The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem
across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this
column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

carnage_c_sanchez_news.jpgConsuela Sanchez, mother of 13, was killed by a city bus driver on May 7 as she pushed a shopping cart across an Ozone Park intersection. No charged were filed. Photo via Daily News

Fatal Crashes (1 Killed This Week, 51 This Year, 8 Drivers Charged*)

  • Ozone Park: Consuela Sanchez, 81, Struck and Killed by Q10 Bus Driver at Lefferts and Rockaway Boulevards; No Charges Filed (News, Post)
carnage_unionsq_gothamist.jpgA cyclist was hit by the driver of an MTA express bus near Union Square on May 13. Photo: Gothamist

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

  • Union Square: Cyclist Hit, Seriously Injured by Driver of Express Bus (Gothamist)
  • Upper West Side: Elderly Pedestrian Hurt When Livery Driver Jumps Curb (Streetsblog)
  • Canarsie: 6 Reported Injured, 3 Seriously, in City Bus Crash (WCBS)
  • Brooklyn: Cyclist Seriously Hurt in May 3 Crash (Bike Blog NYC)
  • SI: 100 MPH NYPD Chase Ends With Jeep Resting on Lawn, 1 of 9 DWI Arrests (Advance)
  • SI: Man Trying to Torch Wife’s SUV Burns Bystander (Post Blotter)
  • St. Albans: Man Racing BMW Crashes Into Second Car, Seriously Injuring 1 (YourNabe)
  • Castleton Corners: Collision Leaves School Bus Overturned; No Kids Inside (Advance)
  • Arden Hills: Speeding Driver Crashes Through Fence, Hits Parked Tractor-Trailer (Advance)
  • Tompkinsville: 3 Hurt When Driver Hits Gas Station (Advance)
  • Fort Wadsworth: Drunk Driver Plows Into SUV, Injuring 4 (Post Blotter)
  • Crown Heights: Teen Drives Stolen Car Onto Sidewalk (Post)
  • SI: Korean War Veterans Memorial Parkway Crash Injures 1 (Advance)
  • Dongan Hills: Hylan Blvd Near-Collision Sends Driver Into Utility Pole (Advance)
  • Dongan Hills: Partially Clothed Woman Almost Hits Cop Car, Charged With DWI (Post Blotter)
  • Grant City: Reporter Happens on Scene of Two-Car Crash, Wonders Where Cops Are (Advance)

Following Up

carnage_leach_news.jpgImage via Daily News

In the Region, Out of Town

  • West Babylon: Wife Dumps Husband From Hood of Moving Truck, Fracturing His Skull (Post, WINS)
  • Irving, NY: Woman Assaults Sleeping Driver, Tries to Push Parked Car Off Cliff (AP)
  • Lakewood, NJ: Off-Duty Cop Killed in Hit-and-Run Motorcycle Collision (WINS)
  • Edison, NJ: 17 Hurt in School Bus Crash (WCBS)
  • Authorities Helpless to Stop Meadowlands Pedestrian Casualties (NNJ.com, WINS)
  • Australian Father Keeps Baby From Harm’s Way as He’s Hit by Elderly Driver (News)

Other News

  • New York Entrepreneur Develops WiFi-Equipped Breathalyzer (Reuters)
  • City Garbage Trucks Have Injured 294 People in the Last Three Years (Post)
  • Crossing Guards Hired to "Manage" Peds Endangered by West Street Traffic (Tri Trib)
  • Hyundai OK Ridiculing Dangerous Teen Drivers, But What About Seniors? (538)
  • USA Today Debates With Itself Over Traffic Camera Safety
  • Cameras That Prevent Crashes: Bad; Cams That Help Motorists After Crashes: Good (SPTimes)
  • Australian Researchers Laud Breath Tests for Pedestrians (Freakonomics)
  • Car Karaoke App? That Lets Drivers Listen to One Another? Why the Hell Not? (Wheels)

* Based on latest available reports

  • cfh

    I find it interesting that if a cyclist is hurt or killed by a motor vehicle, you implicitly blame the motor vehicle, not the cyclist.

    By this reckoning, the solution to all such occurrences is: reduce motor vehicle usage.

    But, one of the incidents reported is a cyclist injured by an express bus. Surely you don’t think that bus transit should be reduced? If you want to reduce auto usage, bus transit must increase, or at least remain at current levels.

    You could also conclude after such occurrences that cycling on streets along with motor vehicles is too dangerous, that is my conclusion, and why I no longer attempt it.

    Unless bicycle-only routes are provided, I will take the auto, train or bus, thank you.

  • Brandon

    @cfh, if you concluded after a few car/bike crashes that cycling is too dangerous, what do you conclude after 100,000 car/car crashes?

  • cfh

    @Brandon

    I conclude that no matter what I say, or what reality is, you will maintain the following: bicycles good, autos bad.

    That is my point. A gauge stuck on empty, or on full, is useless. We have to make some reasonable distinctions to make any progress.

    To your specific point: there are far more autos on the roads than bicycles, and they travel far more miles. You need to look at _rates_ of crashes per mile or per trip to come to any correct conclusion.

    I suspect that if that is done regarding bicycle commuting the conclusion will speak for itself.

  • The crash rate per passenger-mile of any kind of bus is far below private cars. Trains are even lower. That’s one of the many reasons to shift people from cars to buses and trains.

    As for bicycles, it’s important to break down the frequency and extent of injuries and fatalities among drivers, passengers and bystanders. The number of innocent bystanders killed by cyclists is again, far lower than that of automobile drivers.

    I recognize that riding a bicycle can occasionally injure and even kill others, but it’s so much less likely than when driving a car that it’s a huge improvement.

  • #3. cfh, “I conclude that no matter what I say, or what reality is, you will maintain the following: bicycles good, autos bad.”

    200 to 300 annually killed by cars in this city maybe 1 every three years killed by a bicycle; over 100 per day killed by cars nationally; over 3,000 killed by cars per day globally.

    looking at externalities related to transportation systems based on cars:

    one major cause of the acceleration of the environmental crisis affecting many millions of lives, many trillions of dollars, and civilization as we know it

    another major cause of global instability and in particular the Iraq War estimated to cost 3 trillion dollars considering all costs

    and, the list goes on and on.

    yes, your statement is correct when you remove the reality part because it is clear you do not know what it is.

  • I conclude

    I conclude that life and love have risks, but that I will risk and ride my bike

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