Excellent reporting Ben! Just shot Streetsblog another $25 contribution, and everyone else should too!

Sorry Aiello, but your miniseries is based on lies, not fact. Be a professional journalist, get your head out of the sand, and make a public correction while the series is still ongoing.

I think the TV pseudo-journalist has it backward. He can protect his sources all he wants, but a public agency is subject to all sorts of transparency laws and any citizen can file a FOIA request on any manner of public records. The fact that Ben is exposing that data exists and the TV guy didn’t do his due diligence in finding it before making his assertion is true investigative journalism.

This data on bike-ped crashes, combined with the rate of injury decline among cyclists while the number of cyclists increases substantially, shows that as cycling becomes more mainstream, it becomes safer.

Sorry, Tony, if you find Streetsblog’s fact-checking to be an inconvenience to your divisive, useless, sensationalism. In fact, it is the DOT’s business to talk to answer questions when Ben asks them.

CBS is just horrible to begin with. That Jetblue guy had his bike stolen in Queens today. CBS verbal copy heading-to-break teaser? “Today Steven Slater had another brush with the law…” with a shot of him and the text BRUSH WITH THE LAW.

They also had a warm and fuzzy promo right after a Biking Bedlam teaser for tonight that stated how “CBS is Going Green” And earlier – weather dude Lonnie Quinn out promoting Summer Streets on his bike.

Really.

Kind of amazing how professional NYC DoT and Sadik-Khan seem to be.

Bet they are taking all this stuff in stride, ignoring all the noise, one step at a time, moving forward with the transformation.

Really nice.

Of course, the transformation can never be fast enough.

“The city DOT press office has no business talking to you…about inquiries made by other journalists.” -Tony Aiello

“That’s the rules! Which I have just made up!” -Eddie Izzard

Amazing stats; great work.

So there were still nearly 11,000 pedestrian injuries/fatalities in 2008.

But let’s not talk about that. Let’s keep obsessing about the out of control biking situation and the resultant 51 pedestrian injuries!

Is anyone measuring the fear factor? (I am absolutely agree that cars should be the main target, but only asking about collisions is much too simple…and of course fear of cars, too!)

As long as we’re deconstructing statistics, let me point out that many, many bike-ped’ accidents never get reported. I have been hit by another cyclist (food delivery/failure to yield to signal/wrong way on the wrong side of the street) while on my bike and hit by a biker (commuter/wrong way on a one-way street) when walking. In the first case, my ribs were so badly bruised I couldn’t sleep on one side for over two months. In neither case did I report the incident.

It’s also worthy to note that many auto-on-pedestrian collissions go unreported as well. Nobody is required to make a report unless there are more than $500 of damages, which in the case of an auto-on-pedestrian event basically means unless somebody goes to the hospital.

Zach,

This responds to your various comments about lights, which help prevent crashes by and with cyclists at night.

Lights (red in back, white in front) are required on all bicycles in operation in NYC from 1/2 hour after sundown to 1/2 hour before sunrise. Reflectors (front and back, and on new bicycles, on the sides of wheels) are also required at all times. Light colored clothing is optional.

Many cyclists become discouraged from using lights and reflectors because they (or their mountings) are easily broken or stolen. Removing and replacing lights each time the bike is parked can add 3-5 minutes to each trip. Sturdier, brighter lights are more likely to be stolen. Lights stored in one’s bag can be accidentally activated, draining the power so they are useless when needed. Generator-driven lights are of course the answer to the battery problem, except they are very attractive to thieves and I have yet to find the model that allows easy removal and attachment for parking.

After hard experience, I recommend purchasing three sets of ultra-cheap Planet Bike LED lights (cheapest reliable light on the market and the company supports bike advocacy), via mail order. The plastic mountings break almost immediately, so I don’t even bother to attach them to my bike. Instead, I use a sturdy rubber band for each (the ones used to bunch supermarket broccoli work well) to attach them to the bike frame. In essence, this is a homemade “knog” light that mounts easily to any part of the frame, a pack, helmet, etc., at a cost of about ~$5.00/pair. I keep the second set of lights in my bag and the third set at work. I buy the batteries in bulk, mail order, and distribute them throughout my bags and in other places.
Even with all those preparations, it seems I end up having to ride at night without lights at least a couple times a month. In those cases, I will either stick to car-free routes or, if that’s not feasible, stick to well-lit routes and stay well out of the dooring zone. Another back-up is seeking out another cyclist on the road with lights to ride near. I’ve never met a cyclist who wasn’t happy to escort me in this fashion, and I’ve done it plenty of times for others.

One thing to remember is that a properly-mounted reflector, when illuminated directly by a car’s headlights, is visible at a greater distance than most lights. So they also are an important source of back-up protection as well.

I don’t try to wear light clothing because I cycle for everyday transportation and I’m not going to limit myself to light colored clothing when I’m not required by law to do so.

Moses, you raise an interesting problem.

I’m dealing with an area right now that should be improved to reduce ped-bike conflicts for the safety and comfort of both groups. We know there are accidents, but the accidents don’t get reported: they’re not bad enough to require an ambulance, nobody wants to wait a half hour for the police to come take a report, and there’s no insurance process similar to that with a fender bender.

So, unfortunately, there are no real statistics available to make a stronger safety case for funding the needed improvements.

Alon, perhaps its evidence of the “safety in numbers” effect:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/05/safety-in-numbers-its-happening-in-nyc/

On the lights issue, I carry lights in the same bag with my work clothes. They are there now, even though I probably won’t be riding after dark or before sunrise until late October. If you always have a bag when you bike, it isn’t that hard.

I also recommend a LED safety vest from LEDTronics. It uses regular batteries, and is better than wearing yellow clothes every day. I keep that in the bag, too, during the dark months.

I think that it is important to note that the decline in bike-ped crashes has declined, and unless there was a sudden shift in what people choose to report, the overall bike-ped crash rate (reported and unreported) has likely declined by about 60%.

While I think some of the decline is due to more bikers acting in a safer manner, I also think that the additional bikers have caused pedestrians to become more aware of their presence and are thus more likely to watch out for them.

Clearly, though, there is a perception of fear of bicyclists that no amount of data will negate. In the case of cars, time has caused the fear, injuries, and death caused by cars to be a somewhat accepted part of urban life. If the NYPD ever got on board, they could be a huge partner in targeting that perception; ticketing cyclists who ride the wrong-way, blow through red lights, and fail to yield to peds. If not, perhaps time will also make the somewhat inherent fear of a faster moving mode of transport to become accepted in urban life.

The data show clearly that more bike lanes = more bikes = more safety for everyone, even if it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.

Be nice if this stat box was prominent on the DOT website in the safety and bicycling sections. This information shouldn’t require a reporter to ask about, nor should it be buried in some pdf’ed safety report or mayor report. Also, the crash data should also be provided/100k population to account for the estimated 350k more NYC residents living here in 2010 vs 2000.

Lastly, the NYS Committee on Open Gov says a FOIL request, and records of FOILs can themselves be FOILed under NY State law. By extension, seems reasonable for NYC DOT press office to answer a reporter’s highly specific yes/no question about another reporters request for info. The question to NYC DOT press came after the story in question was aired, so didn’t involve ruining a scoop or otherwise effect the content of the already aired story.

“Any idea why the cyclist crash numbers have gone down by 60% since 2001, despite a large increase in bicycle traffic?”

Yes-it’s the safety in numbers thing. As more people cycle, drivers ( and pedestrians ) get used to seeing them, and know what to look out for. Bike lanes help to an extent also, but they’re really not the primary reason for the large drop in bicycle injuries. Also, as more people ride, to some extent the safer cyclists put a bit of pressure on the most dangerous ones to clean up their act. Bottom line-getting more people on bikes not only reduces the load on mass transit, but also makes cycling safer for everyone.

Ben,
An excellent piece of journalism. And sorry, Tony, the press has a right and responsibitiy to check the accuracy of news. I spent 31 years as a reporter and editor, including a few working with Tony when he was based at The Journal News newsroom in White Plains. I have no idea where a journalist, especially a good one like Tony, gets the idea that media coverage is not a fit subject for the press. Keep up the good work, Ben.

How about bike-on-bike accidents?

I ride regularly on Hudson River bike path and was clobbered hard by another rider back in May. I was making a turn having slowed down and signaled. As I made the turn a rider who was powering hard smashed into me, leaving me a bloody wreck. When I asked him whether he had seen my signal, he acknowledged that he had.

It turned out that he did not know the standard hand signals and had assumed, without thinking, that I was planning to turn the other way.

We bike riders should get our own house in order and make sure that everyone knows the standard hand signals and uses them.

Bruised and bloodied in Manhattan.

Joe,

When I was learning the rules of the road I was taught that the right of way never extends *through* another person or vehicle. I don’t know the truth of your assertion that I did not have the right of way to make my turn, but I do know that the other rider should definitely not have hit me.

And while I don’t dispute your assertions about signaling, what I do know is that I have been instructed in no uncertain terms that I, as a bicycle rider, have to obey the same rules as cars, including signals. You may be right that the standard signals don’t make sense and that no one knows them – I’m not smart enough to be able to make such categorical assertions. Making up my own rules doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, since I can’t have any confidence that my notion of sensible will be the same as the other person’s.

If the rules don’t make sense, then we as a community should work to fix them. Moreover, for better or worse we should make sure that everyone knows the rules that do apply and obey them.

“When I was learning the rules of the road I was taught that the right of way never extends *through* another person or vehicle. I don’t know the truth of your assertion that I did not have the right of way to make my turn, but I do know that the other rider should definitely not have hit me.”

According to the rules of the road, a turning vehicle must yield to traffic in any lanes it crosses. In practice, this rule usually refers to a vehicle turning left on a two-way street. It’s also ( usually ) required to get as far left as practical when turning left, and as far right as practical when turning right, so you avoid going across lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction as you when turning. Even if not legally required, it’s a good idea. If I’m riding in on a bicycle path, and someone signals, slows downs, and moves as far left as they can ( but not so far as to go into the opposing traffic lane ), then I’ll assume they’re turning left even if I don’t know hand signals, and will pass them on the right side. On the other hand, if someone turning left stays in the center of their lane, or even worse to the right, when turning left, then there’s a good chance traffic moving in the same direction will attempt to pass them on the left when they’re turning. This creates an automatic conflict. My point here is by moving far left for a left turn, or far right for a right turn, you automatically force someone to pass you on the opposite side you’ll be turning. This makes a collision of the type you had impossible.

I agree having a set of rules and following them makes things more consistent. I also think that set of rules needs to account for the strengths and weaknesses of the mode of traffic it applies to ( i.e. “Idaho stop” ) or the rules simply will be largely ignored if they require engaging in unnatural and/or unsafe behavoir.

I’m also not saying the other cyclist was blameless. He failed to leave himself an “out”. In a situation such as you described, if I see a cyclist slowing down I’m assuming they’re going to turn. Even if they don’t signal direction, I’ll do what is needed to avoid them should they turn into my path. If the street is wide enough, I’ll pass them on the left without slowing down, but will give them a 15 or 20 foot berth. Even if they start turning when I’m almost on top of them, they won’t cross my path. If the street is narrower or it’s a bike path, I’ll slow down as much as needed so I can stop if they cross my path. Legally I probably don’t have to, but like I said earlier I never assume right-of-way. Right-of-way only exists if someone grants it to you. I always leave an “out” just in case someone doesn’t. I make sure I can either switch lanes, or slow down in time. This is simple defensive cycling as gecko said.

One last thing. I’ve only had a few things go wrong when cycling. 90% of them were running into potholes I didn’t see. Most of the rest were dooring incidents. I only collided with a car once ( his fault ), and there were no injuries. I was waiting to make a left turn, the taxi behind me was annoyed waiting for me as I waited to make sure traffic was clear. He rear-ended me at very low speed. This ruined my rear wheel but that was all. Most of these things happened the first few years I started cycling on the roads, back in the late 1970s when things were much more dangerous for us city cyclists. Anyway, I took each accident or near miss as a learning experience, seeing why it happened, and taking steps to make sure it would never happen again. It’s been around 10 years since any incident at all now. I found the majority of times something happened, it was because I simply didn’t allow for an “out” if the unexpected happened. There were some accidents which were virtually unavoidable. 100% of these unavoidable accidents were caused by potholes which for some reason looked innocuous or nearly invisible until I was on top of them. I call them “sneaky” potholes. Even this problem is mostly avoided by traveling the same roads, and learning where such potholes are. If you ride enough, it’s probably a given sooner or later you’ll be on the ground. The trick is to make sure the reason is not something avoided with relative ease. With the surge in new riders, I see so many cyclists nowadays making fundamental errors. I compensate for it of course, but I know sooner or later these riders will end up on the ground. Far too many cyclists nowadays think safety begins and ends with strapping on a helmet. Maybe someone should offer defensive cycling classes which cover stuff beyond helmets or rules of the road.

Joe,

I think we may have passed the point of diminishing returns, but I’ll clarify one point related to your recent response: “According to the rules of the road, a turning vehicle must yield to traffic in any lanes it crosses.”

If you know the Hudson River bike path segment down under the West Side Highway, you know that it is both narrow and two-way.

Since I was all the way over to the right of the right-hand bicycle lane AND I was turning right, I was not crossing any lanes at all. I was turning out of a lane.

You may wonder how he managed to hit me if I was way over to the right, and I do too. That’s why I was so astounded when he smashed into me. It was clear that he was going very fast and had completely misjudged the situation.

The DOT numbers are vastly underreported, and may well be in the order of magnitude equivalent to the number bike riders in the city, and the territory they cover, any good statistician could tell you a half dozen reasons why the numbers are off – and why the incidents are going up, not down. I’ve been hit by bikes three times in two years, twice by riders going the wrong way on the avenue, and all three times by riders who ran red lights. I didn’t report any of these events – most people do not, and are not required to. We need a responsible cyclist population and defending really bad behavior as if it is not happening will continue to be black eye on the green community.

Ministry of Transport, the shop said they received information Aiello PED bicycle crash, did not ask. So I asked him who sent Aiello faces collision data.

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