Bike-Crash Study Fuels Discord Among Agencies
From Crain's Insider:
An unreleased study of bicycling fatalities has led to friction among the three city agencies compiling it. The police, transportation and health departments analyzed the deaths of 200 cyclists over 10 years and found that only one of them was in a bike lane.
An insider says DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall didn't conclude that lanes are the answer. Instead, because the accidents often involved head injuriese, Weinshall wants to call for a law mandating helmets. But the NYPD isn't eager to enforce a universal helmet law and the health department isn't ready to call for one.
Last summer, transportation officials cut the annual creation of bike lanes and routes to 20 miles from 30. A spokeswoman for the DOT says the agency is committed to increasing the pace of bike lane installations.
Cycling groups say that other cities' helmet requirements for adults have reduced cycling by 25% or more, which raises the danger for remaining bikers. Advocates believe that the emphasis should be on preventing accidents, not on mitigating injuries.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition
That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.
Madness: Port Authority Will Spend $8M to ‘Study’ Widening Outerbridge Crossing
Will this $8.3 million find out anything we don't know about induced demand?
Study: How Low-Income People Really Use Micromobility
Shared bikes and scooters are meeting low-income people's basic mobility needs — but they're not being subsidized like it.
School Bus Driver Hits Cyclist, Injures 3, On Major Brooklyn School Bike Route
The crash happened on the route of the weekly Bergen bike bus.
City of Yes Yes Yes! Adams Calls for Elimination of Parking Mandates on ALL New Housing
Mayor Adams today announced the historic end to one of the city’s most antiquated — and despised — zoning laws requiring the construction of parking with every new development.
