cargo/just plain “stuff” where a car trunk is required.
I’d agree that public transportation should take up the slack. But until the City gets really, REALLY serious about fixing the subways and area rail lines like the abominable NJ Transit, so people can actually leave their cars at home, cutting back on cars cannot work.
Nobody likes the traffic jams. Nobody takes their car into the city to drive around day in and day out because they love it!! But the alternatives, for millions, are atrocious!!
Adding bikes without fixing mass transit just makes the traffic jams worse.
2
My favorite is the speeding biker with the whistle in the mouth ever-ready to whistle at virtually everyone to get out of his way. He is a dangerous speeding bullet. I have no statistics but it is just a matter of time for these speeding bikers to hurt somebody and themselves. Cops dont do anything about it. Poor judgement all around.
19
When in NYC , I sometimes use friend’s bikes or CitiBike. I enjoy getting places faster and using my body instead of sitting. However, the bike delivery guys on their ebikes can be intimidating. They use the bike lanes, go fast and appear to feel they are enough in control that they can swerve around people who step in front of their path, but they are simply risking everyone’s safety to make that delivery. I do believe more bike lanes are needed to ease the sea of cars we have grown accustomed to accepting as normal. Cars cause more damage to people and the environment as a whole. But the dangerous bike rider should not be immune to tickets or being pulled over for reckless driving either. Try to imagine a world where cars didn’t dominate the landscape and instead pedestrians, bikes, and comfortable public transportation allowed us to move around without having to sit behind the wheel breathing in exhaust from automobiles, paying for insurance, tune ups, tires and the cost of the car.
5
I lived in NYC for 20 years and would walk for miles and miles. I'm used to the way that cars in the city often drive like maniacs, how pedestrians routinely walk into the street (in the crosswalk) before the light turns, and how bike riders that follow traffic rules are the exception rather than the rule. The challenge I have (like others have said) is that cyclists have no training requirements and no accountability when they break traffic laws. I was hit by a bike (crossing with the walk light in the middle of rush hour across 2nd ave at 75th St, along with at least 20-40 other people) and a cyclist decided to speed through the red light. He ran right into me and, I missed hitting my head on the pavement by inches because I was able to catch myself and let my arm take the impact. He did stop to apologize before speeding away, while other pedestrians began shouting at him and about how challenging crossing the street legally has gotten since the bike lanes have been installed. With the tradition of cyclists not following traffic rules, there needs to be some kind of licensing, training, and a way to enforce it when laws are broken. I'm incredibly lucky I wasn't killed that night--had I been someone less physically able to catch myself before my head hit the pavement, the situation would have been much worse--but the most irritating part about it was the entitlement of so many cyclists--that red doesn't mean stop for THEM--when, actually, red means stop for ALL of us.
97
The Bike lanes are great for kids and delivery men, for pedestrians and older citizens not so much. In addition Bicycle refers to human powered two wheel vehicles, not silent, motorized contraptions.Those should be classified as Motorcycles and should be licensed as such, and should be required to have license plates, insurance, and headlights.
25
@Jane S I"m a citi bike user and love it but lately those "motorized contraptions" have really become hazardous for those of us especially in the bike lanes. there is no warning noise - they're a silent killer, coming up behind you with absolutely nothing to warn of their impending whizzing by you. I've been very lucky several times recently when one of them passed by me at my elbow and if I had just made the wrong move by inches to the right or left I would have been clobbered by one of them cruising along at what, 30 miles an hour? (They pass by you at such a speed it feels like you're standing still. ). So why are these motorized bikes aloud to operate like cars in the bike lane? This is a 'bike wreck' waiting to happen. Please understand that this really is happening and is jeopardizing any bike user any time they get out there on a bike. It's that bad. If these motorized bikes are operating like cars they don't belong in the bike lane.
18
Rather than focusing on "high-end" hotels, why not just discuss the issue relating to all pedestrians who need curbside access?
For example, medical offices, facilities and hospitals.
Consider an elderly or disabled person who has a medical appointment, trying to get in or out of a vehicle - and confronted by bicyclists whizzing by....
NYC bicyclists are egregious in their disregard for pedestrians...
61
As a careful bicyclist who rides slowly and looks around, I look forward to pedestrians and cars taking bicyclists seriously as having a rightful place in the transport system especially in bike lanes.I look forward to bikers not speeding, especially the wrong way on streets and bike paths. I look forward to when all the three groups act less entitled and more aware of each other. For instance, bikers race downhill on Riverside Drive from the north expecting everyone to get out of their way. One almost killed a friend's dog this way. Not okay. Everyone has had a delivery man (et al) speeding on an electric bike pop out of nowhere or come at you the wrong way whether you are a car, biker or pedestrian. Pedestrians walking out mid block on phones are dangerous for all. They need to really view bikes like cars and not enter cross walks against the light when they see a biker coming or stand in the bike lane as they hail cabs or ready to cross the road. Bikers need to be courteous and slow down or stop when someone is moving slowly in front of them. No one can be oblivious. I agree. Most bike lanes are very scary. On side streets they afford little protection for anyone. On main bike lanes, until others view them as a lane where the bikes come first, they will remain lethal to navigate for all. Better education: signage in cabs, buses, streets, airport handouts, hotels, when getting drivers licenses? Speed bumps (RSD)? Enforcement? A political climate/world encouraging civility?
15
@area
Civility on NYC streets? You must be joking; you take your life in your hands if you're on foot. Pedestrian is the lowest class of transport and is treated accordingly.
1
Bikes are used for transportation all over the world. I am familiar with Europe where, in Denmark and the Netherlands bicycles are the dominant form of transportation. Germany also has many cyclists for basic life purposes. They coexist with pedestrians and autos. The key is defined lanes for bikers and pedestrians and respect for the need to follow the rules. Watching Germans waiting at the corner for the light to turn green seems to take the interactive sport out of being a New Yorker, but abiding by the rules provides functionality. We should study examples that work. Tickets $$$ can be a motivator to accept and adapt to change.
14
as far as i can tell, the main issue that New York pedestrians (of whom i have been one for 45 years) is that we have to look both ways before we cross the street. I think we can adapt and survive just fine, as people have everywhere else.
the cars, on the other hand: they drive like lunatics, endanger and kill, and need to be regulated to within an inch of their existence on the island of manhattan.
17
The police or traffic enforcement need to give tickets to cars or trucks parked in the byke lanes making in dangerous for all concerned.
To get around the double parked vehicle a bike must go into traffic or ride the side walk which can endanger themselves or pedestrians.
21
@Mandarine They also need to give tickets to the bicyclists who totally ignore the rules of the road, blow through lights, weave in and out around cars and pedestrians, etc. etc. etc.
26
@A concerned citizen They need to give tickets to everybody/anybody who is not behaving safely.
6
@A concerned citizen Yup, and lets bring Guiliani back and start ticketing jaywalking pedestrians as well.
Sometimes you just have to let common sense and common courtesy rule. Bikes *are* capable of "jaywalking" without being a danger to pedestrians. If someone is riding irresponsibly, yes, I agree, they should be ticketed. But ticketing a bicycle rider for jumping the light to get a head start because the signals aren't timed well for our speed is not going to help the issue.
2
It is clear from many of the comments and actual experience, motorists are the only ones held accountable in obeying the rules of the road.
As a former walker in the city I must confess to getting a jump crossing the street before it turns green especially on the avenues. Doing so and walking at a brisk pace allows one to make the light at many streets before getting caught at another red light.
4
Let me bring in an outside perspective. I live in New Hampshire but go the the City frequently on business. I walk a lot, sometimes use shared bikes, sometimes an Uber. Even pedicabs. I grew up riding in Cambridge, MA, and that is like New York, just much less congested. Nowadays I ride a bike as much as 100 miles a week for fun and exercise, not for transportation. Yet Even out here bicyclists ignore most traffic laws, so I don’t think it’s unique to NYC. Laws are never enforced. Never.
The comparison with European cities is useless. Those are places where cyclists are much more common, where cities are less congested, and where cyclist, pedestrians and drivers all obey the laws. This is vanishingly unlikely in NYC. In many European cities it is ok to ride on the sidewalk, riders are more courteous, and many sidewalks are much wider than those in New York.
But in NYC the congestion seems to get worse ever time I visit. Fewer cars and trucks would help. So would fixing the subway (which I hate so much I avoid using). So would enforcement of laws violated by cyclists. Now imagine if motorized vehicles, other than delivery trucks, cabs, black cars and ubers were prohibited from, say, Columbia Circle to Union Square. That would quickly reduce the number of motorized vehicles above and below those streets.
NYC is close to being permanently gridlocked. Drastic measures are needed to fix it before it grinds to a permanent halt.
22
All the commenters complaining about bikers who don't observe traffic regulations should consider how much better NYC would be if every driver observed the same regulations - and if they were enforced aggressively. How many bikers routinely exceed speed limits, as most cars do? When you know that cars and trucks will cut into your lane without warning, stop short in the middle of a bike lane to let out passengers, speed up on yellow lights, and fail to yield the right of way on turns, then as a biker you learn to take self-preserving actions yourself. That includes swerving suddenly into a traffic lane or onto a sidewalk, or anticipating a green light when you know that the car to your left is going to cut you off to make a right turn (you can tell by the angle of their front wheels). Sure, ticket bikers for running red lights, but only if you do the same for drivers.
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@dschulen amen. as I like to say, i'll stop at red lights on my bicycles when drivers start doing the same
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why are Bicyclists not licensed like drivers? Too many Bicyclists do not understand that they are a danger to pedestrians. I suffered a permanent damage to a nerve in muy hand decades ago when I tried to stop a Bicyclists from running me over. The majority of Bicyclists do not obey any traffic laws or common sense for that matter. Some are texting while biking. Many are paying more attention to their phone than the road.
A small test one basic rules of the road for bicyclists would not eliminate the problem entirely, but it would establish the rules of acceptable biking behavior.
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@Professor Ice- Since bikes are not licensed, almost every time a bike harms a pedestrian the rider simply pedals [if he doesn't have an electric motor] away. Basically a hit and run. And since they have no license or insurance, it doesn't really mater.
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@Professor Ice It would also help to require front and back lighting on the bikes so they could be seen in the dark. And helmets. And side reflectors. And common sense on the part of the riders who think THEY now own the streets.
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@Professor Ice Yes, a test and license will ensure no one violates the rules of the road, which is why licensed drivers killed and injured no one last year, and never operate a vehicle while texting or drunk.
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Those stripes by the doorman's feet are a cross walk and those little triangles are yield signs. They hold the full force of law.
However, the law in New York State is that all vehicles must STOP, not yield for pedestrians in a crosswalk. You can't drive though until the pedestrian vacates the crosswalk. Yes, that means all lanes, not just the one in front of you.
DOT must place STOP signs at each of these hotel crosswalks or you'll never solve this.
The irony here is that by protecting cyclists the city has recklessly imperiled pedestrians.
Cyclists are made of the same stuff as drivers and are every bit as dangerous and selfish, even more so; They habitually run red lights and stop signs. You want to get hit by a heavy electric bike going 30 MPH? I don't.
Bikes need lights and license plates so we can report dangerous riders, they need safety training and licenses, they need to pay registration fees so they contribute to the infrastructure and law enforcement.
They other day I saw a NYPD radio car pull over a bike rider who ran a red light. So there's hope. Every time you pass a cop, ask them to enforce the bike laws.
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@Mike B
The example in the article was that a cab pulled over in this ersatz crosswalk & then the hotel guest was going to swing their door open and exit into the path of the oncoming cyclist. I'm sure if the cyclist stopped and displayed a license plate, that would have made up for everything the passenger of the car was about to illegally do.
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@Mike B
You're wrong on the crosswalk thing. Drivers don't have to stop the entire time they a pedestrian is in a crosswalk regardless of lane, they simply have to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
If I'm in the left lane and the only one in the crosswalk, you can absolutely legally drive through the middle or center lane.
https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/opdm/local-programs-bureau/repository/pedestrian/resources/faq.html
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The yield symbols are correct. The rule is "yield to pedestrians in crosswalk." Yield means to stop if pedestrians are present, but keep going if there are no pedestrians. A stop sign would mean stop even if the crosswalk is empty. Perhaps stopping would make sense, but that's not the current law.
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With NYC far safer and cameras everywhere and door technology improving by the day, many of the traditional elements of a doorman’s job are going away. First, the night time doorman position will be eliminated because residents will open doors electronically and cameras and alarms will provide safety. A doorman hailing a taxi for a resident will also go away with the rise of Uber and Lyft. And the ‘right’ of a person ‘Jay walking’ into the middle of a crowded street to enter a car will need to be regulated better. Many cities have specific pick-up and drop-off zones to keep traffic safe and flowing. A doorman in uniform, leaving his post, and using a police whistle (illegal by the way) to hail down a taxi and then holding an umbrella (on a day like today) so the building resident remains dry while they disrupt traffic to enter a yellow cab are going away. My day time doorman is too busy sorting Amazon packages to be hailing taxis and many buildings have ‘bike rooms’ and Citibike stations nearby because that’s what residents want. It’s a different and better city as a result.
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I am afraid for the doormen, who are going to be hurt trying to protect their passengers. That could put them out of a job permanently.
In my city bikes use crosswalks, roads, and bike lanes any which way they wish, and pay no attention to traffic signals, even those specifically for cyclists. There are no consequences for cyclists breaking the law; they have no identifying information, no license plates, and there is no enforcement. Empty-headed day cyclists electric scooters/bikes are the worst. They barely have control of their bikes, forget paying attention to their surroundings.
Perhaps all those cameras for cars breaking the law should be trained on the cyclists - except there are no identifying plates...
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@ms
Yes, I saw this in Indianapolis. I actually yelled at two seniors who were riding on the sidewalk and rang their bells at me, and I'm 61 and I had the right of way.
The cops told me it's a $20 fine, but they don't write it.
They also allow electric scooters on sidewalks. Crazy.
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@ms Quick question, how many people have been killed by bikes in "your city" this year, and how many have been killed by cars? I think those numbers might inform you of the relative risk of these two types of vehicles.
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@Mike B More than crazy; it's negligent.
Doormen in NYC who put their livelihoods on the line for their patrons are at high risk. They are dealing with tourists who are disoriented and unfamiliar with NYC. That increases their risk of injury.
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Great shot of a wheel-grabber sewer grate taking up most of the bike lane in front of the St. James Hotel. There's a bike lane that's reduced to an effective width of about six inches.
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@Joe D Not a wheel grabber grate.
There's no question that people on bikes can and should be more considerate in crowded spaces in this city, but if we want people to chill out and ride in a more relaxed style we need to take more space from cars to expand sidewalks and bike lanes, as is done in other cities. Without doing so, people will continue to feel squeezed, conflicts will continue to happen, and we will all lose sight of who's really killing and injuring people out there: drivers.
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Yes, slot of the aggressive behavior cyclist exhibit is their frustration with cycling infrastructure. You must be hyper viligent when riding in dense city traffic. Experienced cyclist will avoid such areas, by changing their route, or by riding in the car lane.
Bicyclists need to follow the traffic rules and the City needs to enforce them.
If traffic rules were actually enforced for bicyclists, there would be (almost) enough money to fix the subways . Just kidding, but really, bicyclists going the wrong way on one-way streets is a recipe for disaster for pedestrians and for the cyclists.one way streets
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@A Mann this "recipe" doesn't seem to get served very much as an actual dish, insofar as the data is clear: cyclists rarely injure or kill anyone, whereas cars do all the time (this weekend, for example, 4 deaths and 10 injuries in just 2 incidents with cars!!! 14 casualities!)
it's hard to see this kind of (car)nage and take comments like this seriously.
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@Robert Green My comment wasn't meant to suggest that cars aren't the biggest issue; just to point out that bicyclists need to follow the traffic laws and there should be enforcement of those laws.
This isn't about cars vs. bicycles vs. pedestrians. It's about making the streets safer for everyone.
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@A Mann Why should bicyclists have to obey traffic laws that were designed with motor vehicles in mind? Nobody would ever design a bike-only city with one-way streets. Could you imagine if sidewalks were one-way? (Perhaps in Times Sq or Rockefeller Plaza they should be...). When you have to use your own energy, you're going to want to go the most direct route. And circling around the block is not that. Now of course bicyclists who are disobeying motor vehicle laws can and should be cautious and courteous about it, but don't ticket us for running red lights that were designed for cars that travel 25-30 mph if we're not directly putting anyone in danger.
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Common thread of “comments” section is that bike riders DONT follow basic traffic laws, similar to other cities. Until they are issued summons, and their bikes are confiscated until they pay up, these renegades won’t follow the laws. Putting more responsibilities unto pedestrians and drivers is not the answer.
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@Slick Nice try as an appeal to the majority fallacy. Scofflaw cyclists has not been the dominant theme of the comments section. Do you want to talk about lawbreaking? Here in DC, one million speeding tickets were issued in 207 alone to drivers, yet no confiscated cars as a result. The city is sitting on 324 million in unpaid fines, still no consequences. You scorn a blown stop sign yet turn a blind eye to speeding and rolling right on reds. Sustainable transportation isn’t Houston’s model where all but cars are an afterthought.
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The bike lanes are a danger to older pedestrians, which now include me.
I do look but frequently miss approaching bikes, especially at night when so few have warning lights.
And bikes are silent - one never hears them coming.
There is zero enforcement.
No thought was given by the radical Mayor or City Council as to how this would injure pedestrians.
Typical political pandering to a PC mindset.
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@znlgznlg The injury-crash rate for all users (including pedestrians) goes down on streets where a protected bike lane has been installed.
But sure, go with your gut instead of reality.
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@znlgznlg What is the PC mindset you are upset about? Please put that into words for us? We can give all the reasons to have bike lanes that our radical mayor (Bloomberg started the bike lanes) has for adding more bike lanes if you need us to.
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I was in London about a year ago, staying in a part of town with a lot of bicyclists. I was waiting to cross the street, saw a large throng of cyclists headed in my direction....and was absolutely flabbergasted when they all stopped, in response to the red light. As a New Yorker, the notion of bike riders obeying traffic signals was completely foreign to me.
That said, my loathing of NYC bicyclists was significantly reduced by a recent trip to Washington, DC, where it is apparently entirely commonplace for bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk.
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@Maggie
I spend a lot of time in DC and I agree - bicyclists make the sidewalks hell for pedestrians. On many streets, such as 16th St NW, walking has become terrifying.
I'm actually heartened to read these comments about NYC, where bike riders threaten pedestrians **only** when they're near bike lanes.
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@Maggie— right you are. DC cyclists can be a menace. Quite a few fail to observe traffic laws, run red lights, ride on sidewalks and fail to yield to walkers and runners on shared jogging/biking paths.
I wasn’t aware that DC bicyclists are worse than bikers in other locales, but it does explain my wariness of bicyclists generally and my strong dislike for bikers who violate the law or threaten pedestrians.
Plenty of cyclists who go too fast, run red lights, etc. I don't support that. And there are plenty of pedestrians crossing the street when they shouldn't, staring at their iPhones as they do it. Not helping.
But for the tons of motorists who drive way too fast, continually park in bike lanes (which causes cyclists to constantly dodge traffic and maybe care a little less about always being courteous to careless drivers), and have plenty of other extremely annoying habits (laying on the horn when they're 30 cars back at a stop light - just a heads up: that doesn't make traffic move faster), when they drive recklessly, they kill or seriously injure pedestrians and cyclists with minimal risk to themselves.
So maybe let's focus a little less on cars getting scratches that are a couple inches long and more on the fact that motorists are the main factor when it comes to almost all serious traffic-related injuries.
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@SB Motorists are the main factor for serious injuries because vehicles protect their occupants, not because they are the main offenders.
(PS - You could buy a new bike for the cost of fixing those scratches.)
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@ms Cyclists break the rules way too much, just like motorists. Not denying that. But the stakes are much lower for motorists even though they cause way more harm. When you get hit by them, you're getting hit by a few thousand pounds of metal, not a couple hundred pounds of human. And since vehicular passengers are protected, they probably care a little less than cyclists.
When I bike, from start to finish I'm trying to be as aware as possible to avoid the hundreds of obstacles I encounter in a 20 minute ride to work, wondering the whole time if today's the day that a driver is gonna hit and kill me. That's literally every ride. I have a feeling that motorists don't worry every second of every drive whether or not they're gonna get hit and killed at any moment.
PS - I'm not crying over the cost of fixing a ding. I care about the fact that getting hit by a car will cause serious injuries.
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@ms Are you alleging that cyclists cause more injuries than motorists? I'm sorry, but you couldn't be more wrong.
5
Because we cannot alter the width of the streets, perhaps we can alter some of the other pertinent participants in this discussion. Pedestrian width can be changed to some extent with diets but that is not a sensible solution. It would be near impossible to shorten handlebar length without endangering the stability of the bicycle. But the width of cars and trucks can be reduced. If all cars were reduced to Smart Car dimensions, lanes could be reduced in size by at least 16%. Of course, buses, trucks and other vehicle widths would have to be reduced by the same percentages.
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Everyone commenting here should go read the pedestrian guidelines on NY State's Pedestrian Safety Index. Of particular relevance is, "If there isn't a crosswalk, sign or signal at mid-block locations, a pedestrian must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles on the roadway." (http://safeny.ny.gov/peds-ndx.htm#laws) A good solution here to consider is putting in a crosswalk in these locations or one of the standard traffic signs, which would help clarify the situation.
But nothing is going to help those pedestrians who don't pay attention to their surroundings and put their personal safety in the hands of everyone around them but not themselves.
As a cyclist, I have an obligation to follow the law and pay attention to my surroundings, and keep my phone put away in my bag while I am riding. Pedestrians have the same obligations--follow the law, realize that the bike lane is NOT an extension of the sidewalk, pay attention, and not be phone-zombies while walking around.
Doormen shouldn't have to stop people from getting hit by bicycles. At some point, we all need take responsibility for our own safety and behavior.
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The bicycle riders, especially e-bikes, have become a hazard to pedestrians because they think they rule the bike lanes and roads without having to stop for lights or people. I've been nearly hit as bike messengers weave between pedestrians crossing with the light on 34th St. t will be soon climbing statistics of injured or killed pedestrians and the bikers will just get back on the bikes and speed off. Hit and runs. Bicycle riders are not licensed or made to carry insurance like cars.
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@dusdidt
My husband doesn't know how to drive - he only cycles. He absolutely believes cyclists should have a license and pay taxes to cover roads.
It will never happen - - - but some cyclists do "get it" as far as that goes....
Not one cent should be spent on bike lanes until the subways are brought into a state of good repair. Talk about priorities. The cyclists can ride the train like the rest of us.
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By opting out of using cars or public transit, cyclists reduce congestion on the streets (bikes take up a fraction of the space that cars do) as well as the overcrowded subways (increased ridership has put much strain on the NYC subway system) — building more bike lanes would allow more people to feel safe enough to bike in the city and have a net positive effect on the overall congestion.
Look at major European cities like London or Amsterdam. Bikers are part of the solution, not the problem.
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@Bike commuter pedestrians in London (and I was one for years) would tell you the same horror stories New Yorkers do. And the cyclists in those countries (including London) obey traffic laws, New York cyclists do not.
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@diverx99
Do you realize how cheap it is to install a bike lane relative to the cost of any work on the subway? I never ride the subway anymore. I hate it. It still uses my tax dollars. I like to bike without getting killed. Not everyone agrees with you and your attitude is so authoritarian and closed minded.
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At $4,695 and $5,495 a night, maybe the venerable St. Regis and Peninsula should be carrying their guests across the bike lane and placing them into their vehicles. Surely the Peninsula Group, with its origins in colonial Hong Kong, is familiar with such concept, which harken back to the man-powered rickshaw days.
Other than that, the exorbitant rates hotels are able to demand for such accommodations - like all real estate - are based primarily on three things: location, location, location. Stay in Manhattan, you deal with the traffic - pedestrian, cyclists, cars, cabs, trucks, and buses. There are plenty of hotels in New Jersey with no bike lanes at their front doors ... for a lot less per night.
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There is this grand misconception the the bike riders follow the rules and it is just not the case. It’s absolutely ridiculous to use Copenhagen as an example. There bike riders are orderly and courteous and obey the rules.
Our streets are chaotic and bike lanes are hazardous as designed both for Pedestrians and Bike riders.
It is typical of our NYC leaders to pander to a vocal minority without concern for the overwhelming numbers of pedestrians.
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@HPS
Exactly correct. In cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam bicycles are integrated into daily life in a way unlike anywhere in the U.S.
In those cities pedestrians, cyclists and motorists all know and follow the rules, whereas here everyone mostly does whatever is expedient. We will have a steep learning curve and need some attitude adjustment if we wish to emulate those places.
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@HPS That's a gross generalization, speaking as a cyclist that follows traffic law.
I actually see the opposite misconception from what you're describing on every single one of these articles, the most "recommended" or popular posts are those talking about how dangerous cyclists are. Come back to this article in a day, look at the comments, and see how it shakes out--anti-bike comments and anecdotes will FAR outweigh anything else.
We've all seen people ride bikes badly. We've all seen people drive cars badly. We've all seen pedestrians do something reckless while trying to get across a street. These blanket generalizations do nothing to make our streets safer.
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@Alison @HPS
To add on to Alison's point, we need to keep in mind consequences. Reckless cyclists will likely only wreck themselves (and sometimes, but rarely and unfortunately, others). Reckless drivers cause immeasurable loss. Lawlessness mean very different things for someone riding a 30 lb bicycle vs commandeering a 3-ton (yes, ton) SUV. Just stand on any NYC street corner and stand witness to the gross lawlessness of many drivers.
11
Here in Cambridge, the bike riders run amok, disregard all traffic rules and signals, ride the wrong way up one way streets and so on. My wife was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose after getting hit by a speeding biker. I am all for bike riding but the bike riders need to follow the rules if they want to share the road.
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@AA
Uh oh, get ready for the comments from bike advocates along the lines of “at least she didn’t die!”
2
I rode the 55th st lane the week it opened and witnessed a rider and doorman come nearly to blows.
4
I am a New York City pedestrian, bicyclist (CitiBike), subway passenger, and motorist, so I relate to all of it, and I’m able to see the perspective from each position. The vast majority of my time, of course, is spent being a pedestrian. I walk a lot!
When I take everything into account there can be no doubt that the greatest scourge to safety and the smooth collaboration and coordination of all modes of moving through the city is pedestrians who blithely pay no attention to their impact on the city.
It’s impossible to walk anywhere in Manhattan and not observe throngs of pedestrians completely ignoring traffic signals, cars, buses, bicycles, traffic cops, and even other pedestrians. Just stand anywhere in Manhattan during the morning and evening rush times and you will know what I’m talking about.
I see pedestrians dashing against lights, against traffic, the wrong way, without regard for anyone but themselves, and they hardly notice when a car has to slam in its breaks to avoid running them over or they barely miss being hit by a bicycle. It’s as if they think they’re being protected by an invisible force field. And when they do almost get hit, an odd smile forms on their face momentarily, and then they just keep on walking as if nothing happened. It’s bizarre!
De Blasio can prattle one all he likes about Zero Vision, but until pedestrians start being held accountable for dangerous behavior and horrifically poor common sense, I don’t see how anything changes.
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I agree that the pedestrian free-for-all contributes to the difficulty of moving through the city, but it's very unfair that on the average street the vast majority of the space goes to road vehicles (both parked and in motion).
During rush hour the narrow sidewalks and corners of Midtown are crammed with pedestrians while single-passenger cars luxuriate in the middle of the road, taking up far more space than should be allowed.
It's no wonder that pedestrians have to step into the street, or rush to make a last second crossing to avoid throngs of clueless tourists walking six abreast on sidewalks that were designed for the crowds of the 1880s.
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@Bill and the number of people killed by these terrifying pedestrians casting mayhem throughout our city?
10
Bikers have forgotten the legal order of priority. First are people on foot, second are bikes and third are motorized vehicles. As a pedestrian, a biker and an driver of the horseless carriage, I am well aware that bikers, as the newest member of the streets, have not yet matured to the degree required to be thoughtful members of NYC’s community. Grow up and start respecting all of us who share these great streets.
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@glp5
It once was pedestrians, bicycles, then horse and carriage. motorized vehicles other than trains came late to the game.
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@glp5 Pedestrians have laws to follow just like everyone else. http://safeny.ny.gov/peds-ndx.htm#laws
In particular, the statement, "If there isn't a crosswalk, sign or signal at mid-block locations, a pedestrian must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles on the roadway" might be of interest to this discussion.
Perhaps the solution is to add a crosswalk in these locations rather than tell cyclists to grow up?
34
Everyone on the streets needs to do some maturing when it comes to new bicycle infrastructure. A bicyclist can be hyper-vigilant and still stand little to no chance of avoiding a crash if a pedestrian doesn’t look before entering a bike lane. Education and adaptation is needed for all parties.
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